American Couple Reacts: British Plugs and Outlets! Best In The World? UK vs US! FIRST TIME REACTION!
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- American Couple Reacts: British Plugs and Outlets! Best In The World? UK vs US! FIRST TIME REACTION! Who knew that learning about British Plugs would be FUN, INTERESTING and even EXCITING?? We certainly didn't! We feel like massive nerds considering how cool we thought this video was! Why does the USA NOT have have these?! We want them! This is a new video that's only been out for a few months and it covered a lot of information on the plugs and outlets. It really was a fascinating episode for us and we think you will agree. Now we have to figure out how to get these in America! Well done United Kingdom! You certainly made a genius invention here! Thanks to each of YOU for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support! More Links below...
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Who knew that learning about British Plugs would be FUN, INTERESTING and even EXCITING?? We certainly didn't! We feel like massive nerds considering how cool we thought this video was! Why does the USA NOT have have these?! We want them! This is a new video that's only been out for a few months and it covered a lot of information on the plugs and outlets. It really was a fascinating episode for us and we think you will agree. Now we have to figure out how to get these in America! Well done United Kingdom! You certainly made a genius invention here! Thanks to each of YOU for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!
leaving the cable unpluged and risking standing on it, is kind of a non-issue since you can simply turn it off at the wall... and for an un-plugged in extension cable you can just plug it into its self
So1% negative and 99% better the up plug
Fascinating fact. The UAE adopted the UK style plug after testing various other types and deciding that it was the safest.
It's rather like railsafety. My wife is a disabled advisor to the rail companies in the uk. ( she is a volunteer). The UK rail companies are bound up in the latest safety regulations, USA as east Palestine showed are still using brakes on trains designed in1860.
That is because of lack of regulation.
On another thing the women s 6 nations rugby starts tomorrow 25 march, England versus scotland, Wales versus Ireland and Italy versus France.
Have you looked at women s cricket?
One of the reasons our (UK) plugs are designed with so many safety features is that, in the past, appliances in most cases were sold minus the plug. Persons of my advanced years therefore learned to wire them up safely. It is also useful to know this if the fuse expires, and has to be replaced. For most bigger appliances a 13amp fuse is standard but for smaller ones a fuse such a 3amp is safer as
it will trip immediately if there is a problem. For this reason, the plug on your appliance may have a paper on its surface demonstrating the wiring and the correct position of same.💡🪛
I’m British, and I’ve never had any of the problems, with any of the slight issues, with what he’s listing. The British plug, and power socket, are an absolute genius piece of design and engineering.
You've really never stepped on an upturned plug?!?
To quote the classic "50 Sheds of Gray".
"My body writhed and quivered from the pain. I had learned my first lesson. Never again would I leave an upturned plug on the shed floor . ."
agreed, if someting isn't working first port of investigation would be the fuse, when you check fuse you will see if socket is off.
I've stepped on a plug, it's agony,
Yes Phil, We are British and we do everything the British way, and usually it`s the best way.
And why are Americans not using LED bulbs? instead of the old fashioned ones that we British have stopped using.
In my 58 years on this planet living in England i have NEVER stepped on an upturned plug ! You know why ? - because if i drop the plug i PICK THE DAMN THING UP !! Another great video ladies, i love seeing how you react to things that have always been normal to me 🙂
And because there are on/off switches on the sockets, you don't have to pull the plugs out and have them lying on the floor...
I'm 55 and we have the on/off switch :)
I have stepped on a plug a few times in my life, because I didn't pick the damn thing up 😂 I take full responsibility for my carelessness and don't blame the plug, that would be absurd!
My wife stepped on a plug ,it left a nasty hole ,and took quite a while to heal.
Those with kids know the daunting trip around the bedroom *'Mission impossible theme tune'* as you carefully pick up the school clothes to find all sorts of potential foot stabbing utensils as well as the often strewn bedside lamp plug!
Debbie's quite right about the furniture thing. Our UK plugs don't really get in the way. The big difference is the voltage. A shock in the UK can easily kill. That's the main reason why we have such stringent safety standards on our plugs and do not generally have sockets in our bathrooms. The advantage is that we can run power-greedy appliances, such as our electric kettles, which boil water in less than a minute for our endless cups of tea.
And I can't remember the last time anyone was killed by getting an electric shock indoors?? Because of circuit breakers it's so unlikely that if it did happen it would be headline news!
A shock in the USA can kill too ask Ted Bundy :P
Yeah. My friend was fixing the washer when his younger brother plugged it in "for a joke." It killed him. Took me years to get over my fear of even changing light bulbs after that. That's in the UK 21 years ago.
@@ruthfoley2580 That's appalling! Was the younger brother a child, or if he was an adult were there any legal consequences? What a dreadful thing to happen.
@@Sue474 He was 13. He thought it would be a mild jolt. My friend was 19. I was 16. First time I was truly aware of my own mortality.
The load imbalance he mentions isn't really an issue. There's usually two Socket Rings in a typical home, one for the ground floor rooms - kitchen, lounge, dining, etc, and the second for the upstairs rooms - mostly bedrooms. High current usage such as electric showers, electric cookers and heating systems usually have their own radial circuit. We also have a separate ring circuit for the lights on each floor.
