Another Brit here, those downsides were really clutching. We don’t unplug things and leave them on the floor to stand on, they have a switch so we just leave things plugged in 😂
only time i can think of stanging on our plug was my cousin when he was little had a habbit of pulling plugs out and leaving them out and i went to the bog on and trod on one he was like 3/4 at the time and all any heard was "MOTHER FUCKER AHHHH!" followed by me hopping around holding my foot i scared the living shit out of him haha
My cretinous sister used to leave her hair dryer and other hair related electronics laying around, one time I ran down the stairs, jumped from about the 4th one and landed straight on a plug. Genuinely thought I'd shattered my foot.
In 8 years as a UK electrician I have never heard one person talk about "load balancing" on a ring circuit. From all outlets, the current flows in both directions back to the origin, regardless of where on the ring they are placed.
I remember covering load balancing when studying electrical installation over a decade ago and in part is why our homes have the multiway boards with different cable/breaker sizes/ratings.
@@groovytrev yeah, I know about load balancing on a board, but if you read my comment again and listen to the video he talks about load balancing on a ring circuit
@@thabood I was if anything, reinforcing your comment. We don't consider load balancing as an issue domestically because it's integral part of designing a domestic installation.
@@groovytrev @thabood in the video he talks about load balancing in a ring circuit. and he clearly doesnt understand what he's talking about... like you said in a ring half the power comes from both side of the ring, thats the purpose of the ring, while using smaller gauge wires. you can have issues of balancing with tri-phase installation, that need balacing otherwise the breaker might trip because of an imbalance.
I'm 34 and I live in the UK, and I've only stepped on a plug twice and it's painful enough that you learn to not leave things unplugged where you are likely to step. Plus usually in most situations we leave them plugged in and just use the switches to turn them off.
Don't think many of us would do it more than once. As a teenager I had a radio with a two prong plug. I used to listen to the radio in bed at night and occasionally the plug fell out of the adapter plug. Being a typical teenager I never bothered putting the light on to see what I was doing but tried to put the plug back in by feel and consequently got an electric shock. Remember thinking who would ever make such badly designed plugs
37. Never once stepped on the plug despite walking around barefooted - grow up in SG. Always curious why most ppl talk about it as if it's a huge hazard. Just keep the house tidy, or keep it plugged in & switched off.
As a Brit, one other thing to mention is that we're taught as children how to wire and change fuses in our plugs so we can do basic maintenance if needed xD
I can't believe I watched a reaction video to plugs, but it was fascinating! Makes me proud to be British - we're pretty advanced over here, we build our houses out of bricks too
"Wiring a plug" is a kind of rite of passage for Brits and is one of the first things you learn to do in DIY (or home improvement as you probably call it over there)
My physics teacher when he was showing us how to do it said that's how he got his girlfriend's parents to let him marry her, because they weren't keen on him and were a bit worried because they were very rich and he was not, but their house was an old building on a big farm and he rewired all their plugs and sockets for them, and then they supposedly let him marry her. Comes in handy then eh. Although I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember how to do it. Problem is I've never really needed to, seems like a lot more plugs these days can't be taken apart
@@pingu255 Since 1995, all new appliances have to be pre-wired with a plug. So wiring a plug is one of those skills the young don't need to learn anymore, like using the choke on a car and joined up writing...
@@pingu255 Usually, you can't go wrong because of the length of the wires as mentioned in the video. Of course, if the wires aren't cut to the correct length then you're going to have a bad day if you get it wrong.
yea and even if your not sure when you buy a replacement plug they have a piece of card attached to them that tells you the colour layout going back over never stood on a plug but I have knelt on one was knelt down doing some cable tidying on friends tv cabinet (tv, 2 games consoles, digital box) unpluged the leads but in my own stupidity did not move them out off way moved forward to take out tv leads and felt real sick and light headed as my knee landed right on the plug if your a bloke that's had his marbles caught that's the sorts of sick feeling :) friend said I turned I lovely colour of white then red
@@planaproject it really isn't. just from a child safety point of view the type G is far better because of the pin insulation that is mandatory on all plugs.
@@planaproject but it can be pulled out partially and still provide power exposing the pins which is dangerous as fuck. Some people insulate them, but as it's not mandatory not everyone does (unlike British plug which are far safer because of this.) The shucko plug isn't better at all, not sure why people like you claim it is on every video like this but never actually say why (funny that)
Another Brit here. Another interesting point not covered in the instructional movie is the colour of the wires. If you have a damaged plug or wire and need to replace the plug and are unsure what terminal the wires connect to try to remember this. The wire has three colours, green blue and brown. When you remove the back of the plug there are three terminals Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right The first two letters of the word Brown are BR and = Bottom Right. The first two letters of Blue are BL and = Bottom Left. The last remaining wire is green and goes in the last remaining terminal at the top. Hope that simplified wiring a plug and prevents any shorts from a rewire. Kind regards Jonathan
He really went all out there trying to think of some bad points lol. The thing with having the switch on the outlet is that you never have to unplug the appliance, so you never step on any plugs and the size of them is something you'll never even think about as they're flat against the wall.
unfortunately many Americans cant handle that their country is just straight up worse than others, so they try as hard as they can to think of things to say
Yeah the profile of most plugs once they are plugged in is minimal. The prongs go completely into the socket and it is just a small box on the outside. The wire comes out one of the sides too, unlike the type A or B plugs, so the UK plugs actually stick out less I think. Also you do get smaller plugs in a lot of cases, usually with molded plastic and a hatch for the fuse, rather than the larger, disassembleable ones like he showed.
