Why does the world harbor so many different voltages, plugs, and sockets?

Post by HKH2 » Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 3:38 PM UTC

alkonaut wrote: post #29

evolve2k wrote: post #12

I know it’s likely highly subjective and prone to local bias, but I feel a next step would be to do user testing of alternatives and derive a best form factor plug. What’s the best plug we could all be aspiring to. Some are clearly more usable than others. One metric: easy of use in the dark/based on feel alone.

Safety seems like a big one too. Even the shoddiest fit should never have a visible powered part. Reliability: Fit should be good. You should be easily able to plug a heavy transformer on a downward facing socket without it falling out by gravity alone. Lastly, compactness. The standard should be compact so fittings can be good looking and not use too much space. The UK grounded connector fails the last criteria. The…

Post by hyperionplays » Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 3:42 PM UTC

fbellag wrote: post #25

gumby wrote: post #9

Unfortunately this doesn’t get to why. For example the absurdly large UK plugs with integral fuses date to first (or was it postwar? I forget) surge of electrification which,for expediency’s sake was often point-to-point (like “party line” phones) so local devices needed protection. Nobody else went this route (well, excepting some dodgy informal systems I’ve seen in India and southern Africa) so could get away with…

Australia, and Argentina since then 90s, use the Y plug, which is not mentioned in the article. Why Argentina used the same plug as Australia I have no idea, and it's not fully documented as far as know.

Post by throw0101a » Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 3:59 PM UTC

qwerty456127 wrote: post #45

tzs wrote: post #20

The article seems to be mostly about voltages and plugs/sockets that the consumer will see at the outlets throughout their home. It's interesting to look a little beyond that. Most of the places that offer 230 V at their outlets seem to be distributing power in the neighborhoods using a 3 phase 230 V system. Individual houses are wired to one phase of that. In the US, distribution throughout a neighborhood is typical…

> The normal outlets in the house are wired across half the transformer, giving 120 V. Ovens, water heaters, dryers, EV chargers, air conditioners, etc get wired across the full transformer giving 240 V. Why not just give the 120 V up and go full 240 V in every outlet?

Post by selfhoster11 » Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 4:05 PM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #46

qwerty456127 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The normal outlets in the house are wired across half the transformer, giving 120 V. Ovens, water heaters, dryers, EV chargers, air conditioners, etc get wired across the full transformer giving 240 V. Why not just give the 120 V up and go full 240 V in every outlet?

> Why not just give the 120 V up and go full 240 V in every outlet? No one feels it's worth the effort. You'd need two sets of plugs in every home and redesign a whole bunch of appliances and sell both types during the change over period, which could last decades.

Post by selfhoster11 » Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

fy20 wrote: post #24

Italian sockets are a fun one. The plugs come in a 10A and 16A versions which are slightly different sizes. Newer sockets will usually take both plugs, but older sockets take one or the other. The size looks very similar to European Schuko sockets, and if you jam it in, then it will just about fit (without an earth). You can get adapters all over the place, which is the way you are supposed to do it, but for older so…