4 ms·

They should just switch their infrastructure to the "Euro"-plug as soon as they can, like the rest of Europe already uses since ages. Not only is the "Euro"-plu

They should just switch their infrastructure to the "Euro"-plug as soon as they can, like the rest of Europe already uses since ages. Not only is the "Euro"-plug by far the most solid, durable and safest plug, but it will help the Brits and the rest of Europe to be in-sync with eachother on the consumer electronics compatiblity front. Now that the UK has already taken the step to 230V like the rest of Europe, they should complete the rest of the move.

eru 16y ago
It doesn't really matter. Adapters are cheap. (And I recently moved from the continent to Europe.)
- com 16y ago
  What does this mean? "The continent" is normally - in English - a shortened form of "continental Europe". Are you saying that you moved from somewhere east of the Urals or perhaps Turkey (if you don't believe that that's culturally European, although the part west of the Bosphorus is indeed part of the continent). And adaptors are pretty pricy for things with no active parts.
  - eru 16y ago
    Sorry, I meant I moved from the continent to Britain. Just a typo.
djhworld 16y ago
So you're suggesting changing every single plug socket in every house/business/office premises in the UK? Then changing every single plug on every appliance you own (or using a converter) Seems like a huge undertaking to me.
- RBerenguel 16y ago
  It has happened in other countries and in other times. It may be called progress by some, even.
- JoeAltmaier 16y ago
  OF course it would happen over time. ITs not any huge issue - certainly not bigger than the issue of selling different appliances every 1000 miles across Europe. Adapters are 10-cent items in bulk. In America we have more than one standard we live with every day - two-prong plugs, 3-prong plugs, 220-volt plugs vs 110. You hardly every even think about it, except when you're shuffling through the pantry drawer, looking for an adapter.
points 16y ago
The last thing we want is to be 'in sync' with Europe. We're British. Not European.
mhd 16y ago
Safest? The euro plug is a compromise, so that it will fit in a wide variety of existing sockets, and the standard version isn't even grounded. It's mostly for pretty small devices. There's IEC 60906-1, but I don't think any country ever adopted that. It's much easier to unify currencies than to change every existing socket. As most adapters solve most of the problems, and it's easy to manufacture country-specific devices, this isn't really a big deal in my opinion.
- hackermom 16y ago
  The 6-7 versions are all referred to as Europlug for some reason. The CEE7/7 is the grounded "compromise" one. This is the one I implied, which is the most common grounded connector in Europe today.
  - mhd 16y ago
    The German Schuko with the French contact added? Never heard that given the europlug name, but that's probably due to me being German, where the old-fashioned name just stuck and only the CEE7/16 is given the "euro" prefix. Yeah, I was quite surprised that this is now a de facto standard, as most of my previous European travel took me to locations where another system was used (e.g. Italy, UK, Ireland).
teamonkey 16y ago
For longer than I can remember, it was very rare to find a European appliance that didn't work in the UK (and vice versa). The only recent developments have been in tighter regulation so that all electrical products produced in the UK must be guaranteed to work in Europe (and vice versa). I don't think that Europlugs are more solid, durable or safer than British plugs either. Comparitively speaking, they're flimsy, unfused, unearthed and the wall sockets can't be made to close up without a plug inserted.
- elblanco 16y ago
  I've seen plenty Europlugs that close up without a plug in them. It can be a PIA when they fail to reopen without a lot of force!
masklinn 16y ago
> They should just switch their infrastructure to the "Euro"-plug as soon as they can, like the rest of Europe already uses since ages. The only "euro" plug (CEE 7/16) only handles 230V/2.5A, it was made to be compatible with every continental europe wallsocket (and low-power Class II appliances), not to work with big appliances. The second most compatible european plug is probably the CEE 7/7[0] (Type E/F Hybrid), which combines the german "Schuko" plug and the french Type E, the Type F being widely used across continental europe, and the Type E adding a few more countries to the mix. Past that, Switzerland, the Danemark and Italy have their own plugs (though according to Wikipedia, the Type E is now allowed in Danemark). [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Type_E_.2F_F_hybrid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Type...

eru 16y ago

It doesn't really matter. Adapters are cheap. (And I recently moved from the continent to Europe.)

com 16y ago
What does this mean? "The continent" is normally - in English - a shortened form of "continental Europe". Are you saying that you moved from somewhere east of the Urals or perhaps Turkey (if you don't believe that that's culturally European, although the part west of the Bosphorus is indeed part of the continent). And adaptors are pretty pricy for things with no active parts.
- eru 16y ago
  Sorry, I meant I moved from the continent to Britain. Just a typo.

djhworld 16y ago

So you're suggesting changing every single plug socket in every house/business/office premises in the UK? Then changing every single plug on every appliance you own (or using a converter) Seems like a huge undertaking to me.

RBerenguel 16y ago
It has happened in other countries and in other times. It may be called progress by some, even.
JoeAltmaier 16y ago
OF course it would happen over time. ITs not any huge issue - certainly not bigger than the issue of selling different appliances every 1000 miles across Europe. Adapters are 10-cent items in bulk. In America we have more than one standard we live with every day - two-prong plugs, 3-prong plugs, 220-volt plugs vs 110. You hardly every even think about it, except when you're shuffling through the pantry drawer, looking for an adapter.

points 16y ago

The last thing we want is to be 'in sync' with Europe. We're British. Not European.

mhd 16y ago

Safest? The euro plug is a compromise, so that it will fit in a wide variety of existing sockets, and the standard version isn't even grounded. It's mostly for pretty small devices. There's IEC 60906-1, but I don't think any country ever adopted that. It's much easier to unify currencies than to change every existing socket. As most adapters solve most of the problems, and it's easy to manufacture country-specific devices, this isn't really a big deal in my opinion.

hackermom 16y ago
The 6-7 versions are all referred to as Europlug for some reason. The CEE7/7 is the grounded "compromise" one. This is the one I implied, which is the most common grounded connector in Europe today.
- mhd 16y ago
  The German Schuko with the French contact added? Never heard that given the europlug name, but that's probably due to me being German, where the old-fashioned name just stuck and only the CEE7/16 is given the "euro" prefix. Yeah, I was quite surprised that this is now a de facto standard, as most of my previous European travel took me to locations where another system was used (e.g. Italy, UK, Ireland).

teamonkey 16y ago

For longer than I can remember, it was very rare to find a European appliance that didn't work in the UK (and vice versa). The only recent developments have been in tighter regulation so that all electrical products produced in the UK must be guaranteed to work in Europe (and vice versa). I don't think that Europlugs are more solid, durable or safer than British plugs either. Comparitively speaking, they're flimsy, unfused, unearthed and the wall sockets can't be made to close up without a plug inserted.

elblanco 16y ago
I've seen plenty Europlugs that close up without a plug in them. It can be a PIA when they fail to reopen without a lot of force!

masklinn 16y ago

> They should just switch their infrastructure to the "Euro"-plug as soon as they can, like the rest of Europe already uses since ages. The only "euro" plug (CEE 7/16) only handles 230V/2.5A, it was made to be compatible with every continental europe wallsocket (and low-power Class II appliances), not to work with big appliances. The second most compatible european plug is probably the CEE 7/7[0] (Type E/F Hybrid), which combines the german "Schuko" plug and the french Type E, the Type F being widely used across continental europe, and the Type E adding a few more countries to the mix. Past that, Switzerland, the Danemark and Italy have their own plugs (though according to Wikipedia, the Type E is now allowed in Danemark). [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Type_E_.2F_F_hybrid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Type...