wrote:

You could squeeze four (maybe even as
many as eight) into the space of a current double socket.


yes, 6, a lot more useful, lower cost and looks better.

Lower cost perhaps, not sure that a huge bundle of 6 flexes protruding
from a wall outlet will necessarily look better.

This what Britain needs. It will:

- reduce the use of adaptors, improving safety and cost

Yes, but indirectly... rewiring houses for modern usage would reduce the
use of adaptors etc. This would be true regardless of the socket type.

- reduce the cost of mains plugs on some new appliances

Can't think why... also who cares, they are negligable cost as they are.

- reduce the cost of house wiring a bit

Again not significant. 80% or more of the cost of wiring is going to be
labour. You are still going to need to fit alomst as many face plates as
before so as to position outlets close to where they will be needed.

- provide householders with twice as many sockets as now

As would a rewire, which would probably be required to safely support
the doubling number of sockets in many cases...

- reduce material and energy use in manufacturing our present
inefficient mains plugs.

Yup, give you that one.. just. ;-)

And there will be no compatibility problem.
Appliances with new plugs plug into the existing sockets.
The new sockets will all accept both types of plug.


The trouble is I'm too busy with other things to do much with this.

The trouble is, I would guess, most folks don't feel strongly enough
about it one way or the other to bother with changing what we have which
in objective terms, works well, and is safe.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/