Not to mention a separate circuit again for heavy duty items like the cooker!
Unless your house is rewired by a Bloke Wot Yer Dad Knows Down The Pub....
(Fortunately, our B.W.Y.D.K.D.T.P. was a qualified electrician with his own business !)
I have 6 now 4 in the kitchen
@@gdj6298 fortunately for my family, BWYDKFDTP is my father. Domestic and industrial maintenance spark for 45 years.
The only trade we don't have covered in the immediate family is plumbing.
I'm the builder, decorator, gardener and also maintenance electrician, so fortunately for me, I'm also BWYDKFDTP 😁
Load balancing is a term generally applied to three phase supplies. As most uk domestic supplies are single phase this is a nonsense. He's talking about simple socket overloading due to the use of multi socket adapters. In most up to date uk setups such a situation would trip the MCB at the consumer unit.
I didn't expect that I'd be so proud of being from England because of our plugs 😄 love your vids x
It gave me that nice warm feeling as well I never knew a plug could be loved as a plug could be loved before, I will never look at a plug the same again such a humble little electric cracker safety first, versatile, nice looking and it's diverse getting several different colours . I really enjoyed tonight's show thank you
It's a British plug ffs lol
@@joemuir2575was invented by an Englishmen though.
What he didn’t mention was that the fuse in the plug can can be sized to suit the wattage of the appliance it’s connected to just like automobile fuses. Which will blow before damage or fire will result. Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺
Fuses are rated by current, 3A and 13A are most common.
Yes- my brother once stole my computer power supply to power his kettle *fume*
As a Brit he also failed to mention that there is Adaptor plugs to control wattage etc for computers to electric pianos too but I highly recommend buying a multi adapter with surge protectors in so you can further protect appliances during electrical storms
There is a fuse because of the ring mains. Also in some cases like spurs the fuse in the plug is actually used to protect the wiring which is far from ideal. The wiring should not rely on what is connected on it.
You should consider, that fuses used in cords are not about to protect your devices, but are considered to protect the cords and electrical installations in your house!
Make shure your house protect it self! Instead of giving extra money to complicated plug designs!
Load balancing is not usually even a tiny issue as most UK homes have more than one ring main. Our house has 7; one for downstairs plugs, one for upstairs plugs, one for downstairs lights, one for upstairs lights, one for garage and one for kitchen except the oven which has its own fused spur. All circuits feed from circuit breaker distribution panel so if for example something trips the downstairs plugs nothing else in the house is affected. It's then just a matter of resetting the trip in the board.
What he said.
@@billywindsock9597 ???
@@speedtriplerider7853 think he's agreeing with you but complementing your explanation
Load balancing isn’t a thing. Given the cable is rated for 24 amps in one direction you’d need to be connecting some serious load to stress it to its limit and that would be with it in a broken ring. The breaker would trip before it got to be an issue in a realistic situation.
Most modern sparkies don’t like fitting rings now for that very reason, plus testing takes longer and having more radial means they can charge more for inspection certificates while it is easier to do the work.
Yeah, the only time I've experienced anything like that as being an issue is in my kitchen, which we discovered had circuits spurred off of other circuits 5 TIMES (a spur off a spur off a spur off a spur off a spur) which is not the safest thing for the part of the house with some of the most power hungry appliances. And even then, we never actually had a fault. Some of the wires were very black though, and we only noticed it when replastering a wall.
As A brit, I would like to say the last 'negative ' is not an issue as you don't HAVE to unplug them. Once there switch is turned off, there is no power to the socket. Love you two girls btw Xxx
Agreed. But it is agonising when it does rarely happen 😭😭😭
As you say, they are normally 'stored' in the socket as we mostly have switched sockets (for some reason we can have unswitched sockets, probably meant for appliances like fridges etc. that are never switched off), so no reason to remove. If you have younger kids or 'adults' with lego, that's a bigger dark room danger.
There's another safety feature I don't think he mentioned. The shape of the plug body itself. The edges of the top surface protrude so you can grip it easily and the sides flare out around the edges at the bottom so you can't accidentally wrap your fingers around underneath when you're unplugging it which stops you touching the live and neutral pins as the bare metal part is exposed.
Sorry that's wrong. It's impossible to touch the bare live and neutral pins when pulling the plug out. The first half of the pins have plastic sheathing to stop you doing just that. Up to about the 1980s the pins were 100% metal. Whilst pulling one of these plugs out I managed to touch the live pin. Electrocution does hurt! (It wasn't the first time. Aged 11, I pulled a plug out of a socket and got zapped. The hamster had chewed through the cable insulation right against the plug. Surprisingly the hamster was OK)
@@nevillemason6791 which is why they added the flared shape to the bottom edge of the plugs. older plugs didn't have that feature. Coupled with the insulated pins it's another level of safety.
@@TimJacksonOriginal correct when i was kid in 80s i got finger on the pins gave me quick shock i think the insulation was added later it seems
@@nevillemason6791 the insulated part on the pins is a more recent addition - I remember having a few plugs without that when I was younger - the flared parts were to reduce the risk of needing to grab the plug & catch the bare metal back in the day prior to the genius insulation being introduced.
