9 ms·

As a Brit, got to say that I wish we used Europlugs here. Ours are so bulky (a pain for anything portable), and the US ones seem so flimsy. Also, there ought t

As a Brit, got to say that I wish we used Europlugs here. Ours are so bulky (a pain for anything portable), and the US ones seem so flimsy. Also, there ought to be a museum of hotel electrics. Weird light switch behaviour, dumb (pre phone charger) socket placement, heating/cooling controls, etc

ginko 5y ago
I'd say if we could pick a clean slate design for everyone then I'd go with the Swiss[1] one. Maybe also run it at 400V since modern cables should be able to handle that. [1] https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss1.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss1.html
- _djo_ 5y ago
  The Swiss one was codified as an international standard as IEC 60906-1, which South Africa and Brazil have adopted, so it should be the de facto option for any country looking to replace their current system. The problem with replacing British plugs is that they need fuses because most British houses are wired with ring circuits, instead of radial circuits like the rest of the world. So I don't see them moving to a new standard any time soon.
  - TorKlingberg 5y ago
    Specifically most UK mains are fused at 30A, which is more than appliance cables are rated for. So you need a fuse in either the plug or the socket.
    - _djo_ 5y ago
      Thanks for that clarification!
- dingo454 5y ago
  I really like this design due to how compact it is. Italy has an almost identical historical design*, but the earth is not offset so LN can be swapped. Both plugs and sockets are very compact, which is a far cry from the emerging standard which is the shuko/europlug which takes twice the space. Almost all new houses are equipped with shuko sockets. But the sockets here do not have the additional prong to avoid swapping the neutral, so they're effectively just a waste of space. * at least, we have two sizes for it, a smaller one rated for 8A, and the newer for 16A which we commonly have today.
  - afiori 5y ago
    In Italy in practice there are 4 common plugs, 2 type L (big and small), the schuko (type F) with many variations and the europlug. the compatibility table is not trivial (in particular the europlug is compatible with everithing except the big type L sockets) and while new houses might be to nicer standards, there are a lot of very old houses in italy (i lived in a house from ~1850) and many public spaces use the cheapest sockets they can find so you either get a small type L (accepts also europlugs) a simple schuko (accepts also europlugs and unhearthed small type L) or a big type L (accepts only big type L).
    - dingo454 5y ago
      Oh I know, I lived in a old house as well and circled through europe so I've seen/suffered all the plugs from UK/France/Germany/Italy... In this regard, long live the "europlug" and the trend switching towards type F sockets. But I was just lamenting the bulkiness of it in general.
    - hvusslax 5y ago
      Is the BTicino plug (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian2.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian2.html) used at all in Italy now? There was a serious attempt at adopting it in Iceland in the late 1970s to early 1980s. These sockets can still be found in homes that were built in that period and they are just called "Italian sockets".
      - afiori 5y ago
        Never seen such a plug before in my life, but I have spent very little time anywhere near Ticino In Italy I have mostly seen (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian1.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian1.html) 1,2,4,5, schukos like 17a and when lucky schukos like 9 and 10; I have never seen most of the others.
      - dingo454 5y ago
        Never seen this one in Italy, and I've been in several fairly old buildings.
- silon42 5y ago
  In Slovenia/ex-Yu we had a very similiar (but bigger) 3 phase (400V) plug/socket like that (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Obsolete_3hd.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Obsolete_3hd.html #9,10). You can still find it in old houses. One probably could force the Europlug into it (looks very close), I haven't tried.
- lukeh 5y ago
  I have a vague memory of getting the Apple (two-pronged) Swiss and European travel kit plugs mixed up, slightly different tolerances, resulting in one very hard to remove iPhone charger.
  - cardinalfang 5y ago
    Similarly you can fit a UK shaver into a Europlug socket, but may not be able to get it out again.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  In a clean slate design, I would have all power 5 volts unless negotiated higher. And it could be negotiated up to 100,000 volts for charging cars with a thin cool cable. 100,000 volts is perfectly safe as long as system capacitance is kept tiny, and leakage current constantly measured. In fact, the voltage of the sparks when you take off a fleece jumper are more than that.
  - 7952 5y ago
    Such a system would need a box in the basement and lots of seperate wires to outlets, which would be expensive. Or it would need to put more smarts in wall sockets, similar to adding USB. This is more of a safety risk than just plugging in a usb charger. It requires more skill to install, reduces seperation between high and low voltage parts, could become obselete and has components that might wear out. Also, any system that encourages the use of extension cables is a safety risk. The last thing we want is someone plugging a 5kw heater into an extension cord bought on Ebay. The current system is nice and flexible and simple enough to be safe. Extension cords work well when you are plugging in a bunch of usb devices and tv/laptop/console. But you can also use the same outlet for a hair dryer or a mixer. Higher current devices like ovens, showers, and cars need to be treated seperately to prevent unsuitable parts adding a fire risk. Lack of compatability to domestic appliances is a feature.
