What plugs and sockets in England. Electric sockets in the world

There are 12 types of electrical plugs and sockets in the world.
Letter classification - from A to X.
Before traveling abroad, especially to rarely visited countries, I check the data below.

Type A: North America, Japan

Countries: Canada, USA, Mexico, part of South America, Japan

Two flat parallel contacts without grounding.
In addition to the United States, this standard has been adopted in 38 other countries. Most common in North America and on the east coast of South America. In 1962, the use of type A sockets was prohibited by law. Instead, the Type B standard was developed. However, many old houses still have similar sockets because they are compatible with the new Type B plugs.
Japanese standard is identical American sockets, but imposes more stringent requirements on the dimensions of plug and socket housings.

Type B: same as type A except Japan

Countries: Canada, USA, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, part of Brazil, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia

Two flat parallel contacts and one round for grounding.
The additional contact is longer, therefore, when connected, the device is grounded before it is connected to the network.
In the socket, the neutral contact is on the left side, the phase is on the right side, and the earth is on the bottom. On this type of plug, the neutral contact is made wider to prevent reverse polarity in non-standard connections.

Type C: Europe

Countries: all of Europe, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East, part of South America, Indonesia, South Korea

Two round contacts.
This is our usual Euro socket. Grounding is not provided and the plug can be plugged into any outlet that accepts 4mm diameter pins with 19mm spacing between them.
Type C is used throughout continental Europe, the Middle East, many African countries, as well as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Bangladesh, Indonesia. Well, of course, in all the republics of the former Soviet Union.
German and French plugs (type E) are very similar to this standard, but the pin diameter is increased to 4.8 mm, and the body is designed in such a way as to prevent connection to euro sockets. The same forks are used in South Korea for all devices that do not require earthing and are found in Italy.
In the UK and Ireland, showers and bathrooms are sometimes special sockets, compatible with type C plugs. They are designed to connect electric shavers. Therefore, the voltage in them is often lowered to 115 V.

Type D: India, Africa, Middle East

Three large round contacts arranged in a triangle.
This old English standard supported mainly in India. It is also found in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria), the Middle East (Kuwait, Qatar) and in those parts of Asia and the Far East where the British were engaged in electrification.
Compatible sockets are used in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Namibia. In Israel, Singapore and Malaysia, this type of outlet is used to connect air conditioners and electric clothes dryers.

Type E: France

Two round pins and a ground pin protruding from the top of the socket.
This type of connection is used in France, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Denmark.
The diameter of the contacts is 4.8 mm, they are located at a distance of 19 mm from each other. The right contact is neutral, the left is live.
As well as the German standard described below, sockets of this type allow the connection of plugs of type C and some others. Sometimes the connection requires the use of force so that you can damage the outlet.

Type F: Germany

Two round pins and two grounding clips at the top and bottom of the socket.
Often this type is called Schuko, from the German schutzkontakt, which means "protected or grounded" contact. Sockets and plugs of this standard are symmetrical, the position of the contacts when connecting does not matter.
Despite the fact that the standard provides for the use of contacts with a diameter of 4.8 mm, domestic plugs easily fit German sockets.
Many countries of Eastern Europe are gradually moving from the old Soviet standard to type F.
Often there are hybrid plugs that combine type F side clips and a type E grounding contact. Such plugs connect equally well to both French and German Schuko sockets.

Type G: Great Britain and former colonies

Countries: UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, Cyprus, Malta

Three large flat contacts arranged in a triangle.
The massiveness of forks of this type is surprising. The reason lies not only in the large contacts, but also in the fact that there is a fuse inside the plug. It is necessary because British standards allow high current in a household electrical circuit. Pay attention to this! The adapter for the euro plug must also be equipped with a fuse.
Plugs and sockets of this type, in addition to Great Britain, are also common in a number of former British colonies.

Type H: Israel

Three contacts arranged in a Y-shape.
This type of connection is unique, found only in Israel and is not compatible with all other sockets and plugs.
Until 1989, the contacts were flat, then it was decided to replace them with round ones, 4 mm in diameter, located in the same way. All modern sockets support the connection of plugs with both old flat and new round pins.

Type I: Australia

Countries: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji

Two flat contacts arranged in a “house” and the third one is a ground contact.
Almost all outlets in Australia have a switch for added security.
Similar connections are found in China, only in comparison with the Australian ones they are turned upside down.
Argentina and Uruguay use receptacles that are compatible with Type I in shape, but with reversed polarity.

Type J: Switzerland

Three round contacts.
Exclusive Swiss standard. Very similar to type C, only there is a third, grounding contact, which is set a little to the side.
European standard plugs fit without adapters.
A similar connection is found in parts of Brazil.

Type K: Denmark and Greenland

Three round contacts.
The Danish standard is very similar to the French type E, only the protruding earth pin is in the plug instead of the socket.
From July 1, 2008, type E sockets will be installed in Denmark, but for now the most common Euro C plugs can be easily connected to existing sockets.

