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Why are British mains plugs bigger than those in other countries?

Peter Heaney, Swindon

The origins of our large plugs go back to the end of World War Two. With so many houses to build after the war, and facing a chronic copper shortage, Britain was keen to find a way of wiring homes that used less cable. Previously, each mains socket had its own connection to the fuse board. To save copper, Britain adopted the ring main system, with sockets connected sequentially, but this meant each connection needed its own fuse. Instead of putting the fuses in the sockets, they were included in the plugs themselves. Hence the UK's bigger plugs. Answered by Gareth Mitchell

Comments: 1

UK plugs with fuses

Sun, 2011-04-24 19:58
Geoff Tyler

Many years ago my Swiss colleagues said why does the UK use fuses in the plugs....I said we use some appliances like kettles & electric fires that are up to 3 kw, so we need fuses. A ring main has a number of sockets with a capacity of 13A or 30A for cookers. Individual fuses avoid individual appliance problems & eliminate individual ring main problems

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