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Let’s say you desperately need a cup of tea. So you buy a cheap 4-way extension cable and 4 electric kettles. You fill all the kettles and turn them on at the s
by zarzavat 3y ago
Let’s say you desperately need a cup of tea. So you buy a cheap 4-way extension cable and 4 electric kettles. You fill all the kettles and turn them on at the same time for maximum tea-making throughput.
The combined load of all the kettles exceeds the rating of the extension cable.
With a fuse: the fuse in the extension cable plug blows, you buy another fuse, and learn some patience.
Without a fuse: the extension cable overheats and causes a fire, your house burns down, and worst of all you still don’t have any tea.
- TheCoelacanth 3y agoWithout a fuse, the circuit breaker trips and then you go reset it and hopefully learn not to plug in so many kettles next time. You would have to be a maniac to wire up a house without fuses or breakers.
- oasisaimlessly 3y agoFrom sibling comment: > British household electrical systems are normally built as one large ring circuit, originally in order to save copper after WW2. > This means you don't have breakers for each branch circuit (there are no branch circuits), just the single mains breaker for the house.
- manarth 3y agoIn the UK, there's typically one ring circuit and one lighting circuit per storey, a separate ring circuit for the kitchen, and dedicated circuits for large current draws such as an electric oven or hob, shower, or immersion heater. Each circuit would have a dedicated MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) which will trip if too much current is drawn. The standard MCB rating for a ring circuit in the UK is 32A.
- Angostura 3y agoYour 6-way extension strip cable has still caught on fire thiugh