UK power sockets outside UK

[Spectric]

A lady further down our private road had no breaker / fuse box at all, just the leccy meter and some connection blocks attached directly to the incoming cables.EDF had been reading her meter for decades, no one was bovvered.

She was really lucky but it shows how greed can bypass regulations and things just happen but done completely haphazard. Also it seems quality is going downhill everywhere and not just in the UK, what happens in France when a person gets electrocuted, is it just a case of oh well !

 

[mwinfrance]

Majority stuck to the Regs in my experience, but then I only worked on ex-pat house's.

Septic tank Regulations all changed in 2012 when the EU told France to clean up its act and stop discharging into rivers.

Yes, the "ex pats" houses here are the ones with the best electrical, water, sewage and gas installations. I've talked to french who've been into their "expat" neigbour's houses and are highly impressed.They are sought after as some "expats" have left due to Brexit , because the work is so well done compared to that done by the french tradies.

 

[mwinfrance]

She was really lucky but it shows how greed can bypass regulations and things just happen but done completely haphazard. Also it seems quality is going downhill everywhere and not just in the UK, what happens in France when a person gets electrocuted, is it just a case of oh well !

Yep.."Oh well" is pronounced Boff !
my ex trading standards neighbour has just had the spur line fitted for the EV car he is waiting to be delivered.The approved sparky ran 2.5mm cable inside 25mm plastic conduit attached to the ceiling from the meter in his garage through a wall ( no conduit on that bit just cable pushed through ) .In the next room the conduit is clipped to the concrete ceiling, there are a few right angled bends.Sparky couldn't be arrised to fit conduit bends, so at each bend the cable is visible, and then it enters another run of conduit.At the outside wall, it exits and goes down to the socket, at that wall again the cable is merely pushed through the hole he drilled in the block wall, but is in conduit ( but not external use grade ) outside down to the socket.It was passed and approved by the subcontractor used by EDF, to "approve" on their behalf. Hérve is happy because he gets the cost of the installation ( govt "grant" ) back ( actually in his case it will be deducted from taxes he should pay ) once it has been passed.Cost €2000.oo, 3 hours work, ( I saw the guy arrive, I saw him leave ) €100.oo worth of "supplies".Cable is going to get a bit warm, even charging a Dacia Spring.

 

[mwinfrance]

Majority stuck to the Regs in my experience, but then I only worked on ex-pat house's.

Septic tank Regulations all changed in 2012 when the EU told France to clean up its act and stop discharging into rivers.

Yep, that was when the people I know who had "puits perdu"were told fit septic tanks, ( and associated drainage filters ) or the building will be declared unfit and demolished.
Place opposite ( new build going up ) was authorised last year, no septic tank, no mains sewage, "puit perdu" marked on the plans and passed.
Guy I bought standing wood from recently ( had to cut trees down so as to be able to fit a septic tank and associated drainage , or no extension and house declared not fit for habitation )..no way puits perdu allowed in this county..Unless...

 

[MikeJhn]

Yep.."Oh well" is pronounced Boff !
my ex trading standards neighbour has just had the spur line fitted for the EV car he is waiting to be delivered.The approved sparky ran 2.5mm cable inside 25mm plastic conduit attached to the ceiling from the meter in his garage through a wall ( no conduit on that bit just cable pushed through ) .In the next room the conduit is clipped to the concrete ceiling, there are a few right angled bends.Sparky couldn't be arrised to fit conduit bends, so at each bend the cable is visible, and then it enters another run of conduit.At the outside wall, it exits and goes down to the socket, at that wall again the cable is merely pushed through the hole he drilled in the block wall, but is in conduit ( but not external use grade ) outside down to the socket.It was passed and approved by the subcontractor used by EDF, to "approve" on their behalf. Hérve is happy because he gets the cost of the installation ( govt "grant" ) back ( actually in his case it will be deducted from taxes he should pay ) once it has been passed.Cost €2000.oo, 3 hours work, ( I saw the guy arrive, I saw him leave ) €100.oo worth of "supplies".Cable is going to get a bit warm, even charging a Dacia Spring.

Then your neighbour ought to get them back to instal in accordance with the Regulations, whilst people accept that standard of installation nothing will change.

 

[mwinfrance]

Is France the same voltage and frequency as the UK ? Also more important is the means of protection, we have the three pin plugs but again something quirky to the UK and so how is the protection done in France, do they have a full supply to the property of Live, Neutral and Earth or do they use a shared neutral ?

200v - 250v 50hz nominal..
Incoming depends on where you are and how old it all is. In the countryside lots of houses have still 3 phase , we had it, ( overhead wires on poles ) but as I said, when they decided to bury the cables ( for esthetic reasons ), we were not given the choice and it went to mono. fused ( sealed box inside and out on each line ) ..if you have a linky (we do, no choice, the mayor decides for everyone ) the outside fuses are in a sealed box so that you can be cut off without them having to get past any dogs or shotguns you may have.The fact that they can cut you off via the linky appears to have escaped them.