There's a few points in my house where we have plugs on the ground. There's a couple of sockets in the living room which is where multiple things get charged so there's forever a rotation of cables and plugs there (but I'm unlikely to step on them due to location) and there's a socket in my upstairs hallway which is also used for multiple things (like the hairdryer/battery chargers/misc other stuff). That one is unfortunately by the bathroom door so if someone hasn't pushed the loose plug against the wall, it can be a nasty surprise if I get up during the night for a pee!
also he never mentioned that when it is plugged in the UK plug lies flat where as the American plug can stick 3 to 4 inches further out then with the cable even further which then makes that one 3 times bigger that way and has a tendency to get easily pulled out or caught and the UK plug is more solid and safe
The load balance thing is rarely an issue - most houses and appartements use more than one ring main for that exact reason so (for example) the kitchen which may well have the most high demand things in it (microwave, toaster, washing machine etc) will be a separate ring to the rest of downstairs, and downstairs will be a separate ring to upstairs and so forth. As such, in the UK, you can pretty much plug anything that has a normal plug into any socket in your house without any issue at all.
Americans have a tough time getting portable space heaters that have any worthwhile power rating. Probably the ones we in the UK and other high voltage nations wouldn't even bother buying unless we were on a budget. 😅
not only are kitchens on a separate ring from the rest of the downstairs they tend to have 2 rings one of which is dedicated to electric cookers if people have one
@@EpIcHoBoGuY Exactly, an electric cooker is usually on its own ring - though mostly these don’t have normal plugs as they need more than 13 amps, but they can never trip the rest of a domestic circuit.
@@AndrooUK This has just promoted me to have a look at mine, I appear to have one that is 1kW and another that is 2kW. I can plug both into any socket in my apartment and have never had a problem
@@EpIcHoBoGuY Also they often put the lights on their own, some times separated by upstairs/down stairs - great for safety too, because if you DO trip when plugging in for whatever reason, usually it's only the sockets for that ring :) Also, often the shower is on it's own circuit too :)
Yes, I’m a British person. We leave all our plugs, usually plugged in the wall and we have a switch on off. Much easier. Plus each plug contains a different fuse depending on the current. Which makes it so far.
Ok the plugs are bigger and robust but they are also ergonomically designed to make them easy to grip and pull out of the socket outlet. As someone who lived on the west coast of the US for a while I can say there was a tendency to use the cable to pull the plug out of the outlet, putting strain on the cable and plug. The design of the US plugs also means the first part of the cable sticks out from the plug into the room at 90 degrees to the wall, whereas on a UK plug the cable comes out close and parallel to the wall making it much neater, or tidier, and with possibly less chance of it being a tripping hazaerd
Bigger and robust, but also a very, very clunky and satisfying solidness to putting them in. They are not going to budge in any direction except straight out. I've used US and European sockets on holiday where it felt wobbly and unsafe as if a fly landing on the plug might cause it to fall out. Even more so when it is a bulky travel adapter
I've never stepped on a plug either in 4 decades. When we plug in to the socket, it always feels secure. Whenever I have visited the US, I always think the plug is going to drop out under it's own weight. On a final note, an American appreciating our humble plug is so cool.
I've lived with both. The plug size may be larger but the wire coming out the bottom makes it so you can actually use them in smaller spaces than the us style. Also the standing issues is rare. We don't unplug stuff really
One thing he didn't mention, is that due to the cord coming out of the bottom of the plug, you can place furniture, etc. closer to the wall than you can with the US plugs! 😊Some places like hospitals, for example, use a modified design (with the earth/ground pin rotated 90degrees) - this prevents theft, unathorised items from being plugged in and cleaners from using a 'clean' supply for something like an ECG/EKG machine (or worse, unpplugging it to use their vacuums!)
@@xenorac would also use this type in computer rooms sometimes when one particular circuit was dedicated just for computer usage, it may have been a "clean" supply as mentioned above, obviously you have to also have the matching plugs fitted to the item plugged in.
@@xenorac there are a lot now, there's some with T shaped earth pins, some where the live or negative is rotated or all of them are the "wrong way" the problem is most of them require the sockets to be changed as well as the plugs, which can't just be done, you can't just change the plug on a hospital machine like it's a lamp at home so many of them just fall into the "non standard" market and end up becoming a meme when someone rediscovers it years later Most hospitals just use different coloured sockets for each supply this is done because mobile equipment needs to be universal and its no good if a machine can't be used the other end of a journey because that hospital uses funky plugs, also why its easier to knock a lot of old hospitals down then fix them, back in the 70s when they were standardised a lot of old rings were tied together to turn them into 13amp supplies, but you could have 3 rings round the place making that one supply, but it saved hospitals being rewired completely so they went with it, saved buckets loads and left it to Mr future man to fix 😂
I live in Kenya and we have these plugs😂. I would like to add that it fits behind furniture pretty well since it is a few millimetres away from the wall.
The design of type G plugs shows a lot of the common British engineering in general, there’s a huge amount of ‘men in sheds’ thinking. Loads of clever people throw their ideas into the mix, and out comes something that appears to be brilliant because all the small things add up really fast.
Maybe the Most concise with brevity comment on the British, sheds and such, I have had the privilege of reading, Brilliant, simply brilliant, Thank you for furthering the conversation,
The apparent disadvantages of G type plugs mostly disappear in real world use. They may be chunky things but when plugged into the wall they actually protrude less because of that downward pointing cable. And you were completely right about the switch - if something electric doesn’t work when you turn it on you just go to the wall socket and double check the switch as step 1 of your troubleshooting. Generally takes seconds, maybe a minute if it’s behind furniture you need to move or somewhere you need to turn your phone light on to see. It’s a total non-issue. Finally walking on the things would hurt but in my 50+ years I’ve never heard of anyone actually doing this, because it’s nearly impossible to pull the plug out by accident you never find them lying around where people are going to walk and most appliances are left plugged in almost permanently anyway. When you can switch it off at the wall you’re rarely going to bother unplugging it unless it’s something like a vacuum cleaner that you’re going to put away somewhere when you’re done. The closest thing to a real disadvantage is that more material in the plug probably makes it slightly more expensive, but even then you can buy a replacement plug from about £1 so it’s pretty marginal and is probably only adding pennies to the cost of an appliance.