I'm a Brit living in America ( I'm a subscriber) . The other thing I like about British plugs is, it's virtually impossible to bend the pins. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to straighten the pins on an American plug just to plug it in.
Natasha & Debbie, some of the latest three pin plugs (as we know them by), can come even smaller as they have been redesign so that the Earth Pin when not in use can be slid down towards the center of the plug, saving space. These type of plugs typically come with mobile phone's charges, and electronic appliances, a feature very good for storage when not in use. Also your Chap did not mention that the fuse inside the plug is normally rated at 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, Amps. This is often already fitted by the manufacturer for the rated appliance that is going to be used with the plug. This normally 13 Amps or lower which is much lower than the usual 30 Amps Ring Main Electric supply.
The body being made of plastic will mean the bodies break before the pins. Also the new mobile chargers with the retractable ground pin now if lying around land like the 2 pin American style, meaning no more protentional step on the pins. I did that once and how I tidy up my wires. A lesson I learnt at 6 years old.
Crazy dangerous. It's scary how much fiddling one human can do with a system that carries such major life killing voltages.
You mentioned it being like a "little computer" That's actually another advantage. There's enough room inside the plug to build in circuitry. For example, a UK iPhone charger is just the same size (actually a bit smaller) than a normal plug. We also have plugs with bulbs built-in to act a night lights.
Yes, those night light plugs are pretty cool for babies/kids rooms. My kids had lady bird (ladybug) ones.
Another bonus of a type G plug is that you can put a sticky label on the back telling you what appliance is being used.
And covers over the switch so your freezer wont get turned off by mistake.
I labelled all the plugs on my hifi system because they all look the same . . .
Me too, as I`m young 60 year old and I sold my house and downgraded to an over 55`s 2 bed apartment, it`s only 35 year old but you would think it was built in the 70`s hardly any sockets anywhere, They must have thought old people only have a wireless to listen to The Archers most of them are singles too , I've converted them all to doubles but on my media unit I need at least 8, so i have purge protected 8 way extension with individual switches, I've fitted it in one of the draws so I pull it out and turn the xbox, pre-amp and turntable off when not in use.
Or write directly on it with marker. Even with luminous.
Yep me too. All my plugs are labelled so I know what’s what!
I attended monthly BSI (British Standards Insitute) meetings for 4 years to write a BSI standard for Medical infusion equipment - believe me, the safety details we had to go into for that standard was epic! 🤓
Love your videos. As a Brit of 53 years I can say that I have never known any of those negatives to happen. Here's hoping you hit 50k subs for your 200th episode !
he missed that most of the time we don't have to unplug the plug we leave it plugged in so wouldn't have it on the floor sticking up and also he missed the feature that if liquid or anything trips the socket the fuse will blow and the circuit will trip at the location stopping electricity getting through thus preventing a fire happening love your vids girls i am only recently a subscriber and look forward to seeing your vids each time keep up the good work
oh Natasha to your earlier statement size matter i think i can say as a Brit yes it does :)
Have rewired old buildings, installed underfloor heating, ovens, showers and even turned my brothers old cassette recorder into an amp! Been here from birth and never had the problems this guy mentions. Electrics are easy as long as you to treat it seriously and with respect wherever you are. Here in the UK it's an incredibly safe and capable system.
I'm in the U.K. and I never knew I needed this video. Another awesome video ladies. Thank you so much and I'm looking forward to your 200th episode episode. Belated Happy Birthday Debbie. See you on Sunday.
Yay! Thank you!
I'm nearly 70, and only ever stood on a plug once. Never again!
After that, I was always more careful when unplugging stuff and making sure the cable/plug was squared away.
When I got married and had a family, I became paranoid, and was much more careful in the dark. I tried to never walk in the dark without something on my feet - I even had slippers with firm soles. Being paranoid has saved me from many a lurking Lego brick as well 😮
Like I said, never again!
Just for the record...the load balancing "problem" he raised is absolutely not a problem in day-to-day use over here in the UK - in fact, I don't know anybody who's ever had a problem with it, even in houses with older wiring.
The Lego one is _definitely_ an issue, though. Most folk over here learn to be careful with them pretty early on in their lives. But, of course, because of the switch on the socket...you can leave them plugged in all the time, so there's not really an excuse for leaving plugs around on the floor anyway.
I don't think I've unplugged anything since I've had my own home.
When I was a teenager/kidult maybe. But you soon learn to keep your cables tidy.
The load balancing is only something to think about when wiring the house, then need to decide how many rings needed and also separate circuits for things such as induction hobs and electric ovens.
The iPhone plugs (when they came with plugs) all three pins can fold down, making them smaller to put in a bag and making stepping on them less painful (if they are folded). I wish more of the British plugs came with the same folding feature.
One thing that was pointed out in another video was that in the US you can plug a high current capable extension cord into a low current one and risk melting the cable on the smaller cord. In the UK virtually all extension cords use the same sized cable removing that risk.
