Originally Posted by Andy Wade

On 15/04/2011 09:06, asalcedo wrote:
I have moved to Spain from the UK.

[...]

I really do not think I am compromising much in terms of safety or
other. If there is a current overload, the circuit breaker will cut the
current. Surely, it will not be at the same amperage as the fuse, but it
will certainly not let a fire or cable melt happen.

The purpose of the UK plug fuse is solely to provide 'fault' (i.e.
short-circuit) protection for the flex. Any overload protection
required should be in the appliance.

[...]

In short, is it advisable to use in Spain the UK appliances with their
original UK fused plug with an adaptor or is it safe to replace the UK
plug with the European one?

If all your appliances are modern and have flexes of 0.75 mm^2 or larger
then it is perfectly safe to fit unfused Schucko plugs to use in sockets
where the building wiring is protected at 16 A. With modern approved
flexes you will normally find the conductor cross-sectional area in the
embossed markings on the outer sheath.

You need to exercise caution with smaller flexes such as 0.5 mm^2 or the
old 14/0.0076 inch Which will not necessarily be protected by a 16 amp
fuse or MCB. Any appliances using such flexes should be connected using
a fused plug and adaptor.

Also be careful with extension leads, particularly long ones. The
simplest, safest, advice is only to use extension leads which have 1.5
mm^2 (or larger) flex.

HTH
--
Andy