    - londons_explore 5y ago
      > The current system is [...] safe. Well, it kills 1000+ people per year in electrical fires in the USA alone. We would never allow electricity in homes like this if it were invented today. > Such a system would need a box in the basement and lots of seperate wires to outlets. Yes. But if high voltages can safely be used, and the system is safe in case a cable gets chafed, then the wires become super thin like headphone wires, and overall, the whole system could be produced cheaper than existing systems which use a lot of copper and plastic. Fire is eliminated too, because a high tech solution measures power losses at every connection, and as soon as enough is unaccounted for to possibly be heating something up to the point of a fire, it switches off. The main disadvantage is that every appliance or device needs circuitry to measure power flows. This is mitigated by the fact that voltage is variable - low power devices could simply run off 5 to 20 volts at sub-1-amp and not bother with any fancy measurement. Only high power stuff would need the high voltages and all the safety circuitry.
- barrkel 5y ago
  Wall warts of various kinds don't work well with the typical Swiss cluster of three sockets at 120 degree angles to each other. Frequently, various extenders need to be added to actually plug more than one thing into the cluster. Wires typically come out directly from the rear of the plug, making for a not particularly neat plug scenario. I find myself using 90-degree adapters a lot of the time. Extension bars also often take advantage of the reduced space requirements, meaning that many of the slots can't be used if you're plugging in any wall warts there. Finally, UK electricity is 13A @ 240V, whereas Swiss electricity - like most of continental Europe - is 10A @ 220V. The gap here is significant when (a) you need to extend a socket because of space constraints, especially in the kitchen, and (b) when you want a fast-boiling kettle. I had to get a new kettle when I moved to Switzerland and it's noticeably slower to boil.
  - MayeulC 5y ago
    > Finally, UK electricity is 13A @ 240V, whereas Swiss electricity - like most of continental Europe - is 10A @ 220V I wonder where you got this idea. Both are 230V. Schulko plugs are 10 or 16 amps (with bigger connectors), 16 A is quite common in my experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEE_7_standard_AC_plugs_and_sockets#CEE_7/3_socket_and_CEE_7/4_plug_(German_%22Schuko%22;_Type_F) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEE_7_standard_AC_plugs_and_so... https://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/knowledge-base/what-is-the-difference-between-uk-voltage-and-european-voltage/ https://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/knowledge-base/what-is-the-dif... > EU 230V -10% +6% (i.e. 207.0 V-243.8 V) > UK 230V -6% +10% (i.e. 216.2 V – 253.0 V)
- cranekam 5y ago
  Another cool thing about the Swiss system is the derived 3 phase T15/T25 plugs: https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss_3hd.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss_3hd.html Our washing machine uses a T15 plug but the socket can also accept a T12 single phase plug instead. (As a Brit, I'd also pick the Swiss plug as the best, except that the fuseless design wouldn't be good in the UK because of the 30A ring system described in another comment.)
goodcanadian 5y ago
I like the Aus/NZ ones. Relatively compact like the North American ones, but very sturdy, in my opinion.
- pansa2 5y ago
  Compared to UK plugs, the Australian pins are very thin and the earth pin is optional. This makes it easy to insert a plug at a slightly wrong angle and make electrical contact without the socket gripping the plug at all. Also the pins can get bent out of alignment fairly easily, which almost never happens with UK plugs.
  - stephen_g 5y ago
    I'll agree the pins could have been made a bit thicker and they do bend a bit, say, if you step on them with shoes. But the earth pin is definitely not optional - it is not present if a device is double insulated, but must be present if the device is not (even though the live and neutral pins are angled so you can't plug it in upside down, and the neutral is grounded in the switch box - you still have the separate protective earth pin on the cable to every device that needs it in case the wall socket is wired incorrectly). I'm not sure what you mean about plugging it at a slightly wrong angle, I haven't experienced that (in ~25 years of using Australia plugs).
    - aembleton 5y ago
      If the earth pin is not optional, how do you plug something in if it isn't present? Do you have special sockets for devices that are double insulated?
      - stephen_g 5y ago
        I mean not optional by certification and law, not physically, so no, we don’t have different sockets - all sockets have earth, but it doesn’t have a shuttering system like the UK’s. A two pin plug still plugs into a regular socket, it’s just illegal to produce or sell something without an earth pin if it doesn’t meet safety standards for double insulation.
dairylee 5y ago