We usually leave them plugged in and switched off and not usually on the floor as described .
See, that's so opposite here! Most Americans very ignorantly leave their plugs in the wall...we know better!
hair dryers owned by older children are the biggest culprit for stepping on a plug
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow That's another reason why the UK system is safer - the fact that you're not plugging and unplugging common devices every time means there's less wear-and-tear on the cable and plug.
Great video N & D. It really got me thinking about plugs, I had seen the UK ones, but not the American ones. Once again it reminds me to never take things for granted. Thanks for all the energy you put in to these videos. I am going to join your Patreon group soon! ❤
Right on!! ❤❤
Load balancing is rarely an issue as homes have more than 1 ring main. Ours for example has 5 with higher circuit breakers depending on the use the ring with the cooker is a 32 amp while the one with the normal outlets is a 16 amp one
Hi Ladies , brit here , one feature he did not mention also is the shapping on that plug is also desighned to give you extra hold when removing the plug from the wall , making it easier also though we have ring mains , most houses have severial rings wich feed back to a fuse board which also has trip switchies in , in case of overload . A tiplical split would be lights are on a seperate circuit as they typicaly need less power . As a side note there a wide range of socket types some of those have switchies that have led's in them so you can easily see if their on or off and there are some that dont have switchies .
Having visited the US a few time I can honestly say I always found the plugs there quite scary. Super small and seemingly fragile, I was always a little nervous plugging one in! Lol! All those "negatives" he mentioned have NEVER been a problem. Even the stepping on the plug one. As sockets are attached to walls, and walls tend to be at the edge of the room, even if the plug is pulled out and lands prongs upwards (which isn't guaranteed to happen at all. Mine tend to land the other way up), it will be next to the wall. Most people don't walk that near the wall in a room! The only time that could be an issue is if an extension lead is in use which is stretched across the floor. But again, in my 60+ years in this planet, I've never ever pulled a plug and left it sat prongs upwards on the floor, ready for someone to step on..... 🤷♂️
I hadn't thought much about our plugs but you pointed out stuff we've been taking for granted. Your one and only negative; yes if you stood on that plug in bare feet you would definitely know about it. The truth is the safety features allow you to leave them plugged in. I've never known any brit to leave one out of its socket. Even if you dont have enough sockets; socket-extensions are used. I've sliced my finger cooking a few times but never found a plug to step on! Happy 200 !!!! Carl and Den xxx
I'm in the UK and my father-in-law is a retired electrician and he has always said our electrics are the best and safest in the world. Once we went on holiday in Portugal self catering and we had problems with the electrics first day so we looked at the so called consumer unit, well lets say he said don't say anything about it to the girls it was pretty shocking and the EU is supposed to be good on safety 😂😂 yes I feel very safe with our electrics. Good video 👍
True. I have never stood on an upturned plug in my 52 years on this planet, and plugs are usually left in the socket (with the wall switch off when not used) or in an extension. It just isn't a thing.
No that’s just a extra safety feature to protect the plug as if the plug attacks back you are less likely to leave it somewhere where you might step on it and damage the plug
Our Wall sockets (Outlets) have a red bar on the switch so you can see if its on, they also sometimes have a red light to show power is on the same as our extension plugs. If you switch off at the wall you will never step on a plug! However I have and it does bloody hurt :)
Edit: Another thing I'd like to add is that we are taught at school how to wire a plug safely but most products now arrive with them fitted by Law.
Everything should have a plug fitted as standard, became law in the early 90's I think. Only exception is something that is hardwired like a cooker.
@@llljustcallhimdave Thats "must", not "should" ( being picky)
The design is so good because the only woman on the 20 person committee put together to redesign electrical systems in the home (including plugs and sockets) in post WWII Britain was the safety expert, Caroline Haslett, she played an integral part in the safety aspects of the new design as she was also the only electrical safety expert on the committee.
Thank you for sharing this. Im going to look her up
Great video! The thought that went into designing these plugs is something else. One thing I don’t think he mentioned about size of the plugs is that whilst they are definitely bigger, they are actually easier to fit behind furniture since the cable goes down instead of out - means it’s flush with the wall. Very handy. And yes, I can personally attest that stepping on those plugs is not an experience you’d be in a hurry to repeat.
One thing that was not mentioned is that the fuse in the plug can be replaced with another one that suits the power drawn by the appliance. For instance a 2.4kW heater should have a 13Amp fuse but a small radio may draw no more than an Amp so should only have a 2Amp fuse. A small radio with a defect could be well alight before it pops a 13Amp fuse.
Love your show, I've spent nearly a whole weekend catching up with many as I can! 😍
One of the first things I was taught as a child in the home was how to wire a plug and check the fuse.
200 episodes wow 😮
Load balancing is a theoretical issue only in modern wiring. The wires are of a sufficient guage to cope with all anticipated loads.
Never heard of load balancing, been using our UK system for over 50 years, just plug in and go. Only when using power strip/multi socket extension would I consider the load.
