There are types A (Japan), B (US), C (EU), D (India), E (France), F (Germany), G (UK), H (Israel), I (AU) and so on: in which all have a distinct plug shape and differences in prongs. Type A plug is just two straight prongs without a ground while Type B is nearly identical to A but with a ground connection and Type F has no ground attached to the outlet while Type E does, usually this is solved with a adapter (for electronics that are dual voltage and support 50/60Hz frequency).
However, household appliances are typically region locked in the sense of being singular voltage (like electric kettles, toasters, refrigerators, washing machines) since those are intended to not be made for travel (mainly for domestic use supporting only a single plug type) unless you have both an adapter and a transformer. You can’t just plug a 120v 60Hz Toaster (B Plug) onto a 230v 50Hz outlet (Type F socket) with an adapter alone as that’ll blow the fuse.
Most modern electronics (as in laptops, game consoles and smartphones) support dual voltage and frequencies but their default plug type is region locked, so if you’ve bought a PS5 in the UK importing it into the US (the default cable is Type G that comes with the packaging when plugging into a TV) unless you swap cable for a Type B plug but it’ll work fine. Why is there no unilateral plug type that’s “region free” when discussing plug types found in appliances.
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The “modern electronics” you mentioned are very low-power devices in the range of things you can power from a household socket. They’re also low-voltage DC, which means that no matter what voltage/frequency you can get from the wall it is being converted, and converting AC to DC is electrically very simple. The difference in circuitry between converting from 110V or 220V is just a transformer with a center tap, and the frequency doesn’t matter at all since DC is 0Hz anyway.
With high-power devices, pretty much anything with a motor or a heating element, the device is designed to match the voltage and frequency available in the region they’re going to be used. An AC motor’s speed depends on the frequency of the power supplied to it, and a heating element depends on voltage, which is why electric kettles and ranges boil water much more quickly in 220V regions. Travel adapters are basically just a transformer, which changes the voltage but not the frequency. The difference between 50Hz and 60Hz isn’t that big so most motors will still run but with impaired performance and maybe timing issues, but others will fail in spectacular and dangerous ways. Supplying a heating element with the wrong voltage will make it either not heat up, or heat up too much and start a fire. The different plug types ensure that you don’t plug in a high power device to power it’s not designed for.
If we were going to standardize on one plug type, we would also have to standardize on one power signal. Ignoring the political issues, that would mean that any region that doesn’t already use that standard signal would have to immediately retool all of their power plants, their entire transmission system, every industrial facility, and adapt or replace every AC household appliance. And there’s not really any good reason to do it, other than convenience.
Most modern electronics (as in laptops, game consoles and smartphones) support dual voltage and frequencies but their default plug type is region locked, so if you’ve bought a PS5 in the UK importing it into the US (the default cable is Type G that comes with the packaging when plugging into a TV) unless you swap cable for a Type B plug but it’ll work fine.
And most appliances are designed in such a way that the swapping is extremely easy - no soldering, just unplug the bad one and plug in the good one. And this secondary plug is so effing standardized that you probably already have a suitable cable lying around.
Why is there no unilateral plug type that’s “region free” when discussing plug types found in appliances.
The EU plug is one attempt. I believe that includes the UK and a few non-European countries.
region locked?
A very wrong Interpretation.
Why is there Italian food AND French food AND Japanese food? Can’t they all eat the same? /s
They were introduced and installed and became common and at some point declared regional standards at the time when there were no standards at all. You’d visit your local shop and buy your four lamps in your entire lifetime with a plug that fits the socket and you’d be happy that you have this new electricity thing in your house. There would be no reason for anybody to be interested in what the sockets and the plugs look like in the neighbouring country, not to mention some far away land.
All these plugs were standardized 70 years+ ago when no one imagined one day you’ll be able to buy a Switch from Kazakhstan on something called the internet. In a probably accidental version of regulatory capture, the bean counters at the manufacturers kind of like it that way because they have control over what merchandise goes on sale in what market.
It’s also now cheaper to build 50 different plugs in some factory before we ask the whole world to switch to one type of plug. Picking a standard will also be impossible if everybody gets a vote in the process.
USB is the only hope for truly universal stuff but that won’t do for a kettle.
To elaborate: in 220V countries a kettle can pull 3,000W. The spec for USB PD 3.1 is max 240W and requires a specialized cable.
Using an online calculator: a 1m cable capable of handling 3,000W at USB-PD voltage would be almost 9mm in diameter.
We sorta do have universal mains connector (ignore for five minutes that there’s like 5 variants)
USB-D: now with support for AC up to 230V
I have a feeling it will necessitate a change in all the wall and counter outlets of every coffee shop on the planet though, right? I don’t think you can run 230V through those old connectors, can you?
But… Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the World?
All other countries have inferior potassium.
But that is precisely why I picked it here.
Excellent!
USB is the only hope for truly universal stuff but that won’t do for a kettle.
The way USB-C has been going, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next USB standard starts pushing enough power through it for kettles to be viable.
Though, actually, for high-power appliances, automotive EV charging plugs could conceivably end up being a worldwide standard for high-power connections. They’re already pretty standardized worldwide, and getting more standardized as time goes on. And they can handle tons of power throughput, both AC and DC.
It starts with high-power tools and appliances that you can plug into your car’s charge port. After all, it’s a convenient source of high power. So maybe if you’re going to run a welder or a powerful space heater or an electric clothes dryer, that’s a convenient way to be able to use it without running new wiring for it.
And then, hey, once people are kind of used to doing that, why not other things that use high power? Portable ovens, kettles, electric barbecue grills, portable cooktops…
But, really, wouldn’t it be better to have those things in the kitchen where they belong? So people start installing EV-style plugs indoors for high-power appliances. That way they can use these ‘portable’ appliances in more permanent installations.
And if that really starts to catch on and goes mainstream, maybe it becomes the standard going forward and all of our previous high-power plugs are considered ‘obsolete’.
And, eventually someday, homes all around the world are usually wired with only two types of power connectors in the wall: USB-C for low power devices and EV plugs for high-power devices.
US voltages are stupid and pathetically inefficient (kinda a metaphor…)
Japan has a double-whammy of a stupidly low 100 VAC, and to make it worse, half the country is 50Hz and half is 60Hz
The UK has a good voltage and great plugs, but silly earthing arrangements. Their use of ring-circuits is also problematic
US voltages are stupid and pathetically inefficient
US runs on 240V, just like the UK. Pretty much every house in the US has 240V available. But we use split phase power for lower-power appliances, so most plugs in the house are wired to get only half that power – 120V.
Really, there’s only a few appliances in a house that really benefit at all from the higher voltage: electric ovens, electric clothes dryers, (sometimes) electric heaters, and water-boiling kettles.
For ovens and clothes dryers (if electric), US houses almost always have 240V outlets wired specifically for those.
Electric heaters are often wired for 240V if they’re built in to the house. (But movable, portable space heaters are almost always 120V.)
The only odd one out is the tea kettle. But tea is a lot less popular in the US anyway, so not many houses have one in the first place. And the ones who do … just kind of deal with their water taking 6 minutes to boil instead of 3 minutes. Not worth re-wiring an entire country (entire continent, really) just to boil your tea a little faster. The switchover would be chaos, would result in a lot of things being made obsolete earlier than necessary, and would suddenly require a ton of inefficient voltage step-down adapters for people who didn’t want to throw away all their existing 120V appliances.
in EU there are really only two standards. for single phase loads up to 3.8kW, regular 16A plug is sufficient. above that, 3-phase 5-pin 32A plug (most common of them) is used which can deliver up to 23kW. there are common variants of 3-phase 5-pin plugs rated up to 125A that can deliver up to 89kW, and uncommon up to 800A variants that are also part of the standard, but it delivers up to 0.57MW and it’s a bit silly
The thing is… Europe also uses split phase. You get three phase power coming in at 380V in most houses on the, 415 in the UK. The 240V is what you get on a single phase.
split phase is 2-phase system but everyone else uses 3-phase distribution. in reality americans also use 3-phase distribution, this is where 207v 3-phase comes from (it’s 120v phase to neutral)
Ah I didn’t know about 2 phase systems. In my corner of Europe you’re on either 3 phases or 1 phase. 1 phase gets you 240V, 3 phases gets you 380V + ability to have different consumers on different phases to distribute the load if your house’s wired for that.
I’ve got a few outlets in my house that take this type of plug:
Built in the 80s so grandpa got soviet plugs lol
Yeah, it makes so much sense to have many different voltages across your domestic installations…
It’s dumb as fuck, but you lot are stuck with it
I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Lots of countries split voltages in just every single building because it’s expensive not to.
Same in Europe. 240V and 380V.
Never seen 380v in a residential setting. I know theres a circuit for it in my building for the elevator.
the entire point of three phase circuit is that you can split it into single phase circuits without using too much wire. usually block will be wired so that 1/3 of flats is connected to one phase, but if you need to power big loads like ag tools or something like concrete mixer three phase supply can be done (415V these days, there’s upward shift in voltage)
There’s a difference between the madness of 'Murica and having single phase and three-phase power in an installation
blame edison for that
He really was a dickhead
I had to google the Japan frequency thing. I had no idea!
Feel like elaborating on the UK issues/ why they’re problematic?
