"Adam Funk" wrote in message
...
On 2012-08-09, Steve Firth wrote:

Rod doesn't seem to have a clue about how much wood is needed to fire an
oven, or how much time it takes. He also doesn't seem to know that most
homes in Italy have a 3kW supply. They can't run a pizza oven of the sort
sold at garden centres and ironmongers because to run the 3kw element
they
would have to turn everything else off.

Do you mean most old or rural homes, or even new ones?

And does this have anything to do with the existence of 10 A sockets
and plugs (and special circuits, I assume) in Italy, in addition to
the usual European 13 A ones?

(Sorry for the late FU, but I just happened to be rummaging through my
travel adaptors/cables recently & the 2nd question popped up.)

May I comment, since I live in Italy part of the time?
Almost all Italian houses or flats in my experience have a supply limited to
3kW, though it is possible to pay extra to get a 6kW supply. The smart meter
(fairly common in Italy for at least ten years) includes a cut-out which
trips at 3.3kW for a nominal 3kW supply like mine. So, yes, you have to
keep an eye on what you switch on at the same time.
Italian plugs come in two sizes, nominally 10 amp and 16 amp. Both have
three in-line round pins with earth at the centre and with the live and
neutral interchangeable (but then a 'salvavita' -- an earth-leakage
circuit-breaker) incorporated in the fuse-box has been common in Italy for
many years.) Most domestic appliances come with a German/French style
("Schuko"?) plug attached and the corresponding wall-sockets are available
as also are adaptors.
House wiring circuits are radial, normally in conduits embedded in the walls
(which makes rewiring easy) and following a change in the rules some years
ago the wire used is now always flexible. Blue is used for neutral with a
variety of colours for live (mine are black, just to make me keep my wits
about me.)

Stephen