1) extra feature of the plugs is they have an edge around the flat so you can hold it firmly while taking it out of the outlet. 2) The flat nature of all the pins mean there is more surface area touching the power bars inside the outlet normally a double sprung leaf system where 1 leaf touches either side of the pin (Most other countries in the world have round pins, so can not get a true full contact area linkage)
I have never thought about balancing the load round the house. In my living room with all my tv, hue lights, dvd player, sky, PlayStation and Xbox all plugged into strips next to each other haha. Never tripped my house with it yet
Sockets and extension leads with a 13amp fuse can take 3KW of power, but most of the devices you listed have 3 or 5amp fuses, and if you add up the power your appliances consume, it will be far less than 3KW, so your TV will be 80Watt or higher.
It's Kettles Toasters microwaves etc used on the same circuit you need to control when I boil my kettle that's 3KW I wont use toasters or microwaves at the same time
I got totally caught out by the power difference (many years ago). I was working in Dallas and they had a computer fair so I bought a good cheap PC to use while I was there (this is before laptops!). But stupidly I completely forgot to flip the power switch (it had a US and a UK setting on the power supply) when I took the PC back to the UK. So one puff of smoke and a couple hundred pounds later my PC was working again (I guess in some ways it also helped me learn how to re-build PCs as well and now I do any needed work myself rather than take it to a store for it to be done)
in the UK we also have sockets available with orange or red neon warning lights .when you press the power switch on the warning light glows. you then know the socket is OK .now you know the fault is within the appliance
In all of my 68 years born and bred in the U.K., I have never stood on a plug! Having said that I probably will now! One thing with the U.K. 3 pin plugs if you have arthritis or pain in the hands it can be difficult to unplug them from the wall socket, nowadays some have a rigid plastic loop moulded into the rigid back to slot a finger in to make it easier to pull it out of the wall socket. Also it is rare these days to have to wire a plug on large appliances as they are already premoulded onto the appliance, in fact, I think it is a rarity to find many younger people who know how to put a plug on any electrical item unless it is an older item such as a lamp!
Ive stood on one, i was barefoot at the time and carrying something heavy.
Nowadays, load balancing isn't an issue; especially in either newer built places or those older that have had their electrics fully redone. We still use circuit system, but also radial. I lived in one place where the lights of the ground floor (1st for Americans) were on one circuit, and those of the upstairs were on another. Then ANOTHER circuit for all sockets downstairs, and another for the Kitchen alone (where most of the REALLY heavy load items are - fridge, freezer, washing machine, etc), and ANOTHER for the sockets upstairs. So each circuit radiates off from where the mains enters and then acts as a normal circuit system per area. And we never think about plugging in a vacuum cleaner or hair drier that it'll trip something.
It just works. And unlike when Bethesda says it... it really does work!
Having lived in the UK all my life , i'm now 69 i have never stood on a plug or now anyone who has.One of the reasons for this is that we don't normally unplug things as we can just turn the power off using the switch.
also i think it it more tidy having the flex coming out of the bottom of the plug rather than sticking out from the wall.
another point that wasn't mentioned was that the fuse rating can be easily changed to suit the appliance that is being used IE} 13amp for a washing machine but 3amp for a radio for example.
Very interesting video today on the English plugs,Australia has similar power points with switch’s to turn on and off the power plugs .
Another safety feature is you can't rewire the plug incorrectly. The live and neutral are specifically coloured "blue" and " brown".
B(L)UE= Left
B(R)OWN= Right.
Love yous guys. 🇬🇧🇺🇸💜
or (r)ed and b(l)ack.
Hey girls, I am a systems engineer from the UK (Yorkshire) living in Abu Dhabi city UAE. Love yor Channel.
This guy has only a partial knowledge of UK ring circuit understanding as there is no load balancing required. There are different circuits for different rooms and higher power systems all feeding back to the main home distrbution panel. For example, each rooms wall sockets are on their own ring back to the distribution panel as are such things such as water heater, cooker outside appliances, all individually linked to their own breaker in the panel. Socket rings are typically on a 15 Amp breaker per room. Water heaters and electric shower units are normally a 20 Amp breaker and electric cooker outlets are a dedicated 30 Amp single outlet. All these are also monitored by an ELB (Earth leakage breaker) that monitors any minute current to earth which is usually through you to ground and immediately cuts all power to the home. Usually great for water leaks or floods too!!
Oh 100% with that final point by Debbie. As a British person, I hate when ohoje chargers come with the lead sticking outwards, I much prefer the ones that go straight down, which is surprisingly less common considering the standard shape of our plugs. It makes plugging a charger in behind a bed way more difficult
"How?" said Natasha regarding the second 'negative'. EXACTLY! I have more things plugged in in the kitchen and nothing plugged in in the spare bedrooms unless someone (rarely) stays over and my home hasn't been rewired since it was built in the 1970s and I've never had a problem. The size is also never a problem because they lay flush as against sticking out. Why would you have a plug just laying around in the middle of the room - but you'd only step on one once before you learn!!!
In most homes, the kitchen has 2 separate rings (1 for an electric cooker and the other for the rest of your kitchen sockets/appliances) and in turn they are separate from the rest of the house due to the expected heavy power draw.