Thankfully Google make collapsible plugs[1] which make taking my charger on holiday nice and painless. Shame more companies don't so something similar if the product is portable. 1: https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_30w_charger https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_30w_charger
- dspillett 5y ago
  I've had a plug like that from another manufacturer, and you can get them easily as after-market parts. It is a shame that the mü range by Made In Mind is dying, I have one of their USB2 models and it is rather convenient to pack. They are a tad expensive compared to others though.
OJFord 5y ago
We win on Earth, though. I'd be with you if Europlugs had a central Earth (still reversible) that was longer, making contact first & opening shutters as BS1363. Shame BS546 ('lighting circuit') sockets aren't (still) more common really. You could (buy a house with them or fit them and) replace plugs on cables of course, but not your USB charger with plug & transformer in a single moulding.
- aigo 5y ago
  I"m doing by bit for those lighting sockets, I've just had about eight or ten installed all around my house. Turning on lamps from the wall light switch as you enter a room is a massive quality of life upgrade.
- ginko 5y ago
  The ground contacts in Schuko plugs DO make contact first. It's just less obvious from the design I guess.
  - afiori 5y ago
    In the uk plugs the ground contact also acts as a switch; you actually can use an europlug with the uk sockets but you need insert something in the ground pin anyway (some sockets simply a plastic pin instead of a connector)
    - mytailorisrich 5y ago
      It does not act as a switch. The way it usually works, as mentioned by OJFord, is that wall sockets have safety shutters on the live and neutral connectors, which open when the earth pin is inserted in the earth connector in order to prevent a plug without earth from being connected. That's why sockets always have an earth pin even if only plastic on some cheap ones (for double insulated devices that do not require an earth connection). Pretty cool feature.
  - OJFord 5y ago
    I'm aware, but Schuko != Europlug (despite being a plug used in many Euro countries), does not have shutters on the live/neutral opened by Earth contact, and (partly consequently) can often be trivially (mis)used not Earthing a device which should be.
mytailorisrich 5y ago
As an European who's travelled and now lives in the UK I find that the British plugs and sockets are the best ones. The metal connectors are big, but that feels like quality, but the plugs are not bulky off the wall because of the overall angled design (European plugs actually eat up more space off the wall because they are straight although of course europlugs take much less surface area on the wall), which is good behind furnitures or where space is tight. There is only one sort of plug and it has a well designed earth connector. Plugs include a fuse and it's easily replaceable (this is partly due to the standard use of ring circuits in the UK but I find it a nice feature anyway). They have very good grip and stay in place very well (compare this to europlug...). Sockets have an integrated switch. British plugs are a quiet success (the other one being postcodes).
- ginko 5y ago
  I disagree, way overengineered and bulky. The fuse is only necessary due to shoddy British wiring standards.
  - BerislavLopac 5y ago
    > The fuse is only necessary due to shoddy British wiring standards In other words, they're solving a very real problem here. And so is the rest of the plug as well. It seems that most of the continental Europeans that have moved to the UK (myself included) are positively amazed by the details of the UK plug design.
  - barrkel 5y ago
    The area around Swiss sockets are more bulky in practice because (a) wires come out at 90 degrees to the wall and (b) adapters and extensions and whatnot are required to plug in wall-warts, which are really common these days, whether it's USB power for various gadgets, cordless vacuum cleaners, video Alexa (not USB-powered), etc.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- quietbritishjim 5y ago
gmac 5y ago
Fellow Brit, strongly disagree. The Europlug feels to me barely less flimsy than the US type. Ours and the Schuko are about the only ones I feel fully safe using.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
tiziano88 5y ago
If I had to choose a plug to use all over the world, it would actually probably be the UK one (or perhaps a slightly less bulky version of it). See https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q
- wongarsu 5y ago
  The Schuko and Europlug have the same safety features as the British one: - the same shutters prevent screwdrivers - A plug half in isn't an issue because the sockets are recessed (but as an additional measure the Europlug has the half-way isolation like the British plug) The only real advantage of the British plug over Schuko is the fuse (a debatable feature) and the known polarity (Schuko and Europlug don't differentiate between live and neutral). Nice features that the Schuko variant has that the British plug is missing: - Ground connection is exposed in the socket, giving you an obvious way to reliably ground yourself (useful when working with electronics) - Recessed socket design allows plugs that barely stick out (those are not the norm, but are available for use behind furniture etc) - You have Schuko for "serious" use (ground wire, high current) and Europlug for things that don't need either, with Europlug fitting in Schuko outlets. This gives extension cords more flexibility, many have a mix of Schuko and Europlug outlets to fit more plugs in the same space.
  - tentacleuno 5y ago
