Californian Reacts | British Plugs and Outlets Are On Another Level

The electric plugs and outlets are absolutely different, and much better! Safety top tier as well compared to US plugs. Time to find out ALL of the major differences between these two plugs.

See you next video and enjoy!

[californianreacts]

I knew British plugs and outlets were different, but I didn't realize HOW different and in such big ways. Who would have thought that they were created to be extremely safe?! (sarcasm from how the US plugs are). 💡

Another excellent British invention!

[andypandy]

I'm British and can assure you that so called "Load Balancing" has NEVER been an issue here in all my 60+ years.
And as for trouble shooting an appliance that does not work, well ... the first thing you do is to check the switch on the socket (outlet). It's really not difficult.

[Toadhall]

Load balancing has never been an issue in my experience. If you have a heavy load like an induction cook top say then it has its own circuit. Even plugging in an electric heater is usually no more than 2KW and is way inside a ring mains capability

[sangfroidian]

I'm 53 and have never heard of anyone having an issue with load balancing in the UK. Given sockets have switches and plugs are secure in the socket, there's no good reason to have a plug out of a socket for you to tread on. I haven't done this since the 1970s when switches on sockets became standard having been introduced in 1967.

[Spiklething]

My dad was an electrician, he retired and moved to France where he renevated an old farmhouse in Normandy. He rewired the place himself, up to British standards, with British sockets and plugs which, as you can see, are very well designed. Then he had his home inspection, and the French inspector did not pass the electrics because they were not the typical French ones. So he removed all the sockets, put in French ones, got the home through the inspection and then put all the British sockets back in!

[stumccabe]

For me the biggest advantage of the UK system is that a single socket/plug can provide 3 kilowatts of power, while in the US the maximum is 1.5 kilowatts. In other words, it would take twice as long for my kettle to come to the boil and I need my tea as soon as possible!

[mxlexrd]

One other advantage (that someone on another channel pointed out) is that the cable coming out of the bottom of the plug means you can push furniture up against the plug more closely and without damaging the cable.

As for serviceability of the plugs, increasingly these days appliances come with solid plastic plugs which cannot be opened. You could still cut the end off and fit a new one though.

[Bill_Stranix]

His 'issues' at the end are pretty much non issues really.

[chrissaltmarsh]

Mostly, in the UK, circuits are a mixture of radial and ring. So you'll have a breaker on the junction box marked 'kitchen plugs' and another 'ground floor lights'.
Each of those feeds its own ring. This is to get load balancing right.
Also, if the washing machine goes ape and blows its breaker, the lights stay on

[DruncanUK]

I learned to wire a plug at school. The lessons also included general electrical safety, which is never a bad thing.

[bluechang]

I'm from the UK - baby shops actually sell the plastic covers to plug into the socket to prevent things being put into the plug, but what they actually do is just override the already in-built protections already there that prevents things being put into the socket. We never used them when our kids were young as there was no point in paying out for them when the socket has the protection already there. That, and they look ridiculous and hard to pull out of the socket.

[watuetu]

Load balancing does not exist in the UK, and we use both ring and radial circuits for our sockets (but mainly radial nowadays).
The wire used in the circuit has to be able to sustain a current rating greater than the breaker.
So you can put as much on a circuit as you want but the breaker will eventually trip.
The only limit is that you can only have 13amp at 230v (2990w) from one socket. But that's the limitation of the socket and not the circuit.

[kenUK]

He's clutching at straws with the downsides, tbh. None of them is an issue. Not the load balancing, nor the wiring, nor the dastardly little plugs lying upside down waiting to ambush you in the middle of the living room 😅 I mean. Come onn. 😂

[mikeh]

These plugs and sockets were introduced in 1947. At that time the sockets didn't have switches and there was no black insulation on the plug prongs. Otherwise they were pretty much like as now.

Although we still use ring mains, major appliances like cookers(stoves), immersion heaters, central heating, electric showers etc all have their own radial circuit. I've never heard of anyone in the UK having problems with load sharing.

[AndyLeMaitre]

Load balancing? Never heard of anyone having a problem with it, it's not a problem. I've never stepped on one and I don't know anyone who has. They're not massive to us, they're just the size a plug is. If your lamp doesn't work, the first thing you do is make sure it's switched on at the socket, simples.

[Jamie_D]

I love how clever our plugs are. Not many have stepped on a plug because they aren't usually removed from the wall, but if you do boy it's bad, usually if kids have left one out lying around, lol

[corringhamdepot]

You would normally have a special outlet for things like an electric cooker, or water heater. That is not on the ring main. Where the lead would be permanently wired directly into the outlet. The maximum the plugs are rated for are 13 amps. I have a small cooker, that comes in two versions. My one with a 13 amp plug attached only lets you use the rings, or the oven separately. The version that lets you use both together, would be hard wired into a 45 amp cooker outlet.

[mervinmannas]

I agree with Tim below so long as a fully qualified electrian has wired your house load balancing is never an issue. Two features he failed to mention are 1. as the wire come down and not horizontaly out if a socket is behind a sofa or chair. The furniture can go nearer the wall. 2. the two live wires are coloured so you remember which side they go. So bRown = R = right, bLue = L = left.

[Gizepi]

They used to teach us how to wire and change these plugs in primary school. The Ring main was designed FOR load balancing so at no time was there too much load being passed down part of a single run. It doubled up the capacity of the wiring model. The plugs have a maximum 13A (fused) load capacity. A single spur was allowed a 16A fuse in the fuse panel. The cable between them was rated at 26A so at no time would in-wall cablework get hot and overheat leding to a fire. The original ring main also had the same twin&earth cable and, provided it was connected in a ring and the ring had not been parted, would support a spread load of 52A on which up to 8 double outlets and a 16A fuse or circuit-breaker could be placed. More recently, probably due to the EU getting involved, the same circuits have been allowed a 32A breaker, but more worryingly, so has the spur that supports only 26A on the cable.

[suzieannie]

To be honest ... the end negatives ... were nothing. I have no issues with the size. I leave them in and switch off the socket itself so I have never had a "LEGO" incident, had the occasional safety trip go on the main board when my actual appliance went wrong and I use an extension lead with their individual switches to give extra plug space. Our plugs are basically fab! 😊