I've never stepped on one either and I'm a similar age - one thing about the size is that you can also see them quite easily, so they are easy to avoid
@@carolbrookes5748 I have stepped on one, didn't break the skin but it did hurt, a lot, I was traveling through a dark room that someone else had used the plug and socket in, and they had left it out for me to find. Not something I'd like to do again!!!
As a semi retired UK electrician working in a factory building and Pat testing products built to go to places all over the world, I teach anyone new how to properly wire a plug. And always say the UK plug is the best designed safest plug in the world and explain why too, which is what your finding out in this video. Italian Swiss and Chinese/Australian plug sets are very similar (without fuse) which we supply for each export product. Common misconception is the US with 110v sounds safer being half 230v but its the increase in Amps on 110v that will hurt ya not just the volts 😆 Also a beauty of the UK plug is you can install a suitable size (amp) fuse to "blow" before electrical damage to your product, example being you wouldn't put a 13amp on a product drawing only 3amps 😊 Great video and thanks for the appreciation of the safest & best plug design in the world.
The 110v supply in the US also means that appliances are drawing twice the current to produce the same amount of work. The result, from my own experience of living in the States for 22 years, is that electrical items don't last as long.
As a Brit visiting the US I am always rather scared of your sockets because I rarely plug something in without it sparking and whenever it gets slightly pulled out I can see metal that I know is live. My only complaint on our sockets is you have to leave enough space under them to allow for the cable coming out the bottom of the plug. I've used most of the main sockets worldwide and I definitely prefer ours.
Did you miss the bit about the longer earth and the insulated live? You would have to insert a thin piece of metal in the gap to electrocute yourself. Been in the States and loved it but always thought your plugs were a bit crappy.
I believe in the uk the socket height is regulated now, it has to be a certain amount off the ground incase of flooding but i have been in a few old houses where the socket is a bit too low for the cable to fit nicely
@@EpIcHoBoGuY Yea, I had a very old house, my plugs would not fit as the cable reinforcement at the base of the plug didnt flex enough to be able to plug in, only option was to unscrew the wall socket and turn it upside down
@@Dreadpirateflappy different locations,uses and environments, have to comply with different sections and standards, a hundred sockets built into the floor of an office won’t have to same configuration as a small ring circuit in a domestic application and will comply to a different section of BS7671
He's right about the dangers of stepping on a UK plug, however we never unplug from the wall (in most cases) so it's not really an issue.. Good reaction Ian...👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@@LurpakSpreadableButter no but I put the vac away including the cable that rolls up inside of it and store said vac in a cupboard as for lap top what's that ha ha xx
As an electrician in the uk. Loads are not really an issue on a ring as the appropriate gauge wire is used with the correct size breaker and also discrimination is built in to those calculations so that a full loaded circuit is perfectly cable of carrying the full 80 percent load at all times. Kitchens require a separate circuit so heavy loads are on a separate circuit there Also most appliances carrying a large load will switch fuse unit so that the fuse breaks before the cable is damaged by any load exceeding 13 amps (most circuits for power are wired in 2.5 mm capable of withstanding 27 amps).
There is a British RU-vidr, Tom Scott, who has also made a video about British plugs but he has made loads of videos with really interesting subjects. I would suggest watching "Why you can't buy Desani water in Britain" by Tom Scott. Fascinating suff.
"I can't believe I've just watched a 10+ minute video on plugs". I've just watched a 20+ minute video reacting to a 10+ minute video on plugs. And it was bloody great! Makes me very proud and I shall now sing God Save the King every time I plug in the toaster.
Another advantage of the G type plug is the ability customize the length of your cable. It's very easy to cut your appliance cable to the required length and then rewire the plug. (not advisable on major appliances, but mainly lamps and extension cord under the desk)
Ring mains were introduced into the UK after WW2 due to a shortage of copper, the downside is they have to be installed by an experienced electrician to ensure the load balancing is correct. Most houses have two ring mains with 30 amp spurs for heavy load items such as cookers, water heaters, etc. While the large size may seem a disadvantage, it does allow for disability plugs, which have a large hoop handle for people with weak or painful grip.
All electrical work installing mains power should be done by a qualified electrician. It's really no harder than a normal spur or any other form of cabling. Testing it is simple, disconnect one ond ot the ring and it becomes a long spur that can easily he tested to see if there is a short/open circuit.
Most houses now have several rings, all new builds have multiple rings and any house that has had a rewire in the last 20 years has to comply with the regulations. Cookers/ovens have nearly always had their own circuits due to their load as they usually run on 30 - 40 amp requiring a dedicated 10mm wire
@@stuinNorway You can install an electrical ring main yourself which is indeed very easy and will cost a lot less than a qualified electrician will charge. Having said that, it is mandatory in the UK and many other countries that use the ring main system to have it checked by your local electricity company and a certificate obtained.
The other thing he did not mention is if you were using these plugs for a table lamp or low current usage item then you would put either a 3A or 5A fuse in the plug, these would also have a smaller guage wire flex as well,. For higher rated items you would use a 13A fuse.
I have done a couple of rewires where we fitted 5amp sockets for table/standard lamps, switched from the light switches. So you can go in a room and turn on either main lights, or small lamps directly from the light switches. They can't be mixed up with standard 13amp plugs/sockets, they are smaller and have round pins. A big hotel refurb we did when I was an apprentice had the same setup, in every room.
It's interesting to learn from different solutions around the world. The british (I am a brit so know these well) plug does appear to offer lots of benefits, there is one other thing to mention as well, the whole ring is fused as well, with (usually) different circuits for lighting, high draw items etc with an RCD to detect imbalances, that trips when there is a problem.
@@johnburns4017 Yep, that hunka-chunka 50 amp spur running to the shower. I know exactly why it's 100% perfectly safe but it's still mildly terrifying to consider, 12kW pumped into the thing spraying water at my brain.
When travelling in the US the thing that pisses me off about US 2 pin plugs is that they can come out from the socket by accident, sometimes they just fall out under their own weight. I imagine this is worse in motels where the receptacle may be poorly maintained and worn.
