Perhaps the dumbest thing about the US electrical system

Now that you mentioned extension cords I can tell you how much I hate the 120V system: lots and lots of copper could have been saved if everything is on 240V. All the wires in the walls only need to carry 10A and that’s 2.4kW. Right now everything needs to withstand 15A and can deliver only 1800W.

The british system only works because we always have our outlets wired with the correct polarity. If any wall outlets are wired with incorrect polarity which I suspect some in US are, then the fuse could end on the neutral wire. This means if it blows, parts of the appliance will still be live ("hot") which could catch people out who think the whole lead is no longer powered

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway" -- Tanenbaum

Kristian Grossman-Madsen

In Switzerland a extension cord needs to be able to carry at least 10 amps on a 10 amps circuit (which has 13 amps breaker and cables, which usually covers a whole floor or sector) and 16 amps for 16 amps circuit (which has probably more) and and 250V (even we have 230V) but most of power cords pretends being less good that they really are in order to avoid problems. The Swiss standard plug (type 13) also have some protection of UK’s and Europeans plugs. Actually Switzerland’s electrical system is very interesting. You should take us as example instead of UK 😜 (this is a joke). If you have more questions you can ask me ! I’d be very happy to show the different electric plugs we have

Rémy DG

I had a power strip with a big label on the back. It said something to the effect of: "This power strip contains a circuit breaker to prevent overloading. At some point, this circuit breaker will silently wear out, after which the device will continue to operate but will no longer provide overload protection." Youch. Gee, thanks.

Stephen Gillie

While watching this I was waiting for you to bring up those $5 wall wart like boxes that plug into one outlet and turn it into 9, those things must be nightmares

Aren't losses higher with lower voltage?

Julien Oster

Why patch 19th-century AC wiring just as the world is changing? USB power is becoming the norm with USB-C negotiating voltage and even direction. We also know how to define relationships using software rather than crudely cutting power just to tell a light dim itself. (This is not home automation – just wiring in the age of software). We also have ground-fault DC cabling. Given that anything becomes inexpensive in quantity billion (as with complex USB-C chips), we should be looking ahead, not polishing the past. How many devices need high power wiring anyway? We also can now do ACDC conversion giving us the freedom to mix and match. Given a blank slate and the ability to distribute power separate from controlling devices, what would a modern system look like? One that could give us the energy management we so vitally need? (Hmm – maybe a topic for my next column)

Bob Frankston

Does anyone make "One Ring to Power them all" jokes? Edit: Or "Ring Around the Mains-y"? Edit2: After learning what this is - basically running the cords around the diameter of the room - how does this save material over running the cord around 4/5 of the room?

Stephen Gillie

"So it surprises me, again, that the USA allows so many power strips without this safety minimum." Land of the free, home of the brave, amirite?

Stephen Gillie

Until now, whenever someone starting talking about amps and gauge, my eyes would just gloss over and I would learn nothing. Thanks to you, I finally understand how amps and gauge are related and how to "gauge" what cord I need. Thank you for explaining things the way that you do!

Chris Hutt

Even worse, penny in an old style fuse breaker.

John Lavallée

When I was a kid (around 6 or 7), my mom plugged our 110v apartment sized dryer into a cheater plug and then into a basic lamp extension cord. It was so warm. I nagged her until she relented and moved the dryer within range of a proper outlet. *AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF ME TELLING HER SHE WOULD START A FIRE

John Lavallée

Re: the electrical malfunction category - a good friend of mine is a firefighter and the impression I got from him was that “unknown electrical” WAS a sort of catch all category for when they had no idea what exactly caused a particular fire. So much so that it seemed to be somewhat of a joke among firefighters.

Every (residential) power strip (with any cord on it) here has a 10A circuit breaker built into it. By code. So it surprises me, again, that the USA allows so many power strips without this safety minimum. It’s still possible to get extension leads here which are *just* capable of 10A, and running a (2kW, so ~8.5A at 230V) space heater off those is pushing the upper limits. But it’s either one device, or a power strip with a 10A circuit breaker in it on the end, so the risk is mostly managed. (Typical outlet power circuits are usually 20A at 230V here.) It’s not impossible to create an unsafe situation here, eg with a 10A capable extension lead on a 20A circuit, and a double adapter (without its own cord/fuse/circuit breaker). But you definitely have to work harder to do it :-) Thanks for the really interesting video, Ewen

Ewen McNeill

Ring circuits arose in the UK in the materials shortage of WWII and its aftermath, because they require less material to run than a star-wired system like is typically used in the US.

