ELECTRICAL UK AND IRLAND

[toolaholic]

In May, the Bride and I spent 3 weeks in London and Ireland ,for our 30 th Anniversary. Just wonderful ! Soo I was checking out all the plumbing and Elec.
This was a surprise for Us. The Bathroom Elec. Never a light switch, always a pull string. One outlet near sink for Elec. shavers only ! And always marked that way. Wife always used hair dryer in living room . Also ,I believe shaver outlet was designed to Keep our adapter out ,But not sure. Anyway It's all different. and In my opinion. inferior. In Ireland We stayed at bed and breakfast, friendly folks all. But the best was the seafood chowder and brown bread each evening in the pubs. I use to dig clams on cape cod in the 70s. We have nothing like this in the states . Base is Yesterdays mash potato's , shrimp and lots of different fish.
London Rocks at Night! We will return

 

[SceneryDriver]

One outlet near sink for Elec. shavers only ! And always marked that way. Wife always used hair dryer in living room . Also ,I believe shaver outlet was designed to Keep our adapter out

Having traveled much of the world, and having lived near Hong Kong for a year, I'll say:

The shaver outlets in that part of the world (and HK too, as it used to be British) are transformer isolated, and severely power limited. This is for safety, apparently. If you manage to get a hair dryer plugged in and try to use it, it will either pop the fuse, or start to smell really funny.

Wiring in Europe is definitely different than in N. America. I like the higher utilization voltage, 50Hz annoys me, and their philosophy on earthing is different. They're much more strict about using RCD breakers (GFCI's over here) and they care a great deal more than we do about power factor and noise generated by their switchmode power supplies. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

That said, they must be doing something right; you don't hear about too many people being electrocuted or dying in electrical fires


ScerneryDriver

 

[Besoeker]

In May, the Bride and I spent 3 weeks in London and Ireland ,for our 30 th Anniversary. Just wonderful ! Soo I was checking out all the plumbing and Elec.
This was a surprise for Us. The Bathroom Elec. Never a light switch, always a pull string.

The light switch is pull string operated is to avoid close proximity of wet hands and electricity for obvious safety reasons.

One outlet near sink for Elec. shavers only ! And always marked that way. Also,I believe shaver outlet was designed to Keep our adapter out ,But not sure.

Again, for safety reasons. Its is, as SceneryDriver has said, transformer isolated with neither leg earthed (grounded) so much less likely to cause electrocution. And, if you did manage to somehow touch both conductors, the shock would be local rather than through your body to ground. Anyway, it seems to me that these are going out of fashion.

Anyway It's all different. and In my opinion. inferior.

Different, yes. Inferior? Disputable.

Just a couple of basic observations.
Domestic sockets (outlets) are three pin. Live, neutral and earth. There is a shutter mechanism that closes off the live and neutral. This opened only when the three pin plug is inserted. The earth is the longest pin and that opens the shutter allowing the other two pins to enter. This avoids the possibility of people, children for example, sticking objects into live terminals. The plugs incorporate a fuse that provides local protection. And most sockets (outlets) have a switch so you don't have to pull the plug when you want to remove power.

Domestic supplies are just one voltage - 230V. Everything is 230V. Lighting, washing machines, fridges, hair dryers, televisions, phone chargers......
No 120-0-120 so there isn't the possibility sticking up to 240V on a 120V device and frying it because of a lost neutral.

In Ireland We stayed at bed and breakfast, friendly folks all. But the best was the seafood chowder and brown bread each evening in the pubs. I use to dig clams on cape cod in the 70s. We have nothing like this in the states . Base is Yesterdays mash potato's , shrimp and lots of different fish.
London Rocks at Night! We will return

Seafood chowder I'd never heard of until I went to USA........

Anyway, if you do come back to the UK, might I suggest that you include Edinburgh in your itinerary? Sometimes called the Athens of the North. Like the other chap I've been around a bit, seen scenes, been ridden hard, and put up wet as the expression goes. But I still think Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I'm a Scot but no, I'm not on the Tourist Board for Scotland! I live in England now and have done for the past forty years. But I go back from time to time, usually on business.
School for me was in Kirriemuir, a very small town and birthplace of J.M. Barrie the creator of Peter Pan.

Sorry for the digression.........

 

[toolaholic]

THANK'S AGAIN BOTH OF YOU

THANK'S AGAIN BOTH OF YOU

All great info. The Boss says Scotland , Paris and the English country side next. We live on English TV series. Foyles War. Doc Martin [ want to visit that Lil town ]
Love all the detective series ! I had a Young fella work for Me years ago from Scotland [ Loved him like a Son] About 5'8" Kick Boxer . Boy did Collen drink and fight. And always with a big smile. I was looking at all the elec. services and pulling toilet tank Lids Ect. Wife was smiling on that. Young kids in Ireland are not getting into the building trades. Was told if You need a plumber ,there's a good chance He will be polish. On Scotland Hope the Economy improves ! Hope it does here too.

 

[charlie b]

The Boss says Scotland , Paris and the English country side next.

When you make your arrangements for Paris, let me suggest what we did last year. Instead of getting a hotel room, which would have been small and expensive, we rented an apartment for 3 days. It was larger, had a separate kitchen and living room, had a stove and a dishwasher, and was less expensive than a hotel. My boss (i.e., she who must be obeyed) loves to cook, and really enjoyed shopping at local grocery stores and cooking in the apartment. She found it in a simple Google search. There are management firms that handle the whole rental process on behalf of the apartment owners.

 

[Besoeker]

When you make your arrangements for Paris, let me suggest what we did last year. Instead of getting a hotel room, which would have been small and expensive, we rented an apartment for 3 days. It was larger, had a separate kitchen and living room, had a stove and a dishwasher, and was less expensive than a hotel. My boss (i.e., she who must be obeyed) loves to cook, and really enjoyed shopping at local grocery stores and cooking in the apartment. She found it in a simple Google search. There are management firms that handle the whole rental process on behalf of the apartment owners.

Mr Mod, Sir...
I think that travel may be an interesting topic to pursue but might I suggest it gets moved to the camp fire section?

 

[toolaholic]

THANK CHARLIE

THANK CHARLIE

When you make your arrangements for Paris, let me suggest what we did last year. Instead of getting a hotel room, which would have been small and expensive, we rented an apartment for 3 days. It was larger, had a separate kitchen and living room, had a stove and a dishwasher, and was less expensive than a hotel. My boss (i.e., she who must be obeyed) loves to cook, and really enjoyed shopping at local grocery stores and cooking in the apartment. She found it in a simple Google search. There are management firms that handle the whole rental process on behalf of the apartment owners.

We rented a flat in London 5 Nights ,cambridge Circus , theater district . Saw the Musical "ONCE " awesome movie won an Oscar.
Comes to S.F. This month. God Idea, We'll do it.