Re: British (european?) kitchen counter electric outlets

On 09/06/2024 02:29, Grant Taylor wrote:

On 6/8/24 19:13, john larkin wrote:

The British plugs and outlets are enormous too.

 I like the idea of a fuse in the plug end of the cord.
 I'm only aware of that for Christmas lights in the U.S.A.
 The Christmas lights show that small fuses can fit in a slightly larger plug and not require anything nearly as large as European plugs that I've seen pictures / video of.

Fuses in plugs is a UK thing. Continental 3 pin plugs are every bit as brutal in shape as UK plugs but are unfused. Continental 2 pin is pretty similar size to US except with round pins 230vac rather than flat ones.
I have to say that 13A fused plugs at 3kW run quite warm to the touch as well (at least on a continuous load). eg. Fan heater warming up a cold room.
Kettle is an intermittment load so seldom gets used for long enough for the heat to really build up to noticeable levels. UK 13A plugs and sockets have fairly recently been derated to 10A (2.4kW load). I suspect with the phasing our of beryllium copper springs in their internals.
Belgacom stackable telcoms plugs look like they were designed for 3-phase mains for good measure. Almost same size as UK mains plugs!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrapolar_plug
Their workmen have a sense of humour too. They installed my ISDN service box on the dining room wall so that we could enjoy the LED light show...
Cable TV guy was much more helpful.
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Martin Brown