V.E. Griffith

I'm on the waiting list for Starlink despite having pretty solid Comcast service, just because it'll end up being significantly cheaper per month. They're not going to roll out the service to my area for at least another few months, though - end of 2021 at the soonest.

Circuitmike

Does Verizon even do that any more? I remember when FIOS first launched in the early 2000's and I was psyched because I lived in a Verizon town. It's 20 years later and I'm still on Comcast.

Circuitmike

Note: There is nothing "flammable" in your walls. Plenty of combustibles thought. This is a semantical difference I suppose, but I know how much you like these semantical nitpickings. For reference: https://www.justrite.com/news/difference-between-flammable-combustible/

Peter Holley

Regarding the one and only job of circuit breakers: It may be better to say the job is to protect the “cables in your walls” rather than the “conductors in your walls.” The cable insulation is generally the limiting factor in determining how much current a cable can carry. Ampacity ratings are based on maintaining conductor temperatures within the temperature limits of the insulation. Excessive currents will damage the insulation before the conductors.

Those fuses are so small that a penny won't fit in there.

Stephen Gillie

Where did Big Clive get his MD again?

Stephen Gillie

I think replacing fuses with the correct fuses is beyond the average person.

Chad M Jones

Funny, my father told me the opposite: in his youth, 110V was still spread in some parts of the Netherlands, he recalled it as "you just feel it a little bit, not shocking like 230V"

MrHammond

Interesting fact that in the USA, it is allowed to sell extension cords that can handle less than the maximum rated amount of the plug they use. I cannot remember having that seen in the Netherlands (16 Amps Schuko) or Switzerland (10 Amps Swiss plug)... Maybe some years ago when in the Netherlands unearthed sockets were still allowed? Seems to me more like a regulatory issue than a fault in the electrical system. Maybe this came into use while for half the voltage you need double the current, and 20A-capable wire was too expensive at some point? I anyway always found the US plugs some kind of flimsy... The UK plugs are robust, but big and expensive, the Schuko-Plugs also quite bulky, I tend to like the Swiss plugs, although they are only rated for 10 Amps...

MrHammond

The Swiss 3-pin plugs and sockets are only rated for 10A, as you said, there is a special one for 16A, but not used in home situations. The "Schuko"-Plug used in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria etc. is rated for 16A, so in those countries, 16A breakers and circuits are more common, and also washing machines are not running on three-phase power. At least my experience when I moved from the Netherlands to Switzerland ;-)

MrHammond

the problem with ring mains is if there is a break in one place around the ring. This can go undetected because both sides of the break still get power. but now they are fed by a single cable. How can you detect this kind of break when everything on the ring still seems to work ok? It would need professional equipment and how often is this testing going to be done when everything seems to be working ok on the ring?

Richard Bevan

Had to wear pants for this shoot with that leg on the table bit, eh Alec? 😉😂

Patrick Bianchi

Pleased to see our British plugs get a shout-out, but I don't understand what you have against our ring-mains. They use far less cable than having each socket with its own breaker. Your breaker box at home is bigger than many industrial ones in the UK. Most domestic installations have around 6 breakers. Downstairs sockets, upstairs sockets, kitchen sockets (separate in newer installations), cooker dedicated supply, lighting, and spare. The higher voltage means lower current for a given wattage - your 20A appliances would only need 10A at 240v and therefore thinner cable. Anyway my understanding is the point of the ring main is the current can flow in both directions so if I am drawing 20A out of the centre, there is only 10A flowing through each half in the walls. Please correct me if I am wrong!

with regards to a 110v shock being less dangerous than a 230v shock: Big Clive has a video where he deliberately gives himself a 230v shock and gave an explanation that a 230v shock across the heart causes less trouble than a 110v shock. It's related to what effect the voltage has on the different muscles that make up the heart and how 230v would stop the whole heart (from which it can recover from ) but 110v get it out of sync from which it is less easy for the heart to return to normal https://youtu.be/-5R-KBa18ME?t=1197