Commonly all the house lights are on 1 or 2 rings (1 for upstairs, 1 for downstairs) and the sockets on another separate ring, also, if you have an electric shower it will be on it's own separate ring, that's why there are a series of circuit breakers in your consumer panel (fuse board).
When you look at a socket or light switch on a wall, remember, normally, the cabling in the wall goes upwards for lights and downwards for sockets, keep your power drills on the safe sides.
Not really a problem in modern housing installations you can plug into every outlet and the mcb will trip if the circuit is overloaded, never seen that yet.
I'm so glad you called out the nitpicking because that's exactly what it was 😂I've never experienced any of that in my lifetime of using Brit plugs haha! It blows my mind that you don't have a socket switch. I couldn't live without it! Loved this video and you pair are awesome 😊
100% agree with the end , standing on then does really hurt the rest was nitpicking . I watch many of these vid and your was the most informed NICE!!
The half insulated Live and Neutral pins were not in the original design, they were both as per the Earth pin. But - when I was at school in the mid seventies, it was discovered by the kids that a 1p coin will sit flat against the plug body and connect all three pins together, so, imagine the scene where the plug is in the socket, but the switch is off, and teacher enters the room and turns the projector on------- BOOM + a bit of a flash and smoke and lots of laughing kids. They very quickly added the insulated pins - oh for the old days ha ha ha. Thankyou ladies, another enjoyable vid - keep em coming :-))
One small disadvantage. Some appliances these days now come with molded plugs and molded cables. This means that while you can still change the fuse which can be popped out through a small door built into the socket you can't open or remove the actual socket. So for example if you have a washing machine below your work surface and your outlet is above the work surface then you will need to cut off the molded socket and rewire using a conventional plug otherwise the plug won't pass through the nice little hole you've drilled through your worktop. I've had to do this several times.
I have an example of the load balancing issue! When you plug an extension lead into one socket and power too many machines off it! My husband did this a few years ago as he had an extension lead from our kitchen into his shed where he had another extension lead plugged in and into that, a very power hungry CNC machine, plus a heater, a radio, and probably a few other things too. I came home and immediately smelt burning plastic... he was about 5 minutes away from the socket in the kitchen catching fire! We had to chuck out the extension lead and replace the socket on the wall where the plug had melted all over it and blackened it. Now we did live in an old house that probably could have benefited from being rewired... but it's also a very good idea to not overload a single plug socket. And considering my husband has been electrocuted at least twice in his life, he really should have known better! 🤣
It was a post war update for us Brits that gave us these great plugs and wall socket (outlet) designs. Back in the day most items did not come with a plug so if you purchased a TV you would buy a plug and fit it yourself, I think sometime in the 90s moulded plugs become safety standard requirement so sadly I'm guessing most of our young people probably don't know how to fit a plug.
Great reaction girls ❤...... those issues never happen 😂
We know 😉
Treading on plugs is rare - they usually stay in the wall if it's attached to a computer, or other semi permanent equipment (hi-fi, music centre, TV, video player, kettle, food processor, games console) or get put away with the object it's attached to (vacuum cleaners, portable fans, that sort of thing). With chargers they often stay plugged in because the socket can be behind a desk, night stand, or dressing table.
Anything that's on a kitchen surface can be switched off at the wall until needed again.
So yeah, it's rare that there's a plug in the area of floor that you're walking on, although *rarely* you might have a plug disconnected from the wall right next to it, but it's rare you'd be walking that close to the wall.
Being able to put desks, night stands, sofas, and the like right next to the wall with things plugged into a socket behind them is very useful - and means you're less likely to lose things down the back.
I'm glad you like the plugs though. :D
One thing the guy did not talk about was ampage (power), so like an electric cooker is usually on a 30 amp circuit because of the power draw. Where as a table lamp that uses less power are usually on a 3 amp fuse. Tv's, microwaves, hoovers etc are 13 amp fuses. So we can buy a 13, 5 and 3 amp fuse for the plug, dependent on the needs. This helps to have two circuit breaking points, one being the plug and the second being the circuit breaker in the junction box. Safety, safety and more safety. Ampage is everything, the more amps, the increase in pain and possible fatal injury, which in your language, would really suck!!
Brown (BRown) bottom right, and Blue (BLue) bottom left. Earth centre, easy to wire up too. I love our plugs
One of the first things we learned at scouts was how to change a plug. I just took all this stuff for granted and am surprised more countries don't use similar systems.
Great Reaction. And I liked reading the comments below, and agree with most.
Load balancing can be an issue with very old wiring. Plugs make lego seem like heaven to stand on
Most Brits (of a certain age maybe) go around the house religiously unplugging everything before they go to bed 😁
We need that extra juice to run the kettles for our tea.
More plugs in England are now sealed to prevent unskilled people from messing with them. Any business, or commercial premises, has to have every plug and outlet tested every year and get a certificate of safety. It’s called a Portable Appliance Test or commonly called PAT test.