    > The only real advantage of the British plug over Schuko is the fuse (a debatable feature) Could I ask why a fuse is debatable? Seems like quite a basic security feature. There's a good video[0] on the design of UK plugs if you're interested. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q
    - wongarsu 5y ago
      If it's such a basic security feature, what is it actually protecting? In a standard (non-British) home, each room has a separate (10A or 16A) breaker in the breaker panel. That breaker protects the wires from overheating (preventing cable fires), and in more modern instances might protect the human from electric shock with an RCD. Then each device may have an internal (usually self-resetting) fuse to protect itself from failure modes. That fuse is tuned to the device needs, both in how fast it triggers and how much current it allows. What does a fuse in the cable buy you? It can't reliably protect the device, because the user might replace the cable or replace a blown fuse with one with a different rating. It can't protect wires because it's after the house wiring, a large number of functioning devices overheating your wires is at least as likely as a single malfunctioning device. The only context in which it makes sense it the one Tom Scott mentions: you have a copper shortage, so you put the entire flat or even house on one circuit with one fuse. And because you don't want to cut electricity to everything every time there's a short somewhere you put little fuses everywhere. It's a good design for the circumstances of post-war Britain, but we aren't living in a copper shortage right now.
smcl 5y ago
As a Brit living in the EU, I kinda miss the ones back home - for two reasons, the grip and the orientation. I don't know anything about relative safety of either, this is purely about UX :) The UK plugs usually have a very clear way to grip them and pull them out of the socket, and yanking them by the cable neither looks nor feels right. Whereas the Europlug ones I have mostly have a very dainty, slight place to grip with your fingers and are often very tight - often they really invite you to pull by the cable itself. There's a little bit of ambiguity about orientation - sometimes the socket has an extra prong sticking out meaning you have to use the plug the right way up, and sometimes there's none. But it can sometimes happen that you're not sure if you're a few degrees out in aligning the prongs in the plug, or if you're just the wrong way up and the earth prong is in the way. Obviously if you can see the socket this isn't a huge issue, but if you're reaching behind a TV unit, or a desk or a counter etc you're in for a bit of fumbling. I have a similar feeling around lightswitches - the European ones are large, delicate and a little flimsy and the UK ones are little and compact and feel solid. I think it's not allowed to have the UK switches here, which is a shame otherwise I'd fit out my flat with them :) update: oh speaking of switches I completely forgot that power sockets generally also have an on/off switch in the UK. I guess it comes down to personal preference but I liked having the extra "off" switch for reasons that I can't quite articulate
- ponyous 5y ago
  European living in England, I really dislike the English ones. I got shocked once because it was so hard to pull out I had to use both hands and accidentally touched both pins at the same time... I prefer both plugs and switches in Europe. Probably for the same reasons as you - I grew up with them, and they feel right.
  - rxt_ian 5y ago
    The live prongs are insulated to such a length you should not be able to touch any conductive part before the plug is no longer making electrical contact with the socket. It's likely you got a small zap from a filtering capacitor inside the device that had not yet discharged.
pmlnr 5y ago
European in the UK: I broke the pins of several europlug ones by accidentally bumping them. Thankfully they didn't break into the socket. I'll take the german or the uk ones only; europlug is just too weak.
Phemist 5y ago
I studied as an Erasmus student for a year in England. Every European student I knew had an "epiphany" moment where they realised that standard European plugs work on UK sockets, if you stick a pen in the ground "hole" to unlock the rest of the socket holes. Converters are a pain to use, they are always flimsy and there always too few available. It is usually not worth getting UK specific plugs for the short-ish duration of the Erasmus period. Safety and the increased fire hazard was, in our student-mindset, a small sacrifice for the convenience we got in return.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  With the modern Europlug design, this tends to wreck the British sockets, as the prongs can get jammed.
Sosh101 5y ago
I have the opposite opinion. There are many things I don't link about europlugs, but the tubular prongs are probably the worst thing IMO. The friction between them and the contacts in the socket is often so much that it's no uncommon to pull the whole socket out of the wall when removing a plug. Also sometimes the "dome" at the end of the prong can get dented with extended use, making it very difficult to insert, and sometimes damaging the socket (though this may be due to cheap plugs). Also lack of on-socket switches means a lot of stuff stays powered needlessly.
gumby 5y ago
The reason for the UK approach (which includes a fuse in the plug and a switch on the socket) is the point-to-point system used after wwii to rapidly electrify the country while money and resources (like copper) were short. It’s complete overkill today but path dependence keeps it in place.