If the earth conductor fails, then it’s difficult to tell, and painful to repair
The Australasian system where each installation is earthed at the switchboard is far superior
With ring circuits, a broken conductor doesn’t become apparent until the remaining part of the circuit burns because it is carrying the entire load
As a Brit, I’m guessing their issues with earthing is that we make everything earthed and fused, even when it’s not needed on a device, but the longer prong that is the earth post on our 3-pin plugs is a security feature of our plug/socket and makes any item that requires earthing to be earthed before it is even powered.
Couldn’t say why they have issues with ring mains though. It became the norm in a post-war Britain when copper was still scarce.
ring-mains are the reason everything needs to be fused, because a short in one appliance could otherwise take out an entire building. they’re not used in new construction, and afaik are also being taken out of older buildings.
also schuko is the better plug because it has the same security feature as the british one but it’s reversible, recessed, and you can’t step on an upturned one in the middle of the night.
I can’t agree on Schuko because I always found them to be awkward to plug in, sometimes needing to wiggle them while applying an uncomfortable amount of force.
that’s interesting because i had the exact same reaction during my recent trip to the uk. maybe it’s just a matter of the force being applied differently than we’re used to.
I do love me a good ring main when I’m in the UK - never heard them described as problematic though.
Yeah not a problem if you just plan it correctly, I use 4mm t&e on all socket circuits, in trunking and just use a 25A or 30A MCB, that way even if there is a break in the ring it’s still within spec. Modern homes just don’t have the power draw to worry about overloading sockets, especially when I can get a 30A.
The vast majority of the world uses compatible voltages, so just a basic adapter is all that you need. The only places using odd voltage requiring a transformer are Japan and Northern America.
However for things with a power brick like a ps5, you just need to buy the correct power brick.
You can get universal plug sockets that accept any plug, see them in the middle East a lot. Obviously they only work with 220-240 v
You really just need the right cord for 99% of devices using a power supply.
Hell, stuff I buy in the US these days often comes with a changeable plug right on the power supply itself, with both a US and EU adapter in the box.
modern smpss can take anywhere from 100 to 250V input so you can use them with either and any voltage inbetween. older ones had a switch between 240v and 120v modes (rectifier vs voltage doubler)
There is also a commercial reason. By selling 110v or 220v appliances with different plugs, it used to be difficult or not viable to mass produce stuff on the us to sell over In Europe or vice versa.
Same for pal and NTSC formats. Main reason was producers lock in.
And of course all the other reasons others already mentioned.
The original reason for both plug type and PAL was simply different electrical systems.
Plug type ensure you didn’t plug a 110v appliance into a 220 system, which could be gangerous to the person.
PAL vs NTSC was really just because PAL came after NTSC and attempted to fix some of the color issues in NTSC, but also had to work on a completely different electrical system - and both relied on timing elements within that electrical system.
It wasn’t “lock in”, it started because the two electrical systems were very different (even the prior black-and-white systems were very different for the same reason, 220v at 50hz vs 120v at 60hz). This frequency difference means different timing mechanisms and even alters the number of scan lines.
because different places thought of standards that would make sense independently; https://xkcd.com/927/
It was even worse at the start of the 20th century. There were no national standards, and different companies came up with their own plug/socket systems to save early adopters from having to wire everything in directly. If your house came with electrical sockets, their type often depended on what the builder could get cheaply. National standards arose when governments and standards bodies picked winners. (The US ended up choosing one American manufacturer’s flat-pinned system, though another one, with the pins rotated at a 45° angle, ended up being adopted in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.)
Occasionally you see odd-looking sockets on old buildings, often with a distinctly early 20th century styling. Some places keep them for distinct uses (in railway stations in Britain you sometimes see sockets that look like the normal British ones only with the pins rotated, presumably reserved for cleaning equipment).
There have been moves to establish a unified international standard (which looks like a more compact version of the Swiss plug), though only Brazil has adopted it (and South Africa is transitioning gradually to it from the old British system it inherited).
And the reason few are changing it is because trying to change to a new electrical standard requires tons of investment to redo everything, and it’s a compatibility nightmare during the transitional period. … And all for pretty marginal long-term gain.
I think the rotated pins on British sockets is reserved for high-current appliances? similarly to how type L has an identical but larger 16A variant
There are higher-capacity versions of the plugs that are rotated, yes, but there are the standard 13A socket with the pins rotated to disallow usage of it to the general public.
Some systems have the earth pin shaped like a T instead
Lol I have never heard it called region locked before.
There was an attempt at standardisation, but because of 1. cost, 2. time, and 3. effort, there was no wide adoption. The “Type N” plug was similar to the “Euro plug” Type C but with a grounding pin near the middle. It was, like the Euro plug, recessed as well. However, it was only adopted in Brazil and South Africa, and not really anywhere else.