Richard Bevan

I'm by no means an expert on electrical stuff, just my personal experiences. But I want give you a look at how we handle that in Switzerland. In the 3 apartments I lived so far, no circuit braker had more than 10A, excpetions would be washing machine or other high power equipment. Some of those may run on 400V and are wired completly differently + a different socket, where you could plug a standard device in and it would work, but those sockets are usually well hidden. In my current apartement, we have only 10A for everything, washing machine, dryer and the stove have a breaker on all 3 phases. But 16A breakers exists and all extension cords or power strips you will find in most stores are for 10A. This is the minimum they'll need to provided, so far so good, but what abaout 16A outlets? Well, they have a slightly different socket, the pin holes (not sure if it's the right word for it) are nor round (as usual), they are squared. So you cannot plug a 16A device in an 10A outlet, but can plug a 10A device (and extensions/ power strips) into a 16A outlet. So in the end, same problem as in the US. But to be honest, I have never seen a 16A outlet at a home, only in industrial or offices. But I looked it up and you can buy 16A extensions and power strips no problem. At least we don't have anything under 10A. At one rental apartment I lived, the landlord requiered that an electrician comes by all few years to check how you plugged stuff in, which I think some people definitly benefitted from it. To be honest, he wasn't very happy with my setup either, but he was at least happy that I used power strips with integrated breakers (because the apartment there used slow breaker which took there sweet sweet time to... break. It was an old building).

Sandro Huber

Wading right in on those semantics questions. Brave! I thought you dealt with it well though -- people get heated when others interpret stuff differently, but my linguist side definitely appreciates the approach to just go "neat!"

illves

Comparatives can vary like this and not all people share the same patterns for how they work. "Jeff Bezos is wealthier than Bill Gates" is fine. "Minimum wage employees are wealthier than the unemployed" is probably at least weird. Depending on the individual this may be so weird it only works if very explicitly "cancelled" like "They may not be *wealthy*, but..." And some adjectives may just totally not work for unless both things qualify. Like one thing can't be "yellower" than another unless one is at least kinda yellow. Basically language is complicated and not everyone has all the same rules in their head!

illves

Regarding your internet, have you considered applying for Starlink? It’s apparently stupidly good for satellite-based internet. I know it’s a bit expensive to start, but I imagine it’s cheaper than paying to have a fiber line run out to the boonies.

Sean Hearrell

Who are these people who think "safer" is anything other than a comparison? Do they also think being shorter than Shaq implies being short?

I got a nitpick: You said "It couldn’t care less about your stuff, and quite frankly it doesn’t care about you either. Of course, there is some nuance here with the advent of arc-fault circuit interrupters, and while we usually only put shock protection devices ..." while showing a GFCI. I'm worried people are going to think you're saying AFCI is a people-safety device when, despite the similar name to GFCI, it's actually a fire-prevention device like the basic circuit breaker is. It _is_ able to detect faults that are 'outside of the walls' but it isn't going to help with shocks.

Kevin Reid

i think your camera focused on the background instead of you and the various cords you were showing. it’s mild.

nobody

Oh FYI I stumbled across this site and their blog about building codes is immensely fascinating and quite accessible. Timely? https://buildingcodetrainer.com/

Sierra Mistystep

you forgot to add "anything *worth a damn* to watch."

Sierra Mistystep

You need a FiOS connection.

lohphat

Always wondered why outlets (and, for that matter, the socket the dumb cable plugs into in your computer's power supply) don't have a lock or at least a spring that catches the little holes in the spades to increase the force required to pull the plug out even a little bit?

Sierra Mistystep

When I was a teenager, we had a large yard, and one of my chores was to cut the tall grass in the backyard with our electric weedeater. We used a 16 gauge cable, and the cable got hot, but the heat was spread out across the cool grass. At one point, my dad got a 14 gauge extension cable, and was excited for all the extra electricity it could carry. And so was I - so I plugged it into our weedeater. The cord was too thick to go through the cord harness, so it just hung out the back. After about 5 minutes of great weedeating, it stopped and the handle started smoking. The 14 gauge extension cable overloaded the weedeater.

Stephen Gillie

This was the premise behind The Towering Inferno - the architect called for higher-gague wires and the construction company installed the minimum called for by the electrical code.

Stephen Gillie

Re: no Internet: barf. Not that it’d make monetary sense in the long run, but would a temporary prepaid hotspot from a different cell provider help? …that is, as long as you knew there was service near you?

Bill R Tomison

Dammit, I knew there was something I was forking up about that! I'll pin a comment to clarify.

Technology Connections

Quick nitpick: @ ~7min-ish: Romex is actually considered NM-B cable ... it happens to _contain_ THHN conductors, but no electrician or anyone in the field will refer to romex as THHN. THHN alone can not be used in place of romex (NM cable) so this is at least a little bit of an issue and could be misleading, since THHN itself doesn't have the protective jacket required to in-wall runs without protective conduit.