From Canada, we have the same plug. Yes they can wear out easily and you will find in hotels that the lamps often have them probably to prevent leaving something plugged in for this problem. That and easier accessibility. I don't see this overseas a lot.
The flat prongs do not allow the outlet to grab it as tightly as wider prongs in Europe so they can get loose easily. Also some of them are just cheap junk as the cost 50 cents or so. Tat is under one tenth what outlets cost in Europe.
@@okaro6595 very true, all the other plugs now that I think of it have insulation like the UK ones and EU ones have a stopper as well on the outlet as the plug is recessed back that makes it harder to pull out. Newer North American plugs have the covers now. I see them in a lot of places.
at 17:00 you are quite right; we always check that the socket is switched on first: I think he was just looking for another downside - along with the "stepping on a plug thing" which is something I have never done nor know anyone who has because we don't need to take them out - we switch them off.
I've seen a few US Americans use these as 'down-sides' for type G plugs and sockets but it's not something we forget to turn on or forget there's a plug on the floor either.
@@Thurgosh_OG Yup - he was just trying to find a downside. The size is the only issue but Apple have UK charger plugs where the prongs fold in, so that problem is also solved.
I’m from the uk I’m over 50 and never stood on one plus you can get plugs with a loop on the back to help pull out also stops plug landing upright. Most plugs and leads are on outside of room so if you’re walking on one you have to be a bit unlucky. Plus we normally leave stuff plugged in and switched off at wall not laying around 👍🏼
Plus as big as our plugs are, they are pretty flat against the wall, whereas the US plugs stick right out and then the cord, so it makes it very difficult to push plugged in things against the wall or worktop
Exactly what I was thinking. UK plugs might be bigger, but they lay flat against the wall, so furniture etc can be pushed up to the wall, unlike in the USA. At the end, I think he was really struggling to find cons.
There is rarely a space problem caused by using British sockets and plugs on a wall despite their bigger width and height. Small isn't always better and not when it reduces safety.
as a Brit myself it's quite interesting to see something like a normal ( to us ) plug become an interest for an American , when I came to the USA with things like my laptop charger and having to use an adapter I couldn't believe how easy things slip out of your type outlets , I have in by day 3 found a Walmart and bought a usa laptop charger from Walmart , and yes pain level is about 15/10 for standing on one of these plugs ! 😅
Apples current iPad charger for the UK is pretty cool. The pins fold away (the top, earth, backwards, the live and neutral pins forward.) It’s like an undercarriage on a fast light aircraft going up and because I am 46 going on 8, I make little hydraulic noises as I fold them away!
Samsung have the same ones they're great!, also have one where the earth slides up but the pins are still sticking out when it's "folded" but the lil tri fold one is awesome
Also, there is a reason for the colours of the wires inside the plug. It’s another safety feature for people who are rewiring the plugs. The Blue wire (or sometimes it could Black) is connected to the left pin. BLue, BL for bottom left; the BRown wire is to connect to the right pin, bottom right.
I can remember when there were three wires! Can't for the life of me remember what colour that last one was. I feel like saying yellow and green, but that may be memory playing tricks on me.
Being in England I have on a few occasions in my life stepped on a plug lying on the floor. While being bloody painful it rarely causes bleeding because all the pins are blunt and your natural pain response is to pull your foot away asap. Hopping around and effing usually takes place after. It must be noted that you never step on the same plug in the same place ever again.
@@Diamondmine212 Its usually and extension lead or when your getting the crimp decks out or the hairdryer...which most of us put away...most of the time. After a couple of times of doing it you learn to treat them like they're a deadly snake, you avoid them and watch out for them...Because as my fellow Englishman has said, it really hurts...though you do get some epic swearing rants that us Brits are so good at.
It wasn't fully explained, but different fuses fit into the plug itself. Most often it will be either a 13AMP (brown) or a 3 AMP (red) fuse; but others may be fitted (to suit the particular electrical item to which the plug is attached), E.G. a 5 AMP (black) fuse, for even better safety.
@@Zileas01 The fuse is to protect the flex leading to the appliance, not the appliance itself (if the appliance needs additional protection it will have a "no user serviceable parts inside" internal fuse). It means you can connect a low CSA flex into the plug and have it protected against fire if there's a short along its length or in the appliance. The ring could supply 32A without the breaker being concerned, but the flex on the table lamp might only be rated for 3A - so you put a 3A fuse in the plug. It also makes it much much harder to create a hazard by chaining extension leads. The same applies in a radial system (the UK has those too) a 20A radial is more than capable of toasting a faulty 3A flex - but without the fuse in the plug you've no protection against overheating and fire.
@@Zileas01 It wouldn't be ideal, but even a single leg can handle the fault current long enough to trip the breaker. The integrity of the fixed wiring of ring is verified at installation and any time a change is made to the circuit. As the video mentioned, testing of the ring is a multi-step pain compared to a radial. The worst case is really a genuine load (rather than a fault condition) that won't trip the breaker, while the ring is broken. Things get a little warmer than they should, but a long way from catching fire.
@@DavidCookeZ80 I disagree. The worst case is where there is so much load on one of the two cables of the ring which causes the current rating for the cable to be exceeded but which is less than the breaker rating. That then poses a fire risk. The breaker doesn't trip.
And the plugs layout is clever the colours help you wire it the plug = live wire is BRown and that goes to the Botton Right and the neutral wire is BLue and that goes to Bottom Left a simple thing again 👍
One thing that wasn’t mentioned is the reason why it’s shaped the way it is for easy grip to remove that’s why the sides are curved and normally have a groove removed out the side for finger grip. That way you ain’t damaging the cable by yanking on it like you can with American plugs.
Tbh us brits will only ever step on a plug once in our lifetime and usually as kids, lesson learnt, leave things plugged in 😂 I'm waiting for my 8 yo to step on a plug coz he keeps leaving things unplugged 😂
The load balancing isn't a problem on a ring main. Electricity doesn't just take the shortest route, voltage drop occurs if the wiring capacity is insufficient causing the circuit to rebalance. If you test this by feeding an appliance from a small phase conductor and a large one in parallel you'll find the larger wire takes most current even if it's longer.
