Comment on British plugs
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 1 month agoUK’s uniquely substandard wiring.
Care to elaborate on this? Imo it does sounds like a win if that’s the case.
Comment on British plugs
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 1 month agoUK’s uniquely substandard wiring.
Care to elaborate on this? Imo it does sounds like a win if that’s the case.
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Post-war reconstruction, they had a massive copper shortage. The wiring standards they adopted allowed for using as little copper as possible. That meant fewer, high-amperage circuits, rather than many low-amperage circuits. They used “ring circuit” topology instead of “branch circuits” to allow them to use undersized wiring.
Basically, all the shortcuts they took in their household wiring introduce considerably greater risks than exist elsewhere, including North America. Their household wiring is overloaded relative to most of the rest of the world. They mitigated the risks of their household wiring with stricter standards on their appliance wiring. Which is why they need a plug for their phone charger comparable to the plugs we use on a welder.
It’s a good plug A damn good plug. It’s just complete overkill for electric systems outside of the UK.
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
That makes sense, but imo for those country that follow UK standard with 220v/240v power everywhere in the house, it better be overkill than not. But then i guess that’s why EU also have this two pin plug for low power application that come with partially insulated pin, and won’t hurt your feet when step on. Best of both world!
Image
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 1 month ago
It’s not just the voltage It’s also the allowable current per circuit. UK circuits allow much higher power (wattage) than single household circuits in the rest of the world. That’s why they need those big-ass plugs on each of their appliances.