German purchase compatible with UK electric ?

[ban-all-sheds]

Since a lot of 13 amp cable is orange why not standardize on this and ban the use of this colour for anything else?

Yeah, right - like orange flex everywhere is going to be really popular, decor-wise..

How about, instead, making it compulsory to only sell plugs with 3A fuses in them, so that if you want a bigger one, you have to do it explicitly. Obviously this would not apply to moulded plugs that come with appliances.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

we build many power stations.

Then we'd better start now, given how long they take to build and commission.

Personally I would rather see more burning of plant matter like straw or fast growing trees, as the carbon cycle is closed loop, and possibly the bio-gas type options like the Gohar cow dung digester

Imagine being a stoker on a jumbo-jet...

Personally I'd like to see a carbon-allowance based system. Not a carbon-tax, (although the carbon element of goods and services would have to be tracked), because it's no help to a flooded-out farmer in Bangladesh that rich Americans can afford to pay more for their use of fuel. But if everybody had an allowance, and no matter how rich you were, you were not allowed more, it would be a great help. Allowances could be tradeable, which would mean that the poor Bangladeshi could sell his to the rich American, but the net result would not increase consumption, whereas just heavier taxation of fuel use would be less effective.

 

[felix]

" -- ban the use of this colour --". Did I really write that? It must have been a late night. The very word "ban" usually makes my hackles rise. Of course it's a bad idea. Some money-grubbing politician would surely find a way of taxing the stuff.

The idea of selling loose plugs with 3 amp fuses by default is good one. I can see a parallel with pharmacies where you have to explain why you want Gees linctus and they make you feel like a drug addict. "I do have 13 amp fused plugs in stock but can you explain to me why do you need one - sir?"

To say that my thoughts on balanced supplies where not well researched would be an understatement! I had this vague idea that the three phase substation transformer could have isolated, centre tapped secondaries with those taps being earthed. You would of course need a second set of secondaries for real three phase power. Would this work? And will I find out before the moderators move this thread to General Chat?

 

[plugwash]

To say that my thoughts on balanced supplies where not well researched would be an understatement! I had this vague idea that the three phase substation transformer could have isolated, centre tapped secondaries with those taps being earthed.

did you ever think that there might be a REASON we connect one end of each output together. its done because it means instead of three cores each carryiing lots of current and causing lots of volt drop you have one core that carries almost no current.

lets say your loads are all 230V and you need to supply 230KW of demand (figures chosen to make the arithmetic easy)

now lets consider how we could configure the transformer output and power system.

lets first consider a 230V 2 wire system
we need two cores each rated at 1KA

now lets consider a 230V/460V split phase system
we need two phase cores and a neutral core if the system is perfectly balanced the phase cores will need a rating of 500A and the neutral core a rating of 0A in practice imbalance will mean the ratings need to be higher than this.

now a 230V/400V 3 phase system of the type normally used in the UK
we need three phase cores and a neutral core. If the load was perfectly balanced each phase core would need a rating of 333A and the neutral core a rating of 0A in practice imbalance will mean the ratings need to be higher than this.

now lets consider your proposal
if the system was perfectly balanced you would need 6! cores with a rating of 333A if the system is perfectly balanced in practice imbalance will mean the ratings need to be higher than this.

 

[felix]

Ok, I see it now. I did know that the neutral current in a balanced three phase system was zero so you could use half as much copper as you would for three single phases. I was thinking of each house having a single phase cable back to the nearest substation. From your reply, I conclude that it isn't done this way and that each house has a tapping into a much bigger three phase cable under the street. This would certainly save a lot of copper.

Thanks plugwash. You learn something new every day here.

 

[jtaunton]

I'm in the states at the moment and they don't seem to earth anything (though they have an earth pin on their sockets) including metal lamps. Now I know that 110V isn't going to kill you, but the constant buzzing when I'm on the phone is f****ing annoying.......

 

[mapj1]

Imagine being a stoker on a jumbo-jet...

I dont think thats an option. power to weight and all that.
Wood alcohol, maybe just, I certainly don't see a nuclear plane as remotely sensible.

We could all just learn to live like Bangladeshi farmers of course....

PS I dont think we are even believing this in the UK at the moment, but it is undoubtably true, your children will have no oil, and the younger members her will live to see the day the natural oil age ended for themselves.

However, a good quarter of the houses in the UK were built before the oil age really got going, and so I guess most of them will be in use long after it has passed too.

 

[felix]

A nuclear powered plane may not look sensible right now but some day we'll have them. We just haven't figured out how to manipulate nuclear forces yet. Think what the electricity industry would be like if Faraday (I think it was him) had never waved his magnet at a piece of wire. The options would be: (1) very big batteries, (2) electrostatic generators or (3) capture lightning. I'm not sure which of these is the most ridiculous. Beam me up somebody!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Now I know that 110V isn't going to kill you

Oh yes it is.