 

[MikeJhn]

Yep.."Oh well" is pronounced Boff !

You forgot the raised shoulders, pursed lips and blow.

 

[mwinfrance]

Then your neighbour ought to get them back to instal in accordance with the Regulations, whilst people accept that standard of installation nothing will change.

All he cares about is that it isn't costing him, his favorite phrase is pas d'histoires" ( loosely translates in the vernacular as "don't make waves" ) .

 

[mwinfrance]

Yep.."Oh well" is pronounced Boff !

You forgot the raised shoulders, pursed lips and blow.

 

[MikeJhn]

@Spectric Is France the same voltage and frequency as the UK ? Also more important is the means of protection, we have the three pin plugs but again something quirky to the UK and so how is the protection done in France, do they have a full supply to the property of Live, Neutral and Earth or do they use a shared neutral ?

Same voltage and frequency, incoming has a S type RCD but set to the amperage you have paid for, go over the amperage and it switch's off, supply to the property in rural areas does not include Earth, that is the responsibility of the property owner to install a Spike, did a lot of those when I was there.

 

[Agent_zed]

There are a few considerations you need to take into account.

UK sockets are rated at 13amp so at 230v they can supply 2990w.

You want to run 3.5hp which is ~2600w so this should be fine.

UK sockets have live, neutral and earth connections so should have everything you need. I don't know enough about electrics outside of the uk but I can't see an issue with having an extra fuse inline and I'd want RCD protection.

If you buy a socket with usb output but run it off a different voltage (France is 220v from what google tells me), unless it is designed to do so you will probably find the output is wrong and might not charge as quickly or at all etc.
I also wouldn't run big equipment off a usb socket as the potential for the socket to get warm etc is high and it just seems like asking for trouble.

The thing I've never liked about a lot of the plugs I've seen on the continent is that the plug is inline with the flex so sticks out of the wall quite far. The uk plug is designed so that the cable dangles downward so doesn't put stress on the cable. I guess you get used to what you know.

 

[Spectric]

approved by the subcontractor used by EDF

That is worrying when you consider EDF is building nuclear power plants !

 

[mwinfrance]

Same voltage and frequency, incoming has a S type RCD but set to the amperage you have paid for, go over the amperage and it switch's off, supply to the property in rural areas does not include Earth, that is the responsibility of the property owner to install a Spike, did a lot of those when I was there

Older type RCDs you could up the amps and then tell them, new ones you still can, but they get much more antsy about it.Potential prosecutions etc.My place in the Var I went from 9 to 45, ( 3 phase ) then told them..No problems.

Brico depot and leroy merlin were both out of spikes when I went last Saturday, neither could say when they'd be in.

I have a stock of very heavy rebar.

 

[MikeJhn]

All he cares about is that it isn't costing him, his favorite phrase is pas d'histoires" ( loosely translates in the vernacular as "don't make waves" ) .

And that from someone who worked for Trading Standards?????

 

[mwinfrance]

And that from someone who worked for Trading Standards?????

s'France innit.

 

[MikeK]

The thing I've never liked about a lot of the plugs I've seen on the continent is that the plug is inline with the flex so sticks out of the wall quite far. The uk plug is designed so that the cable dangles downward so doesn't put stress on the cable. I guess you get used to what you know.

We do have our choice of right angle Schuko plugs with standard and low profile shells. I have several of the low-profile plugs in areas where cabinets must be as close to the wall as possible. One advantage of these is the plug can be inserted so the cable exits down or up to suit the application.

 

[mwinfrance]

@MikeK ..Never seen them, probably can't get them here.

 

[MikeK]

@MikeK ..Never seen them, probably can't get them here.

I can mail some to you.

 

[MikeJhn]

Bought exactly that type in Leroy Merlin.

 

[mwinfrance]

I must admit the brico depot is on the way to the local leroy merlin, so rare that i look for leccy stuff in leroy merlin ( last Saturday being an exception as I was passing on my way to the wood yard Huet ) like plugs there..especially not since they told me how much they wanted for heat shrink sheathing..and that a woodworking vice was a specialist item that there was no demand for, ( si..si ..) so they didn't stock any, or that slip stones didn't exist as all sharpening stones had sharp corners and were rectangular box shaped ( si..si .. ). That and their paid for fidelity card and the 3D printers at 5 times the import price etc, and they'll only do one cut on a sheet of ply even paid for etc etc..rare I stick my nose in their emporium, even more rare that I look at their leccy rayon.

Wish we had a Balitrand up here...proper trade outlets ..

Thanks for the offer MikeK..will maybe take you up on that in relation to something else that you can get and I can't via pm at some point.