ginko 5y ago

I'd say if we could pick a clean slate design for everyone then I'd go with the Swiss[1] one. Maybe also run it at 400V since modern cables should be able to handle that. [1] https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss1.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss1.html

_djo_ 5y ago
The Swiss one was codified as an international standard as IEC 60906-1, which South Africa and Brazil have adopted, so it should be the de facto option for any country looking to replace their current system. The problem with replacing British plugs is that they need fuses because most British houses are wired with ring circuits, instead of radial circuits like the rest of the world. So I don't see them moving to a new standard any time soon.
- TorKlingberg 5y ago
  Specifically most UK mains are fused at 30A, which is more than appliance cables are rated for. So you need a fuse in either the plug or the socket.
  - _djo_ 5y ago
    Thanks for that clarification!
dingo454 5y ago
I really like this design due to how compact it is. Italy has an almost identical historical design*, but the earth is not offset so LN can be swapped. Both plugs and sockets are very compact, which is a far cry from the emerging standard which is the shuko/europlug which takes twice the space. Almost all new houses are equipped with shuko sockets. But the sockets here do not have the additional prong to avoid swapping the neutral, so they're effectively just a waste of space. * at least, we have two sizes for it, a smaller one rated for 8A, and the newer for 16A which we commonly have today.
- afiori 5y ago
  In Italy in practice there are 4 common plugs, 2 type L (big and small), the schuko (type F) with many variations and the europlug. the compatibility table is not trivial (in particular the europlug is compatible with everithing except the big type L sockets) and while new houses might be to nicer standards, there are a lot of very old houses in italy (i lived in a house from ~1850) and many public spaces use the cheapest sockets they can find so you either get a small type L (accepts also europlugs) a simple schuko (accepts also europlugs and unhearthed small type L) or a big type L (accepts only big type L).
  - dingo454 5y ago
    Oh I know, I lived in a old house as well and circled through europe so I've seen/suffered all the plugs from UK/France/Germany/Italy... In this regard, long live the "europlug" and the trend switching towards type F sockets. But I was just lamenting the bulkiness of it in general.
  - hvusslax 5y ago
    Is the BTicino plug (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian2.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian2.html) used at all in Italy now? There was a serious attempt at adopting it in Iceland in the late 1970s to early 1980s. These sockets can still be found in homes that were built in that period and they are just called "Italian sockets".
    - afiori 5y ago
      Never seen such a plug before in my life, but I have spent very little time anywhere near Ticino In Italy I have mostly seen (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian1.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Italian1.html) 1,2,4,5, schukos like 17a and when lucky schukos like 9 and 10; I have never seen most of the others.
    - dingo454 5y ago
      Never seen this one in Italy, and I've been in several fairly old buildings.
silon42 5y ago
In Slovenia/ex-Yu we had a very similiar (but bigger) 3 phase (400V) plug/socket like that (https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Obsolete_3hd.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Obsolete_3hd.html #9,10). You can still find it in old houses. One probably could force the Europlug into it (looks very close), I haven't tried.
lukeh 5y ago
I have a vague memory of getting the Apple (two-pronged) Swiss and European travel kit plugs mixed up, slightly different tolerances, resulting in one very hard to remove iPhone charger.
- cardinalfang 5y ago
  Similarly you can fit a UK shaver into a Europlug socket, but may not be able to get it out again.
londons_explore 5y ago
In a clean slate design, I would have all power 5 volts unless negotiated higher. And it could be negotiated up to 100,000 volts for charging cars with a thin cool cable. 100,000 volts is perfectly safe as long as system capacitance is kept tiny, and leakage current constantly measured. In fact, the voltage of the sparks when you take off a fleece jumper are more than that.
- 7952 5y ago
  Such a system would need a box in the basement and lots of seperate wires to outlets, which would be expensive. Or it would need to put more smarts in wall sockets, similar to adding USB. This is more of a safety risk than just plugging in a usb charger. It requires more skill to install, reduces seperation between high and low voltage parts, could become obselete and has components that might wear out. Also, any system that encourages the use of extension cables is a safety risk. The last thing we want is someone plugging a 5kw heater into an extension cord bought on Ebay. The current system is nice and flexible and simple enough to be safe. Extension cords work well when you are plugging in a bunch of usb devices and tv/laptop/console. But you can also use the same outlet for a hair dryer or a mixer. Higher current devices like ovens, showers, and cars need to be treated seperately to prevent unsuitable parts adding a fire risk. Lack of compatability to domestic appliances is a feature.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    > The current system is [...] safe. Well, it kills 1000+ people per year in electrical fires in the USA alone. We would never allow electricity in homes like this if it were invented today. > Such a system would need a box in the basement and lots of seperate wires to outlets. Yes. But if high voltages can safely be used, and the system is safe in case a cable gets chafed, then the wires become super thin like headphone wires, and overall, the whole system could be produced cheaper than existing systems which use a lot of copper and plastic. Fire is eliminated too, because a high tech solution measures power losses at every connection, and as soon as enough is unaccounted for to possibly be heating something up to the point of a fire, it switches off. The main disadvantage is that every appliance or device needs circuitry to measure power flows. This is mitigated by the fact that voltage is variable - low power devices could simply run off 5 to 20 volts at sub-1-amp and not bother with any fancy measurement. Only high power stuff would need the high voltages and all the safety circuitry.
barrkel 5y ago
Wall warts of various kinds don't work well with the typical Swiss cluster of three sockets at 120 degree angles to each other. Frequently, various extenders need to be added to actually plug more than one thing into the cluster. Wires typically come out directly from the rear of the plug, making for a not particularly neat plug scenario. I find myself using 90-degree adapters a lot of the time. Extension bars also often take advantage of the reduced space requirements, meaning that many of the slots can't be used if you're plugging in any wall warts there. Finally, UK electricity is 13A @ 240V, whereas Swiss electricity - like most of continental Europe - is 10A @ 220V. The gap here is significant when (a) you need to extend a socket because of space constraints, especially in the kitchen, and (b) when you want a fast-boiling kettle. I had to get a new kettle when I moved to Switzerland and it's noticeably slower to boil.
- MayeulC 5y ago
  > Finally, UK electricity is 13A @ 240V, whereas Swiss electricity - like most of continental Europe - is 10A @ 220V I wonder where you got this idea. Both are 230V. Schulko plugs are 10 or 16 amps (with bigger connectors), 16 A is quite common in my experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEE_7_standard_AC_plugs_and_sockets#CEE_7/3_socket_and_CEE_7/4_plug_(German_%22Schuko%22;_Type_F) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEE_7_standard_AC_plugs_and_so... https://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/knowledge-base/what-is-the-difference-between-uk-voltage-and-european-voltage/ https://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/knowledge-base/what-is-the-dif... > EU 230V -10% +6% (i.e. 207.0 V-243.8 V) > UK 230V -6% +10% (i.e. 216.2 V – 253.0 V)
cranekam 5y ago
Another cool thing about the Swiss system is the derived 3 phase T15/T25 plugs: https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss_3hd.html https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Swiss_3hd.html Our washing machine uses a T15 plug but the socket can also accept a T12 single phase plug instead. (As a Brit, I'd also pick the Swiss plug as the best, except that the fuseless design wouldn't be good in the UK because of the 30A ring system described in another comment.)