I took electronics as a subject at school, my understanding is completely different re the ring main. Best way to explain it is, imagine the electricity is water- with a radial circuit each outlet along the line takes power out, so you get a power drop at the next outlet. Whereas with a ring main the flow is coming from two directions so you can plug a kettle and an iron next to each other, effectively they are been supplied equally one with the flow from the right the other from the flow from the left.
hi im an electrician from england
and a main feature of the plug that i dont think anyone else has picked up on ( although i havent read all 1500 of he comments ) is that having an earth cable, within the plug itself, in the case of a short circuit electricity will take the path of the least resistance.
in this case it will be through the earth cable thus dis connecting the power from the plug this should occur within 0.05 of a second
also electricity only takes half a mili-amp to kill some one but the electricity has to go through the heart, thats why people can get an electric shock and not die.
that is how deffibulators work if your heart has stopped the electrical charge will start the heart as well as, if the heart is beating it will stop the heart , in esscence it puts or removes a beat to the heart.
Another advantage of the UK plug design is it is robust enough to have a transformer or switch mode power supply built into the plug housing for appliance chargers etc. The Apple phone charger is particularly neat.
We have the same plugs as well in Australia, the black insulating bit i mean, and some of our plugs are flat like that but not all
As a retired electrician our systems so heavily regulated as to what you can and cant install in certain rooms, what cable you can use, and the seperate circuits you must use for things like cookers (stoves) there is never a problem with "load balancing", also you would pretty much eat the live cable coming into the house to kill yourself as everything in a newbuild house is so safe (assuming it has been installed correctly) As a side note we are now working to the 18th/2 edition of the BS wiring regulations and that book has gone from an A5 book (15th edition) an A4 book that is probably about 25% thicker too just in my working lifetime.
I watched your video from here in the UK, and think you got it correct. Nice work
Who knew that something that I've known my whole life, would be so impressive!
I think even it being bigger is a nittpicky negative, especially when it more than compensates for that by being flatter. And the stepping-on-it part is rarely an issue because you can switch the plug off at the wall you can just leave them in the socket all the time.
He talked about balancing the load, but we have had refrigerator, freezer, washing machine & tumble dryer all working at the same time with no issue,
Around 10:15, he explains the ring circuit used in the UK.
What's amazing with that, is I can stick an extension bar into one socket... then another bar into that, and another into that.
Given enough extension bars, I could power every single appliance in my home from just one wall socket.
There'd be cables all over the floor of course, but still... fridges, freezers, TVs, DVD players, ovens, washing machines, everything, all running at the same time, from one wall socket.
The fuse cost as well, you can grab bags of hundreds of fuses for literally pennies.
Edit:
The negative things in the vid about stepping on plugs... doesn't really happen, because... drum roll...... WE HAVE SWITCHES!!! No need to unplug the thing in the first place :D :D :D
And you're right about the cable coming out the bottom of the plug... we can have furniture in front of the socket and not worry about the distance between the furniture and the wall.
' all running at the same time, from one wall socket.' But that would blow the fuse on the first extension lead plug.
There is one issue with this system. Until the late 80s/early 90s a new household appliance would come without a plug and you were expected to wire one in yourself, which doesn't take long and is easy enough. Nowadays everything comes with the plug already attached and as a result younger people often don't think about the plug or how it works. This means that when the fuse in the plug blows and the appliance stops working they will often dump them and buy a new one when they really just need to buy a new fuse which costs pennies. Go to an electronics recycling centre, change the fuse in 10 random plugs and 4-5 of the items will work perfectly afterwards.
the cable coming out of the bottom of the plug also stops any liquid getting into the plug... if you were to spill a drink for example the liquid would run down away from the socket.
An additional wiring feature is that the lights are on a seperate ring so if a faulty appliance trips the electrics, you're not left in the dark, as they haven't tripped.
We take such things for granted but when you examine the plug design it is really well thought out.
Also we do have spurs, i,e, cooker point is fed direct from distribution board as you could pull 20 amps so fused direct on a 32 amp breaker, we have it covered lol
Washing machines/ freezers..under counter appliances can all be pushed full back under the counter in the UK.....because as Debbie says ( ♥) the cable points down...and since you cannot get a hand into the space as you push the appliance backwards...the plug design keeps the cable against the wall....allowing flush fitment of the appliance...Nice one Debbie
UK person here. The only real problem is stepping on them....that is sooooo true
Every time you pull one of your plugs out it is arcing which could build up after time. Glad you like the UK method.
Fuses in the plugs are why we don’t have to be as worried about power extensions/powerstrips. With the right wire gauge, a 13 amp fuse will only allow about 3000 watts. Lower the fuse to 5 or 3 amps and lessen the wattage allowed before tripping. Whatever else you plug into the powerstrip is protected under that limit. Compare this to north america where the breakers are only protecting the wiring in the wall and without fuses after the socket, powerstrips can become a safety hazard. 230v lowers the current for a given wattage, enabling wires to be thinner. Our 13amps turns into 27amps on usa 110v.
I dont know if someone else has said this, but i believe what he ment by the extra steps in trying to figure out if why somehting isnt turning on is that if the wall socket was switched on and the appaliance still wasnt turning on, you have to try and firgure out if the appaliance is broken or if the wall socket is broken...it still is not that much of an issue because you just plug the damn thing into another socket ;D
I'm a Brit. Yes I've stood on a plug, and it bloody hurts!