@@Hi_Doctor_Nick I'm 18 now, at my school they showed us how to do it during physics when I was about 13. I can't remember if they made us try for ourselves though. In any case I don't think I would be able to do it now. A lot of the plugs I own you can't even open them up, I've never personally needed to rewire a plug either so I've never practised it
@@pingu255 I've only wired one plug, and that was to replace the cracked case. The little hatch with the fuse in I've used a few times. That's handy not needing to open the whole plug. I went to college at 16 to study engineering. We cut and wired a 20mm armoured cable (3 core) and fitted it to a machine with all the brass glands, washers, nuts and rubber protective cover. I joked about not being able to wire a house plug. Everyone else agreed with me and the lecture told us we are all useless 🤣
@@Hi_Doctor_Nick In the 70s/80s, learning to wire a plug at school was usually a requirement. This was a time before electricals had to come wired with a plug. So we all got a plug each, a piece of cord, screwdrivers, wire cutters. So we knew how to wire up new electrical goods. We also got taught ohms law, so we could calculate what size fuse we needed.
I'm in Hastings UK and the colours of the wires are helpful too. The Blue neutral wire's second letter L goes to the left and the live wire Brown second letter R goes to the right! It helps whenever an amateur rewires one.
The rest of europe uses a differen one (Type F) where the plug goes into the wall and is not flat. There are 2 ground connectors and kinda pins of the outlet touch metal on the connector. The plug sits also really tight. I see the issue if the plug is flat like in UK and US and cable movement can unplug it or cause bad connection. Thats not possible on the european one. Its the same 230V like everywhere. 230V is actually safer than 110V.
Correction, F Type is the German standard, not all of Europe 😉. For Belgium for example there are two associated plug types, types C and E. Plug type C is the plug which has two round pins and plug type E is the plug which has two round pins and a hole for the socket's male earthing pin. This being said, type C is called a Europlug and is compatible with most outlets in europe including germany. 220-240v is indeed the voltage used in most of mainland europe.
@@CobraChicken101 Originally German, but now used by many countries around the world, including most European countries. And E and F now use the same plug, so they're effectively one system, with two slightly different outlet types. That makes Switzerland, Italy, the UK, Denmark and Belarus the only European countries with different systems.
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@@CobraChicken101 Type F is pretty rare here, most devices use type C.
Yes I have stepped on one of these bad boys many times. It hurts ALOT! But at least there’s motivation there to tidy up. And I guess you could say leaving any cables trailing across the floor is a trip hazard so best to tidy away. Generally we tend to leave these plugged in all the time but have them isolated on the switch. Problem with serviceable plugs is they are not very watertight meaning unless their sealed they fill with water and short circuit inside. Otherwise they are good and safe. The ring circuit runs typically on a 2.5mm twin and earth cable, but usually have multiple rings for load balancing. For example the cooker would be on a 4/6/8mm radial, the kitchen on a seperate ring, then each floor has its own mains ring. With the lights being radial and split between floors and the consumer unit. Each ring is allowed up to 30 amps - meaning about 7.5kw per ring. But typical house has about 3/4 rings installed. The CU usually is either divided in 2 banks with two RCDs and MCBs for each circuit, or if you are very fortunate every circuit has its own RCBO. Trouble is short circuits between live and neutral go mostly unprotected unless you exceed the fuse or MCB rating so you can still get electrocuted if the insulation of a cable gets damaged on things like portable appliances.
Yeah the UK plugs are bigger, but in practice because of the cord orientation they still don't stick out of the wall as far & will take up less space Load balancing often isn't as much of an issue as you might think since although it's a ring system, there are typically multiple rings in a house - the kitchen in particular will have a heavier gauge system since that's where all all the larger appliances will be (washing machines etc. are typically found in the kitchen because space limitations in UK homes & that's where there's already plenty of plumbing present). Yeah they can be nasty if you step on them, but why would there be a random plug sitting around on the floor? No need to unplug them with the individual switch & it's not like they're going to fall or get pulled out easily.
Yeah the guy in the original video was reaching a bit with some of his points. The only times I've stepped on plugs is from having them lying around because I'm rejigging the setup of various things and needed to take them out. Or sometimes you might have several things with plugs but you don't need to use them all at once, so an extension cable isn't needed, you just unplug them to use them at different times, in that case I have stepped on some more but that's just because of my messiness leaving them lying there.
also, UK type G-sockets are very helpful once you leave the house and go for a longer holiday, all you need to do is flick all the switches around the house and you would never have to worry about a fire caused by appliances left turned on...
@@matthewjenkins1161 and why not? Unless you live on a single story house then long as the fridge/freezer ring is left its completely possible. Lights/cooker etc are also usually on there own ring.
That fridge freezer is likely to be on a downstairs mains ring along with items in a living room (standard for a two up two down). So if you switched off the breaker to make sure the TV stays off then you can kiss goodbye to all your chilled and frozen food too. The other option is to do as the original comment says and just switch it off at the socket.
16:54 I think what he was saying is that the switch introduces another potential point of failure that you'd have to check. But you could check for that by just putting it in the other socket.
As a brit and an electrician your video makes me appreciate the genius of the UK plug more, also you are a 100% right regarding if the lamp was not working, the next step would be to check the socket switch and then the fuse in the plug. By the way I have never ever stepped on a UK plug.
Yeah I have never been confused as to whether it's the appliance or the socket, so it would seem the only drawback is stepping on it, glad we did something right
I'm 64 years old, we've had these plugs since the 1960s and I've never stept on one. I have three ring circuits in my house one for upstairs one for downstairs and a separate ring circuit for the kitchen. Also separate radial power lines for high energy appliances like a stove !
Another advantage with the fuses is that extension cables and multi-plug adaptors are not a problem, the fuse will blow before the socket can overload. 4 to 10 socket extensions are everywhere and safe, really handy to plug my computer, multiple monitors, printer, speakers, etc and be able to use a single switch on the socket to turn the power off completely to everything when I'm done to stop the phantom power.