goodcanadian 5y ago

I like the Aus/NZ ones. Relatively compact like the North American ones, but very sturdy, in my opinion.

pansa2 5y ago
Compared to UK plugs, the Australian pins are very thin and the earth pin is optional. This makes it easy to insert a plug at a slightly wrong angle and make electrical contact without the socket gripping the plug at all. Also the pins can get bent out of alignment fairly easily, which almost never happens with UK plugs.
- stephen_g 5y ago
  I'll agree the pins could have been made a bit thicker and they do bend a bit, say, if you step on them with shoes. But the earth pin is definitely not optional - it is not present if a device is double insulated, but must be present if the device is not (even though the live and neutral pins are angled so you can't plug it in upside down, and the neutral is grounded in the switch box - you still have the separate protective earth pin on the cable to every device that needs it in case the wall socket is wired incorrectly). I'm not sure what you mean about plugging it at a slightly wrong angle, I haven't experienced that (in ~25 years of using Australia plugs).
  - aembleton 5y ago
    If the earth pin is not optional, how do you plug something in if it isn't present? Do you have special sockets for devices that are double insulated?
    - stephen_g 5y ago
      I mean not optional by certification and law, not physically, so no, we don’t have different sockets - all sockets have earth, but it doesn’t have a shuttering system like the UK’s. A two pin plug still plugs into a regular socket, it’s just illegal to produce or sell something without an earth pin if it doesn’t meet safety standards for double insulation.

dairylee 5y ago

Thankfully Google make collapsible plugs[1] which make taking my charger on holiday nice and painless. Shame more companies don't so something similar if the product is portable. 1: https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_30w_charger https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_30w_charger

dspillett 5y ago
I've had a plug like that from another manufacturer, and you can get them easily as after-market parts. It is a shame that the mü range by Made In Mind is dying, I have one of their USB2 models and it is rather convenient to pack. They are a tad expensive compared to others though.