Type L: Italy and Chile

Three round contacts in a row.
European standard C plugs (ours) fit Italian sockets without any problems.
If you really want to, then E / F (France-Germany) plugs, which we have in chargers for MacBooks, can be put into Italian sockets. In 50% of cases, Italian sockets break in the process of pulling out such a plug: the plug is removed from the wall along with the Italian socket strung on it.

Type X: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia

A hybrid of type A with C sockets. This type of socket accepts both American and European plugs.

Charging electrical appliances brought with you just will not work. Sockets in England are different!

Without knowing this little secret, it will be very problematic - even a mobile phone, if necessary, cannot be put on charge.

First, a little about sockets in England:

The modern English socket has a three-pin design with safety valve. And in very ancient buildings you can still find old English sockets. They have two thin and one thick round pins. But this is in the houses of the times of Queen Victoria and old hotels. You are unlikely to get there. But if you are forewarned, then you are forearmed!

Also, most electrical plugs in England have a fuse built into them. If you bring electrical equipment from England, do not forget to also purchase an adapter from English to European socket. If the socket is Soviet, then you need another adapter :)

By the way, if you are planning to buy a used one. technique in England, we advise you to read

Where can I get an adapter?

In our countries, you can usually buy an adapter from a European to an English socket at Duty Free at the airport, order it on the Internet, or purchase it at your nearest electrical store.

In England, go to any nearby Tesco, Asda, or any other supermarket. Adapters are also sold in Boots pharmacies.
Cheap, at just £1, the adapter can be bought at Poundland or 99p.

Also, first ask the hotel staff, or the owners of the house where you are going to live. Perhaps they have a couple of adapters for an English outlet.

The adapter from European to English socket is called "European to UK Plug Adapter", or "Travel adapter European to UK".

Caution - inquisitive Russian mind! Do not repeat!

Here, too, ours invented a universal Russian adapter. ;)
It is necessary to insert a stick (cotton buds, matches, disposable plugs, etc.) into the upper middle hole of the outlet, then the remaining holes will open and you can push the plug into them!

Do not do this, as you can spend the evening without electricity!

We wish you a successful connection to the English socket!

System of measures

The system of measures and weights is imperial, inch. A characteristic feature of the country for a long time was the almost complete rejection of metric units of measurement and the SI system - practically no one in a retail outlet or pub can still offer goods in kilograms, and beer in liters. However, the metric system, little by little, finds its way to the local market, so in popular tourist areas it can be much easier to navigate in weight or size than in the north of the country.

For orientation in a very complex system of British measures, you can use a lot of "third-party tips" - most products have a bar code that is easily read by vending machines in any unit of measurement, packaging in pounds (0.45 kg) differs little from the half-kilogram packages we are used to, and a pint in a bar is traditionally equal to about half a liter (the size of the mugs, respectively, is also similar).

However, it should be borne in mind that British, American and Irish units of length, volume or weight sometimes differ markedly from each other, but there is only one beer pint - English (0.56826125 l).

Tips

Prices

The UK is one of those countries where travel needs to be planned well in advance and carefully to avoid high costs, as this country is not cheap. The rule always works - the earlier a ticket is bought (or a hotel is booked), the cheaper it is. For example, a train ride from London to Edinburgh can cost £20 if you buy a ticket a month in advance, up to £80 if you buy it on the day of departure. A similar situation with hotels, when booking a room 2-3 months before the trip, accommodation in the center of London can cost from 50 pounds, while the usual price exceeds 100 pounds.

The UK is distinguished by very expensive restaurants, but at the same time, if you eat away from the tourist centers of cities, for example, in Chinatown (which are available in London, Liverpool, Manchester and other cities), then the cost of food will be minimal. Also, small immigrant cafes of Polish cuisine are very cheap, where you can have a hearty meal for no more than 7-10 pounds.

Accommodation in hotels

Breakfast

In UK hotels, you can find two types of breakfast: continental (continental) and full English (full english). Continental is cheese, sausage, jam and tea-coffee. Full English - the same, fruits and "hot dishes" (scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, sausages, bacon). In expensive hotels, you can sometimes choose what type of breakfast you want to pay for.

Deposit

In many hotels, guests will be asked to pay a deposit upon check-in. For example, at 4-star hotels in London, the standard deposit is £50 when blocking this amount on a credit card, or £100 in cash. Cash will be returned to you immediately upon check-out from the hotel; on the card, the money will be unlocked within one to two weeks.

Electricity

In the UK, electrical plugs and sockets are different from Russia. It is supposed to be possible to rent an adapter at the reception, but in practice this is not always possible. The adapter can be bought in stores - from 2 to 6 pounds. However, in most hotels, you should first try to carefully inspect the bathroom, where there may well be a "European" outlet for an electric shaver.

mefatgg | autumn 2016

Alexander | June 2016

home » sheathing » What plugs and sockets in England. Electric sockets in the world