Jason Hughes

This reminded me of growing up with my dad around. He was an electrician and was a firm believer in respecting electricity and being smart about it makes it much less scary. I learned quite a few things from him that have carried forward and I have run into people that think electricity is some weird voodoo. I think you have a pretty good level of alarm/caution here. And the humor helps to bring it down a notch. RE safer, I used to run my servers at home on a pretty thick drop cord running to another room to get to another circuit. It was *safer* than running them on three exposed conductors ;-) (I would use the term 'safer' as you do :P)

Jason Wellband

Every power strip I've seen with more than three outlets has a breaker, though I do see power strips and extension cords with three or fewer. I wonder if there's a UL requirement to have overcurrent protection only when there are more than three plugs, or if I just haven't encountered the odd 6 outlet power strip with no breaker.

John Hiesey

My house (built in 1966 before the price of copper spiked) was all wired with 12AWG. The panel was replaced and I've got 15 Amp breakers on everything. Lack of outlets means multiple extension cords. Kitchen circuits on one breaker mean occasional annoying overloads. In general codes are getting better, but some things used to be a bit better.

Michael Steeves

Perhaps it's thanks to the movies? I mean, a table fan is going to sit.. on a table.. and thus is far more likely to fall into your bathtub and kill you, than your average space heater? :D

Arni Bjorgvinsson

Next video: rant about crappy US Internet

Thomas Fuchs

I have a few devices with fuses in their plugs. I don't know if this is coincidence or a regulation, but they are all fans. I've always wondered why the fans got fuses when they aren't high-current devices. My 1500W electrical heater, which is about the same age as one of the fans, does not have a fuse in its plug.

Michael Dunn

I can't for the life of me understand how anyone could look at/hear the word safER, and somehow understand that to mean in any way safe. As you say, Safer just means Less Unsafe :) I do have an anecdotal.. argument? objection? counterpoint?.. to your claim that 120V AC is safer than 240V AC. As an electrician that's worked mostly with 240V (because Iceland is Europe is 240V) but also being old enough to have worked on 120V (rare, but still exists here), I can tell you that, subjectively, being shocked by 120V is mindbogglingly more painful, and with longer lasting effects than getting shocked by 240V.. both of which I've done frequently, and sometimes intentionally. I always assumed - with no science to back me on this - that because 120V is lower voltage, the shock that pushes you away is actually less, and thus your body reacts slower, which increases your *time* being shocked. And more time being shocked equals more electrocution! :D I dunno. Just a viewpoint from a sparky from afar.

Arni Bjorgvinsson

Yeah, I think the title is a bit on the clickbait side, I'd go with your classic one "The nonsense with extension cords in the US" similar to the titles of your space heater and turn signal videos.

Guy Mendes

Exactly. This is such a frustrating kind of problem. It's one that we know is there but isn't *usually* bad enough to be worth tackling in the proper way. I actually re-wrote a significant portion because I honestly didn't know the rationale behind having so many plugs until I stumbled upon it when trying to get concrete numbers. And then I was like, seriously? You're fixing this problem entirely the wrong way, NEC.

Technology Connections

I've seen an alarming number of people remove those fuses from the christmas lights, and put chunks of metal in their place, so they can run more strands off a single plug. Its an extra step over an extension cord.. But you cant stop stupid, You can just try to make it frustrating enough that they give up and do something less..stupid. Great video, though. Will be showing it to some family members once its public to justify some things i've been telling them for years.

Honorary Octopus

This feels like a thing which lives directly in the "not a big enough problem" space. Like, were it 10% more dangerous, it would be solved, but it isn't, so it doesn't get attention. Cords being sized smaller than the minimum receptacle seems like something to address, though.

Kevin Kostka

Espen Kraft does the same. His connection is so poor in the forest where they live so he drives a few km and sits literally in his car in a turn in the road and uploads his videos. I can only imagine, but I’ve been so fortunate that I have at least 100/10 line these past years and just recently 1000/1000. 😬🥸😁🤷🏼‍♂️

Anders Enger Jensen

Trying to guess what the video is going to be from that title but there are just too many possibilities… 🤣 I guess I’ll have to watch to find out!

tim1724

It does actually work pretty well! I just hope I don't get a nastygram from AT&T about it.

Technology Connections

Sorry about your internet woes but your solution is quite amusing!

Gadgetman

I’ve just been scrolling through YouTube trying to find something - anything - to watch. Perfect timing 🤩

Aaron Carson