OJFord 5y ago

We win on Earth, though. I'd be with you if Europlugs had a central Earth (still reversible) that was longer, making contact first & opening shutters as BS1363. Shame BS546 ('lighting circuit') sockets aren't (still) more common really. You could (buy a house with them or fit them and) replace plugs on cables of course, but not your USB charger with plug & transformer in a single moulding.

aigo 5y ago
I"m doing by bit for those lighting sockets, I've just had about eight or ten installed all around my house. Turning on lamps from the wall light switch as you enter a room is a massive quality of life upgrade.
ginko 5y ago
The ground contacts in Schuko plugs DO make contact first. It's just less obvious from the design I guess.
- afiori 5y ago
  In the uk plugs the ground contact also acts as a switch; you actually can use an europlug with the uk sockets but you need insert something in the ground pin anyway (some sockets simply a plastic pin instead of a connector)
  - mytailorisrich 5y ago
    It does not act as a switch. The way it usually works, as mentioned by OJFord, is that wall sockets have safety shutters on the live and neutral connectors, which open when the earth pin is inserted in the earth connector in order to prevent a plug without earth from being connected. That's why sockets always have an earth pin even if only plastic on some cheap ones (for double insulated devices that do not require an earth connection). Pretty cool feature.
- OJFord 5y ago
  I'm aware, but Schuko != Europlug (despite being a plug used in many Euro countries), does not have shutters on the live/neutral opened by Earth contact, and (partly consequently) can often be trivially (mis)used not Earthing a device which should be.

mytailorisrich 5y ago

As an European who's travelled and now lives in the UK I find that the British plugs and sockets are the best ones. The metal connectors are big, but that feels like quality, but the plugs are not bulky off the wall because of the overall angled design (European plugs actually eat up more space off the wall because they are straight although of course europlugs take much less surface area on the wall), which is good behind furnitures or where space is tight. There is only one sort of plug and it has a well designed earth connector. Plugs include a fuse and it's easily replaceable (this is partly due to the standard use of ring circuits in the UK but I find it a nice feature anyway). They have very good grip and stay in place very well (compare this to europlug...). Sockets have an integrated switch. British plugs are a quiet success (the other one being postcodes).

ginko 5y ago
I disagree, way overengineered and bulky. The fuse is only necessary due to shoddy British wiring standards.
- BerislavLopac 5y ago
  > The fuse is only necessary due to shoddy British wiring standards In other words, they're solving a very real problem here. And so is the rest of the plug as well. It seems that most of the continental Europeans that have moved to the UK (myself included) are positively amazed by the details of the UK plug design.
- barrkel 5y ago
  The area around Swiss sockets are more bulky in practice because (a) wires come out at 90 degrees to the wall and (b) adapters and extensions and whatnot are required to plug in wall-warts, which are really common these days, whether it's USB power for various gadgets, cordless vacuum cleaners, video Alexa (not USB-powered), etc.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
quietbritishjim 5y ago

gmac 5y ago

Fellow Brit, strongly disagree. The Europlug feels to me barely less flimsy than the US type. Ours and the Schuko are about the only ones I feel fully safe using.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

tiziano88 5y ago

If I had to choose a plug to use all over the world, it would actually probably be the UK one (or perhaps a slightly less bulky version of it). See https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q