I've never had an issue with load balancing, the ring circuits have more than enough capability to take loads wherever they are in the circuit. normally electric cookers and showers are on separate, higher current, circuits. The size of the plug makes it easier to put into the socket and pull it out, and due to the shape, you are not pulling the cable. Also it is much more firmly located in the socket due to its design. Although the size is larger, because it is quite thin and the cable exits from the bottom of the plug, it takes up much less space in the room, you can also place furniture right up against the plug as it doesn't squash the cable, so in effect it takes up less room.
Load balancing really isn’t as issue. The only thing I’ve personally ever had an issue with is running a 220amp 240v mig welder from home wall sockets, if you go a bit mad, it’s possible to throw the trip. But it’s easily reset.
@@gordonphillips7229 because a 220amp welder is only using about 10v as the metal you are welding is a good conductor. So 220v 13A is transformed into 220A 13v by the welder, due to the relationship between current and voltage. The current is what makes the heat that melt the metal.
Not that long ago ,alot of electric items sold here in the UK were not supplied with a plug you had to buy one and fit your own plug. But the law changed and now all items come with a fitted plug. And just bit of trivia British bathrooms don't have any plug socket in them other than a electronic razor plug socket .but they are not common. And they are 2 pin 110v sockets.
Those bathroom sockets have an isolating transformer so you would have to touch both wires to get a shock. My dad once got a shock from his shaver cable as the insulation had worn through. Only one wire was exposed but he was not using a bathroom socket, just an adapter in a normal 13 amp socket.
I was born a goooood long time ago ,long enough to remember 2 pin plugs as standard in UK accommodation and never have I come across any appliance sold without a plug ( unless you are talking of those 2 pin appliances?). Any appliance that took a 3 pin plug always had one . They used to be of the removable type, I still have spares tucked away in various cupboards in case I need to renew one .
@@gillcawthorn7572 It was about 1987 when they made it a legal requirement for plugs to be fitted but a lot of things already came with a plug. I do remember having to fit plugs in the 1970s, including items with the old wire colours.
@@Phiyedough OK, obviously not where I lived. I was married in 1959 ,so buying electric items for my new household but never came across anything sold with just bare wires.
Cookers are not fitted with a mains cable by law for a while now, in UK. Because of the high current they use, they need to be installed by a certified electrician with a cable and plug capable of handling the load.
When I emigrated to Australia from the UK 20 years ago, I brought all my small appliances with me, and at that time, I could still buy solo plugs in Australia so I could swap them, since both countries use 240v. Most of us in my generation learned how to change a plug as a basic life skill in school. These days, you can't buy individual plugs (easily), which is a pain in the rear, and many plugs follow the American pattern of two pins and the cord coming out of the face of the plug. However, Australia still has switched receptacles, and in many cases, individually switched power boards if you need an extension cable. I think his downsides are a bit of a stretch. I mean, if you can turn the switch off, why would you unplug the thing? Also, outlets are on the wall, so the unplugged unit would be beside the wall....
I migrated from South Africa to Australia. I found loose plugs at Bunnings, but there was only one bin with "side entry" for the cord. Lots of choice if you wanted the type where the cord enters from the face
Extension leads if left in and there is a fire are a beautiful excuse for an Insurance company not to pay out. Copper does not melt in a house fire, so trailing leads can clearly been seen afterwards.
This was interesting for me to watch being British and my dad being and electrician I’ve been around electrics all my life I’ve never come across the negatives 😅😂 never trodden on a plug because 90% of the time they stay in the wall and load balancing is not an issue like he says and my dad was an electrician for 50 yrs 😊
The mains plug here in the UK is something we really take for granted, so It is good to see an analysis of the deign work that has gone into it. I would take issue with the Ring Main 'problem'' of load-balancing. I believe the Ring Main was introduced to reduce the use of copper, simply by having fewer long runs of cable. The issue of the weight of cable (i.e. the load-carrying capacity) does not exist because all Ring Main circuits are rated at 30A, i.e. they have either a 32A fuse or a 30A trip at the distribution box.. In use, each socket is supplied by two cables (simple electrics: add them together!), and although the minimum requirement is for cables is rated at 20A (which would still be able to supply 40A in total) in practice, 30A cable is usually used, and has been to the best of my knowledge for some time. The new house my parents bought in 1971 certainly had 30A cable for both Ring Main circuits. Devices such as electric ovens or showers are normally supplied by a dedicated spur (or radial) circuit which is rated appropriately for that load (30, 45, or even 60A). My father was trained in electrical installations and his first job when we moved to an older property was to check and renew (if needed) any sub-standard wiring. and/or sockets. He checked the new house too (!) and was satisfied it met his high expectations!
It's not just our plugs that are really well engineered here in the UK, the whole consumer unit (providing you have a fairly modern one) is too. They are all independent trip switches rather than traditional fuses. This means that upstairs and downstairs sockets have their own circuits, upstairs and downstairs lights have their own circuits, high drain appliances like cookers, showers etc have their own circuits and even any external power such as outdoor sockets, hot tubs, garden buildings etc have their own circuits. It means each part of the overall system is isolated and protected from the others and the chances of ever losing ALL power in the house is minimal at best. Saves a HUGE amount of time on fault location too.
I'm in Ireland, we don't normally plug things out because we can just switch everything off at the wall socket and leave the plug in. Plus the only time I use 110V power is when I worked on construction, all the tools need to be 110V for health and safety regulations, because 230v won't just give you a shock, 230v will kill you instantly. That's probably the reason for all the safety measures on our plugs, we're dealing with twice the voltage.
the 110V is mainly that they use a transformer that the primary and secondary wiring are not connected. With the use of RCDs on 230v, using 110V is now unnecessary.
Max amps through a British plug is 13A. 13A on 240v gives 3,000 watts of power. 13A on 110v delivers 1,500 watts, *half* the power. So the kettle will heat slowly.
