The One Where I Don't Get British Electricity

[franceslievens]

On arriving in our Oxford apartment, we got well acquainted with one of the craziest British peculiarities as of yet: the way electric appliances are wired. I had already encountered the Mira, a mystery for the foreigner who is used to hot water flowing from the hot tap, and sockets with switches aren't that weird, come to think of it. But the amalgame of switches we encountered in our kitchen and the airing cupboard next to the bathroom really baffled us. None of them are labelled, so there was a lot of trial and error to find out which was which, and all of them are fused. Instead of having one easy reachable fuse box for the entire apartment, we have fuses scattered around.
My dad's an engineer, specialised in electronics, and he has given me the awful pet peeve that when I see this kind of wiring I find it outright stupid. It is probably partly due to this being a rental apartment (I have encountered strange things in Belgian rental apartments), but some of it feels so very British. I can't even imagine it's possible to buy this kind of fuse in Belgium. I'd have to ask Papa about it once.
It also makes the circuitry hopelessly entangled in my mind. A good electrician strives for logical clarity. Here the object is installing as many switches as possible. And then using them all. This is the reasoning of the electric uneducated. Why should I turn off the stove's fuse when I've turned off the stove itself? When the circuit's cut, it's cut. It's unnecessary to do it twice. I should insert a little drawing here to show you what I mean. It can be good to cut power for certain appliances when you're out for some time. But guess what: that's also possible with one fuse box. As a general rule and regulation big appliances like furnace, washer/dryer, fridge... have their own circuit. So it's easy to go to your fuse box and switch that one off.
I guess it's also an ancient way of putting in electricity. Or please tell me this isn't British norm.

Comments

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

And to top it all off, there's a fuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363#Fuses), too, inside the plug!

And no sockets/electrical outlets anywhere in a bathroom...

And don't get me started on the plumbing...

(I really really love Britain, but some things are just weird.)

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

We have fuses in our plugs as well. But really, how things are installed here, it feels like overkill. The person from the agency who sees after the property came by today, and he simply said to leave everything on. "Some people like to turn all the switches off, but when the oven's turned off, it's off really." Those were his words. *g*

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Are you sure? Fuses that you can replace by hand after opening the plug?



The wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring_(UK)) about electrical wiring in the UK talks a bit more about these various peculiarities.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, no. P. tells me I misunderstood completely. I mistranslated. *headdesk*

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

No worries!

[thestormcellar.livejournal.com]

My uncle is an electrician, and so I'm also baffled as to why they'd do this. Maybe it was some kind of law at some point where each outlet had to have its own switch??

*baffled*

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I really think it has something to do with this being a rental place as well. They do strange things in rental places, because it costs less and works as well, though less efficient. *rolls eyes*

[lijability.livejournal.com]

That's barbaric! Also overkill.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

If you go to the Wikipedia page sister_luck provided you'll understand a bit better how this works. (Still I think the other system is better.)