wongarsu 5y ago
The Schuko and Europlug have the same safety features as the British one: - the same shutters prevent screwdrivers - A plug half in isn't an issue because the sockets are recessed (but as an additional measure the Europlug has the half-way isolation like the British plug) The only real advantage of the British plug over Schuko is the fuse (a debatable feature) and the known polarity (Schuko and Europlug don't differentiate between live and neutral). Nice features that the Schuko variant has that the British plug is missing: - Ground connection is exposed in the socket, giving you an obvious way to reliably ground yourself (useful when working with electronics) - Recessed socket design allows plugs that barely stick out (those are not the norm, but are available for use behind furniture etc) - You have Schuko for "serious" use (ground wire, high current) and Europlug for things that don't need either, with Europlug fitting in Schuko outlets. This gives extension cords more flexibility, many have a mix of Schuko and Europlug outlets to fit more plugs in the same space.
- tentacleuno 5y ago
  > The only real advantage of the British plug over Schuko is the fuse (a debatable feature) Could I ask why a fuse is debatable? Seems like quite a basic security feature. There's a good video[0] on the design of UK plugs if you're interested. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q
  - wongarsu 5y ago
    If it's such a basic security feature, what is it actually protecting? In a standard (non-British) home, each room has a separate (10A or 16A) breaker in the breaker panel. That breaker protects the wires from overheating (preventing cable fires), and in more modern instances might protect the human from electric shock with an RCD. Then each device may have an internal (usually self-resetting) fuse to protect itself from failure modes. That fuse is tuned to the device needs, both in how fast it triggers and how much current it allows. What does a fuse in the cable buy you? It can't reliably protect the device, because the user might replace the cable or replace a blown fuse with one with a different rating. It can't protect wires because it's after the house wiring, a large number of functioning devices overheating your wires is at least as likely as a single malfunctioning device. The only context in which it makes sense it the one Tom Scott mentions: you have a copper shortage, so you put the entire flat or even house on one circuit with one fuse. And because you don't want to cut electricity to everything every time there's a short somewhere you put little fuses everywhere. It's a good design for the circumstances of post-war Britain, but we aren't living in a copper shortage right now.

smcl 5y ago

As a Brit living in the EU, I kinda miss the ones back home - for two reasons, the grip and the orientation. I don't know anything about relative safety of either, this is purely about UX :) The UK plugs usually have a very clear way to grip them and pull them out of the socket, and yanking them by the cable neither looks nor feels right. Whereas the Europlug ones I have mostly have a very dainty, slight place to grip with your fingers and are often very tight - often they really invite you to pull by the cable itself. There's a little bit of ambiguity about orientation - sometimes the socket has an extra prong sticking out meaning you have to use the plug the right way up, and sometimes there's none. But it can sometimes happen that you're not sure if you're a few degrees out in aligning the prongs in the plug, or if you're just the wrong way up and the earth prong is in the way. Obviously if you can see the socket this isn't a huge issue, but if you're reaching behind a TV unit, or a desk or a counter etc you're in for a bit of fumbling. I have a similar feeling around lightswitches - the European ones are large, delicate and a little flimsy and the UK ones are little and compact and feel solid. I think it's not allowed to have the UK switches here, which is a shame otherwise I'd fit out my flat with them :) update: oh speaking of switches I completely forgot that power sockets generally also have an on/off switch in the UK. I guess it comes down to personal preference but I liked having the extra "off" switch for reasons that I can't quite articulate

ponyous 5y ago
European living in England, I really dislike the English ones. I got shocked once because it was so hard to pull out I had to use both hands and accidentally touched both pins at the same time... I prefer both plugs and switches in Europe. Probably for the same reasons as you - I grew up with them, and they feel right.
- rxt_ian 5y ago
  The live prongs are insulated to such a length you should not be able to touch any conductive part before the plug is no longer making electrical contact with the socket. It's likely you got a small zap from a filtering capacitor inside the device that had not yet discharged.

pmlnr 5y ago

European in the UK: I broke the pins of several europlug ones by accidentally bumping them. Thankfully they didn't break into the socket. I'll take the german or the uk ones only; europlug is just too weak.

Phemist 5y ago

I studied as an Erasmus student for a year in England. Every European student I knew had an "epiphany" moment where they realised that standard European plugs work on UK sockets, if you stick a pen in the ground "hole" to unlock the rest of the socket holes. Converters are a pain to use, they are always flimsy and there always too few available. It is usually not worth getting UK specific plugs for the short-ish duration of the Erasmus period. Safety and the increased fire hazard was, in our student-mindset, a small sacrifice for the convenience we got in return.

Symbiote 5y ago
With the modern Europlug design, this tends to wreck the British sockets, as the prongs can get jammed.

Sosh101 5y ago

I have the opposite opinion. There are many things I don't link about europlugs, but the tubular prongs are probably the worst thing IMO. The friction between them and the contacts in the socket is often so much that it's no uncommon to pull the whole socket out of the wall when removing a plug. Also sometimes the "dome" at the end of the prong can get dented with extended use, making it very difficult to insert, and sometimes damaging the socket (though this may be due to cheap plugs). Also lack of on-socket switches means a lot of stuff stays powered needlessly.

gumby 5y ago

The reason for the UK approach (which includes a fuse in the plug and a switch on the socket) is the point-to-point system used after wwii to rapidly electrify the country while money and resources (like copper) were short. It’s complete overkill today but path dependence keeps it in place.