British Plugs and Outlets Are On Another Level

I'm a proud American, but these British plugs are pretty cool. #diy #electrical #britishplugs

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00:00 #10 Longer Ground for Safety
01:45 #9 Those Clever 9mm
02:31 #8 Cord Orientation
03:04 #7 Intentional Order of Destruction
04:06 #6 Easy to Open Plugs
05:19 #5 Fuses All Around
06:31 #4 Beefy Pins
07:05 #3 Earth Pins Every Time
08:01 #2 Switches on Every Socket
08:40 #1 230v

[Richiecandylover]

Don’t think a British person has ever really had an issue with not switching on a socket, we all grew up with the switches! Similarly to how someone knows automatically to flick a switch to turn the light on! Also load balancing isn’t usually problematic- usually have a separate circuit for likes of cookers and washing machines!

[edc]

As a Brit, the switches don't cause any confusion when troubleshooting, they're pretty bullet proof and growing up with them, you know they're there.

[ClaudioParraGonzalez]

I love how the downsides of the G-plug are totally irrelevant things, while its fenefits are complete game-changers

[COMM_DUMPSTR]

I'm american, but when I was deployed to Iraq, we used these plugs. One thing I miss about these is how satisfying it is to plug these in and how secure they felt. Definitely wish we had these in the states!

[rkirwan]

Having grown up in Ireland I can attest that stepping barefoot on a 3-prong plug is one of the most painful learning experiences of my childhood. Great video.

[YelpBullhorn]

I’m British, and have never struggled to turn on a socket, nor have I ever struggled with their size. But I have trod on one though! And I’ve still got the scar on my heel to prove it! And even with that agony permanently seared onto my cortex, I'm still able to marvel at their incredible design. I rather took them for granted until I watched this vid.

[ashleyjwheat]

As a Brit, the size of our plugs has never been an issue. I've lived in the EU and spent time in the US and am always baffled by how flimsy the connection feels with US sockets. I've also never ever had to think about load balancing in any house I've lived. Our electrics are pretty foolproof: plug what you need to use in and that's it. I have also stood on a plug once, in someone else's house, and believe me, once is enough, you learn to be tidier!

[petewebster]

Great video, thanks. Another correction from an old British electrician, the ring main itself is also protected using either a large 30A fuse or more modern circuit breaker so the total load cannot exceed design criteria (nominally 30 amps). Cable sizes for the ring main are not small at all at 2.5mm sq (twin + earth) and have double insulation over singles used on lower voltage systems. Load balancing has never been a consideration in normal homes as large appliances, such as an oven or hob, have their own dedicated high current rated circuits; as do other large loads, such as air con units. Lastly, we also use dedicated radial circuits for specific purposes. For example, central heating boilers, tumble dryers, washing machines etc. to keep the high load appliances off the ring main.

[naomisnelson]

Rewiring a plug was part of our science classes at like age 14, it's kind of weird to think that that's not a standard experience everywhere since it was a pretty good demo of how electricity works

[meeprophone]

Not mentioned here, the fuse in the plug is intended to be rated for the flex/cable and appliance together, so a smaller cable gets a smaller fuse. Therefore even under fault conditions insufficient to trip the main breaker, you still can’t melt the wire, because the fuse blows first. Typically a 13A fuse on a 3kW kettle, a 3A fuse on a lamp. An additional important safety feature!

[Mega_Xenomorph]

I live in Ireland and, just like the use of the metric system, I love the G plugs. As you said, they always point downward which is great when you have something plugged in snuggly against a cupboard or a dresser and you don't have to get an extender/brick to corner off the plug as you may have to with the A type. I love it's safety and will happily risk every night of potentially stomping on one to keep it in my home every single time. Honestly it's one of the greatest inventions Britain has ever produced

[dottyorb]

I've never had any problems with confusion about whether a switch is on or off, and I've never stepped on a plug because every plug is either plugged into the wall or put away, so it's never a danger. Honestly some of the things you listed made me go "Wait, America doesn't have that?" The switches in particular I was surprised about because it's something I always took for granted. Very interesting video though.

[relax_enjoy_English]

In the UK, we lift weights from the age of 3 in nursery/creche in order to manage the extra weight of our plugs. Also, we walk on hot coals every weekend in order not to feel pain when we walk on trailing plugs (which happens literally all the time).

But seriously, it's unusual to feel proud to be British about anything at the moment, so thanks for the video!

[jonasezeanya]

Nigerian here, and I can confirm that the UK type-G plug is the common type around here. We only usually see the type-B and type-A coming in with laptops and printers and such. And, yes, the issues you raised about the straight-out direction of the cables are legitimate headaches. Nearly everything else - fridges, washing machines, electric irons, electric stoves/cookers, televisions, set top boxes etc - all come with 3-pin type-G plug. Never stepped on one of those, but I think I have enough reflex memory experience from stepping on other stuff to keep me from EVER making that mistake. The mere thought of it is giving me the creeps. Yikes!

[andreejor]

As a visitor to the USA, I was impressed by the solid quality of the plumbing, amazed at how small the stall doors are in public toilets and how loose the electric sockets are in the wall.

[JDBD]

As someone who has lived my entire life here in the UK I am shocked to hear that you don't have switches at the sockets. It's just such an alien concept from my perspective.

[ChristopherFonseka]

Very true - stepping on a plug is one of the most painful experiences. However, since all our sockets are switched, it's an unusual situation. Most of the time you'll just leave the socket plugged in, and switch it off from the wall

[ramiropolla]

As an Electrical Engineer, I've always been fascinated by the British plug, to the point where I frequently start talking about how brilliantly designed it is, and can go on and on for a very long time. Apparently I'm not fun at parties :)

[nimbas]

One of the benefits that you fail to mention. Because the cable exits parallel to the wall you can place a piece of furniture such as a side cabinet in front of the outlet without the risk of either kinking the cable and or damaging it in the process.

[Redsunns]

From Singapore, whenever i went overseas, i'm blessed that we have G-plug in Singapore. It's so safe and the flexibility to change the plug ourselves. We always remember and make sure to switch off all irrelevant switches before we leave home, except the one for the fridge.