@@johnburns4017 that makes sense, I haven't been active in the trades since 08, and even back then I was self employed, working on my own with nobody watching I didn't stick with 110V tools, those yellow boxes were a pain so I just skipped the 110V regulation. I did wire up a trip switch to run 230v tools through just in case. Only thing that ever tripped the switch was a welder before I switched to the inverter welder. Never had a problem with carpentry tools, then again I treated my own tools better than tools get treated on big construction jobs where the man using the tools isn't necessarily the man who owns the tools.
It never ceases to amaze me when I'm in The States how "feeble" US electrics feel. In well used sockets the plugs are frequently loose, especially the old A types, which sag out of the socket. UK plugs are SO solid and robust by comparison. UK plugs take a firm push to locate and once in, aren't going anywhere.
many years ago a flatmate took a plug out of the wall and left it on the floor to plug in something else, I stepped on it and created a few new swear words that would make a sailor blush. Very painful and the flatmate learnt a valuable lesson. I am in Australia so the plugs are slightly different again but it was still a three pronged one.
NEVER ever heard of load balancing, never ever stood on a plug, and I would assume standing on any plug of any shape or size would be equally painful!!😂😂🇬🇧
I have never had a problem in my life with plugs on the floor . The only time that has come close is when an Iron has been unplugged but not put away . All the other times a plug has been removed from a wall socket because of the thickness of the cable it will fall flat along the wall not into the room . Also because of the switches on the wall sockets once you set up your appliance you don't need to unplug it even when you go away you just switch off the wall sockets . The fridge freezer you can leave on separately so the two most likely appliances that plug ambush mite happen are the iron and hover mainly because the person had used it could not be bothered to put it away
Is it normal to use the word "mite"? From the context I would think it's written "might" normally. Am I wrong? Also I think that mites are little arachnids. A German writing here.
While the UK plug is bigger, it doesn't stick out of the wall as far as the US type. In Australia many plugs also have the wire parallel to the wall and as you said we have switches on the outlet.
In EU (or at least in Czech rep.) we have it on the kinda middlegrounds, we do not use fuses in every plug, but we have (at least SHOULD) multiple separate circuits, mostly for each room sockets and also separate circuits for lights and everything is wired into central fusebox.
I have stood on a plug, but it's something you only do when young or have young children. It becomes a habit to leave the plug near the wall outlet. I have a cat and a dog, and they have never brushed past a plug and pulled one out; it would be a nightmare if it was something that needed to be plugged in all the time (a fridge etc). It's also very rare that you need to change a plug, or even the lead. You may have to change a fuse once every year or two on any appliance in your house, but it takes longer to find where you put some spare fuses as it takes 15 seconds to actually change one. I'm glad I live in the UK and have our plugs, rather than the US version.
Interesting stuff. Not thought about it before. Yes also UK. - Loading can definitely be an issue if you run too much on the same breaker but the other cons sound like a man trying to find downsides. Though yes they do hurt when stepped on but because they can be switched off locally you’re unlikely to leave them unplugged. - Loved your confusion over the maintenance bit! - Shows presenter: It’s not working, why?! You and everyone else: Have you tried turning it on? 😂
The type G was introduced a few decades ago….prior to that we had 3 pin plugs with round pins and no fuse, and with un shuttered sockets, looking very similar to US 3 pin plugs. I can remember them as a kid (I’m ancient), so swapping systems nationally is perfectly feasible. Old houses still sometimes have an old type zombie socket hidden on an obscure wall
@Skipper409 - I doubt if you remember unshuttered sockets! Do you know of Dame Caroline Haslet and what an unsung UK heroine she is? She was the first woman to be made a Companion of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and was tasked with redesigning Britain's domestic electricity system post WW2. During the Second World War she was the only woman member of the IEE (and the ONLY safety expert). One essential instruction was that all sockets should be 'child friendly'. She was involved in designing the 'shuttered socket' as the first priority.The result was BS 1363 (which all UK plugs must meet). The report also recommended the ring circuit system, which would become standard throughout the country! She travelled the world giving lectures, held meeting on behalf of the UK in promoting export sales, sat on many committees - in 1947 she was appointed a member of the British Electricity Authority (BEA), later the Central Electricity Authority (and was a leading person to guide it into national ownership). But to get back to my point - the 'shuttered socket' was introduced in the mid 1940's.
Sorry Stewed Fish…..the type “G” was a gradual introduction. New homes had to comply by the 1950’s, but older homes only gradually introduced them when the houses were rewired. My childhood home had the old type ‘D”sockets up to the late 1960’s. I was born in the 1950’s. Since you don’t know me, or how old I am, you’re talking through your hat. Type “D” is still used in many Commonwealth countries. It has an unshuttered outlet.
Wiki says that our British type G plugs date from 1947 as a national post war reconstruction standard. From the 1930s we had used a round pin three pin plug/socket (type D for 5 amps and type M for 15 amps). Something similar is still used in some countries like South Africa and India, and can still be legally used in the UK. They must be very rare as I've not seen one here for a long time. My family had a house in Sussex in the 1960s that still had an unusual secondary 120v system with a transformer, and they had these plugs, I think, just for lighting. The main plugs/sockets were 240V type G.
@@stewedfishproductions7959 I certainly remember unshuttered round-pin sockets in my elderly relatives' homes when I was a nipper. Bear in mind that all my grandparents were Victorians.
As someone who has jumped off a bed and got a plug embedded in the arch of my foot I can honestly say that it's quite painful. I'm now known as plugfoot to my hubby who thinks it's hilarious! 15 years later I still have the scar.
Seeing how surprised you were with something as simple as our plugs made me realise how much we take for granted 🤣. Also, I actually did have the misfortune of stepping on one of those plugs. I was moving into my new flat (apartment) and had things all over the place. I left an extension lead laying around amongst some cardboard from boxes that I had just ripped up. I then carelessly stepped on the cardboard, forgetting there were things underneath, and 1 of those things happen to be that cleverly engineered plug 🤣🤣. Even with the cardboard, it was definitely more painful than a lego. Left me with some knarly scars and a funny walk for a few days 🤣🤣🤣.
