On Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:49:34 -0800, David Nebenzahl wrote:
[Of course this only applies to North America and places with
similar-type electricity: dunno how this all plays out in the UK, for
instance.]

The plugs are always fused in the UK, and of course domestic AC is always
240V, so there's largely no need to mess around with different outlet
styles (there are some different plug and outlet types for very high
draws, but those aren't generally seen in home situations, and things
like electric stoves are normally hard-wired into a wall plate). Plug
fuses there are usually 13A maximum, and if I remember right the maximum
current draw on the ring circuit is around 30A.

I rather miss UK electrical installs - it's nice having 240V everywhere,
and the components are generally to a much higher standard than in the
US. The downside is that UK plugs are pretty huge, which creates issues
for storage requirements (particularly for things like chargers for
portable devices)

cheers

Jules