Load balancing is for 3 phase, a ring circuit balances all the load on the ring.. and it's wired in 2.5m copper which is 14 awg
You can still trip the entire ring though. Each plug can be 3A, 5A to 13A fuse in side of them, the 13A fuse supports up to 3,120 watts.
Ring Main is 32 amps, supported by 2x 16amp lines as you saw going one way and the other the other way. So as good as it is, you can't put too many high wattage stuff on the same ring. But most houses have several rings, like one for the kitchen, another for the rest of the ground floor, another for the upper floor. So 2-4 rings inside the house all supported by 32A on the main fuse box.
We also have 30A specific connector for electric ovens that runs off it's own circuit.
I have seen some computers now (PC's) that can this year put in a 2,500watt PSU. Those will need a 13A at 220-240 volt connector as US 110v won't do that, so PC's are heading towards the same type of electrical device that a washing machine, tumble dryer, electric oven are at.
The other good thing about the 220-240 volt system is that in the UK we can get some really powerful and quicker than microwave boiling kettles that run at 3,100watts (3.1Kw) I know one or two over in the US that got a 230v socket just for that alone in the kitchen installed by an electrician.
We don't usually have laundry rooms so mostly, not all, but mostly we have washing machines and all inside the kitchen, so the plug system is great for that.
As for the safety standards, this has been a slow ongoing system as back in late 1970s, early 1980s. Those shutters on the Live and Neutral weren't on there. In fact in our rented place we have a few sockets from 1960s that don't have that safety feature at all so live and neutral are just in the open so to speak. (I don't trust the socket one bit.) Really need to get those one changed to the later revision wall sockets with said newer protection systems.
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this yet but another benefit of the Type G plug over even the Type B American plug is the correct orientation of the pins. I've heard many people point out that in the unlikely event that a piece of metal, (cutlery etc,) falls between the socket and a plug that is not seated properly, this can cause a major short and blow the circuit. I've heard some people claim that American sockets, as typically installed, are upside down and should have the earth/ground pin at the top to prevent this although it obviously wouldn't help if the appliance only had a Type B plug. The Type G plug and socket are designed so that, should this situation occur, the metal would first contact with the earth/ground pin.
In the UK, we don't take the plug out of the socket, we just use the off button on the socket, therefore no way of stepping on the prongs on the plug
As a British man, I have never experienced any of the negatives expressed.
One needn't suffer the stepping on a plug either, as we needn't unplug it when we can turn it off at the wall. 😂
Also, I might add, I love you, Natasha and Debbie.
This felt important to add.
Great video. If you do, somehow, manage to get a shock, the circuit breaker cuts the power to the circuit in 0.4 seconds so that it doesn’t ‘grab’ you as it could do years ago.
I've never thought twice about plugging two things into the same double socket, I've plugged irons into the same socket as a TV and I've never worried about load balancing ever nor has anyone I've ever met, including qualified electricians. We do have to be a bit careful if we're plugging extension leads into a socket but, at the moment, we have two extension leads plugged into the same double socket and have several items plugged into the extension. Not having any problems yet :)
The problem I have with American plugs (the type A?) is that they don't stay in the socket properly and they are always dropping out.
I am 75 and I've never stepped on a plug. You're right, very picky negatives.
I had no idea we had all these features build into our plugs. I haven't heard of anyone experiencing an issue re balancing the load. Thanks for another really interesting video. Stepping on a plug, yes agree that is a problem. You only need to do that once in your life, to then be more careful in the future!
Stepping on the plug is not a problem . The only time is if it is an appliance like a hair dryer iron curling tongs because there used away from the wall . In most homes the cable is tacked to the skirting board so its fixed in place then it loops upwards towards the plug so it the cable is coming towards the socket from the right when you unplug the plug from the socket because of the thickness of the cable and the direction it is in the plug will fall to the left of the socket in a straight line along the skirting board and not into the center of the room so it does not matter weather the plug lands up or down . Like I pointed out its due to laziness of people not packing away items like the iron hair dryer ect that will make a hazard
I'm glad we've still got something to be proud of!😂
I am an expat brit and I really miss our plugs. The two pin ones overseas drive me nuts as they can be so hard to plug in when the pins keep moving out of alignment with the sockets.
if the circuit does trip here in the uk its normally after plugging something in and turn it on, so its normally easy to work out what has tripped the circuit
Another safety aspect with the British plug is how it handles moisture. Because the cable is underneath the plug, any moisture will run down the cable away from the plug socket. And any moisture running down onto the plug socket will contact the Earth pin first.
I've had one or two US made devices with fixed American mains plugs and had to open the earth socket with a small screwdriver to get the live and neutral in to a British socket.
The Blue and Brown coloured wires were also chosen on purpose. If you don't know which connection is live or neutral, the bLue wire goes left, and the bRown wire goes right
I’ve never experienced any of the negative issues expressed by the chap in the video. British plugs are a real work of genius!
The British plugs are old school too. That 'smart plug' has been in use since 1946.