I have stepped on them many times, it is not that bad and you learn how quick your reaction skills are, like never stepping on your cat. I must admit when pulling out US plugs and getting a spark really shocked me, even though I knew it was only 110v. Uk also have RCD that protect us from getting electrocuted and trips the ring fuse in the fuse box, so we are well protected and I have only been electrocuted when working in lights or in the ring curcuits in the walls.
yeah, simple brilliance we take for granted in the UK. As for the downsides mentioned, the size has never once been an issue and it makes it so much easier to repair or install the wiring. The switch on the socket is a great advantage, for instance if the switch on an appliance is unreliable then you have the security of the wall switch, BUT he is right about standing on one of these plugs, think of standing on lego times a hundred :)
The size can be a problem when bulky transformers are incorporated because of the strength of the pins, but then ending up not being able to put another plug next to it (usually extensions or older sockets without switches). 😅
Not sure exactly how long the type G have been "universal" in Britain but I remember that my grandmother's house had a different plug/socket system of three round pins (same layout as the type G but round pins) and when we were doing work for her we had to have a conversion cable to be able to use our kit. This would have been in the 1970s but I don't know when that house was built. The house I grew up in had its electrical supply fitted in the late 1950s and was always the three square pin system. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but in the UK switches are set the opposite way to that in the US, i.e. you press "down" to turn on and press "up" to turn off, you do see this when he turns the lamp on/off at the socket. I think the US way makes more sense, I suppose it transferred over from larger power lines where gravity helps in throwing a switch to the off position. Sockets with switches have only been common since around the 1980s, before then it used to be standard practice to unplug things at night to avoid any potential (sic) of fires. As others have mentioned we have different "rings" for different areas of the house, but some items such as electric cooking hobs and electric showers have specific cables leading directly from the consumer unit (fuse box), a shower will use 40A cabling for example, and have to be a single run of cable with no joins. Not sure if it's part of electrical regulations or building regulations but the wiring behind the socket may only run in specific areas - basically vertically up or down from the socket or horizontally from it. You can't run the wiring diagonally around the place. This means that if you need to fix something to the wall you can be (pretty) certain that away from those vertical/horizontal routes you aren't going to be drilling into a live cable.
Strangely enough, the UK plug (despite being many times bigger than the US plug) actually takes up less room! The reason is the cord coming out downwards - when we lived in Canada, we found that the cable coming straight out of the wall was a serious pain - it took up much more room overall, quite often causing furniture to have to be moved to accommodate it (and was a trip hazard - as I found out!). As for stepping on a plug... yup, I've done it - it does hurt - but, in normal day-to-day operation it just doesn't happen - why? 'cos we don't need to unplug things! We just switch off the socket - the plug's still connected! (the only time that I stood on a plug was when I was moving things around in a room, so I'd unplugged everything).
Exactly. I feel like as well that you either have to put stuff further from plugs or in a different place to make them fit right? Like with a UK plug I can put my desk almost right up to the wall and still use the plugs because I don't need to take them out that much, and there's enough space for me to stick my arm down and flick the switch, because I don't need to take what's plugged in out.
You were hearing him right, and you were right, he didn't make sense due to you simply checking the wall socket is on before deciding if there's a fault anywhere.
It's also pretty simple to check the socket is working OK. You just plug in an electrical item which you know works. If IT works you know it's not the socket and must be a fault in the non-working lamp or whatever!
being British and Canadian, currently living in Canada and being an electrician I can say the UK aystem is much better with the exception of no plugs in the bathroom. I have never stood on a plug in the UK because you can just switch the outlet off without removing the plug.
@@keithparker2206 The shaver outlet is not the same as the plug outlets described in the video although it is possible to plug a class B north American plug into one.
Australia has 240V and plenty of plugs in the bathroom. There are four zones for bathroom outlets according to proximity to water source. Different zones have different regulations such as IP ratings and RCD sockets under 30mA etc
Great reactions. I enjoyed this video. I've been to american a few times and just sitting talking about our day to day differences is one of my favourite past times.
I've stepped on those once barefoot while running and I had holes in my feet that's how deep it cut thru but yh the way the wire is at the bottom is good BC u can fit it in a small space of u wanna put furniture Infront of it
Great to learn more about other people's lives - being from the UK, it's just been something I've never thought about - I'm 50, and plugs have always been this way. Interestingly, the switches on the sockets didn't used to be mandatory, but are now - you can't get a socket without one. Most appliances come with moulded plugs that can't be rewired (apart from accessing the fuse as per the video). But if the cable frays, you can just cut it off and fit a new plug as per the video.
Switches on sockets are _not_ mandatory. They are available for special applications, like appliances plugged in with in inaccessible sockets. Most sockets have double pole switches.
the size thing is silly because the US ones have to stick out. because the type g are flat, you can push stuff right up against them, book shelf for example, and you can get it right against the wall with next to no gap. Not sure what hes talking about with load balancing. Every home i've ever lived in i can plug in anything anywhere in the house without any thought about it and its just fine. I've lived in old homes as well from the 1800s with no issues lol
Think of overloading an extension socket and how they can overheat as a result and catch fire, thats what he means by load balancing. Although its rarely an issue on the main ring.
@@davidhall7811 an extension socket will have a 13amp fuse in it. It can't be overloaded. I actually blew a fuse the other day in an extension lead that had a 7amp fuse supplied in it. Not sure why it had 7amp as the cable it very thick. I had connected a kettle and a microwave to it at the same time and after 20 seconds the fuse "popped". Replacing it will a 13amp and it has no issues because it is drawing a maximum of 12amps
All appliances now come with plugs, usually the molded type with a fuse holder in the base. But back in the day appliances were sold without plugs and you always tried to get the shop to throw in the plug for free. I'm talking about the 1980s and before.
I remember that! Usually the dad of every house had a box full of plugs from expired appliances with the cable cut, ready to be put to use again if something came with no plug.
