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#Post#: 19712--------------------------------------------------
Power Struggle
By: Nikola Date: January 4, 2020, 7:06 am
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Nowadays, it's easy to take electricity for granted but those
who have travelled overseas will know that access to it can be a
bit problematic, whether it's due to the location of the
sockets, their type, additional features or voltage. It's quite
impressive how power plugs and sockets stubbornly remain
different across the world.
Here is a list of all 15 types used around the world
HTML https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/
and
the map below shows which ones are used where.
[img width=300
height=152]
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/World_map_of_electrical_mains_power_plug_types_used.svg/1280px-World_map_of_electrical_mains_power_plug_types_used.svg.png[/img]
One of the joys of travelling and especially living abroad is
getting one's head around the different "plug and socket"
culture and the adjustments that come with it. A European who
moves from the continent to the UK will learn to dry their hair
in the living room or bedroom because sockets are not commonly
found in bathrooms. They will spend ages wondering what's wrong
with their device before finally realising the socket needs to
be turned on using the on/off switch. If this person then moves
to the US or Canada, they will find themselves asking a refund
for the new electric kettle they just bought, claiming it's not
working, before they realise that 100-127 volts won't get you
very far and you're better off getting a stove-top kettle.
Have you ever experienced a similar outlet letdown? Have you
ever travelled without an adaptor and regretted it? And finally,
does your country have any plug and socket curiosities, such as
this stackable Soviet adaptor plug?
[img]
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Soviet_power_plug.JPG/220px-Soviet_power_plug.JPG[/img]
#Post#: 19713--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: SuKi Date: January 4, 2020, 1:20 pm
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I took my travel kettle to New York and it boiled... eventually.
A cup of tea which I'd normally make in minutes would take about
an hour.
#Post#: 19714--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: Nikola Date: January 4, 2020, 5:02 pm
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SuKi, did it boil once you stopped watching it? :)
#Post#: 19716--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: Aliph Date: January 4, 2020, 5:50 pm
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I have a full collection of useless adaptors. I stopped taking
them with me. I do not travel with a hair dryer or a tea kettle.
Strangely, I never had any problem plugging my cellphone in any
socket starting with my first mythical Nokia to my latest
smartphone. It’s a mystery to me how it always works, in any
country I visited. Well, I haven’t been to Afghanistan nor to
Nigeria.
#Post#: 19718--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: SHL Date: January 4, 2020, 8:16 pm
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I like normal German electrical plugs and outlets. I assume they
are the same throughout Europe, but maybe the UK has different
ones (it’s been awhile so I can’t recall if they are different.
I assume so).
The plugs and outlets in the US are ridiculous and potentially
dangerous.
#Post#: 19719--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: SHL Date: January 4, 2020, 8:58 pm
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[quote author=SuKi link=topic=1412.msg19713#msg19713
date=1578165643]
I took my travel kettle to New York and it boiled... eventually.
A cup of tea which I'd normally make in minutes would take about
an hour.
[/quote]
Suki,
That’s interesting. Why would it take an hour just to boil
water?
In all the traveling I‘ve done I never noticed this. (Even a
microwave wouldn’t take but a few minutes.)
I‘m more a coffee drinker myself (I recall being in London in
1998 to appear as a witness at a trial. The barrister on our
side, who was a really nice guy, asked me in his office if I
wanted tea or coffee. When I said coffee he said „How
predictable.....“ I never forgot that, but I liked him. He was a
great barrister and his office was right across the street from
the Royal Courts of Justice- I think that was what it was
called, right in the center of London).
Anyway, in Iceland, like most places, they have those little
water boiler cookers in the hotel. You flip those on and it
takes a minute for that water to boil. Just add the tea or
coffee. So why it would take an hour in NY to boil water is a
bit baffling.
#Post#: 19724--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: NealC Date: January 8, 2020, 8:22 am
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[quote author=SHL link=topic=1412.msg19718#msg19718
date=1578190604]
The plugs and outlets in the US are ridiculous and potentially
dangerous.
[/quote]
I would love to hear about this,but I have the vague feeling I
have heard this from you before.
#Post#: 19727--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: SuKi Date: January 8, 2020, 4:15 pm
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SHL asked: Why would it take an hour just to boil water?
Because I stupidly took a 240v British travel kettle to the US
expecting it to work. Hadn't realised that the American 110v
system would have virtually no impact on it. Like harnessing a
miniature pony to an armoured tank and wondering why it took so
long to move.
And yes, you're right: the anglophone countries of Europe - the
UK, Ireland and Malta - have different plugs from the rest of
the continent. Ours are big chunky things with three square
pins, as opposed to the ones with two round pins that you get in
other countries. The voltage is more or less the same, though,
so you can use all the same appliances everywhere in Europe.
#Post#: 19734--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: SHL Date: January 8, 2020, 11:31 pm
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[quote author=NealC link=topic=1412.msg19724#msg19724
date=1578493324]
[quote author=SHL link=topic=1412.msg19718#msg19718
date=1578190604]
The plugs and outlets in the US are ridiculous and potentially
dangerous.
[/quote]
I would love to hear about this,but I have the vague feeling I
have heard this from you before.
[/quote]
Oh Neal, you know how messed up everything is in the US. We even
still use inches, feet, yards, Fahrenheit. How dumb is that? No
offense Su.Ki. , but I bet that measurement system is one of
those dumb things the Brits imported and left us with and
promptly went home and abandoned themselves. Yet we were too
stupid to give up on it. Thanks Brits! We appreciate it! :)
But, Neal I did listen to a German guy on his YouTube channel
saying in German how Kookoo the US electrical plugs are and
dangerous. He was living in San Diego. That’s where I got that
from.
#Post#: 19739--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Struggle
By: Nikola Date: January 10, 2020, 3:37 am
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Neal, I heard it too. It was on the same website I provided a
link to above:
HTML https://www.worldstandards.eu/why-no-universal-plug/
"The reason why the world is now stuck with no less than 15
different styles of plugs and wall outlets, is because many
countries preferred to develop a plug of their own, instead of
adopting the US standard. In one sense those countries were
actually right, though: the wobbly American plugs and their
uninsulated prongs are almost prehistoric in terms of design and
they are notoriously unsafe."
Is this not true, then? It does come from a "mean" .eu source ;)
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