UK power sockets outside UK

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Ok, so I'm in France where things work a little bit differently.
A friend of mine has a barn which is not yet "renovated" but is in good condition. He keeps his car in it. A couple of years ago a small beam fell from the roof onto his car.
The barn and the car are insured by the same company (under different policies, of course)
He is still waiting for a settlement as the different parts of the company (vehicle and building) are each saying that the other part is liable.
Insurance in France is a bit of a joke.
I don't know the details in France, but is there such a thing as an "Insurance Ombudsman"?

Found this:
The French Insurance Code requires that your insurance contract provides you with details of the complaints procedure and the contact details of the mediator (médiateur) to whom you can make your complaint. You can make your complaint on-line at Saisir le Médiateur.
 
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True dat
French insurance companies didn't get to be as big as they are by paying out in a timely manner.
Often takes years..sometimes many years. Even if you are the injured party in a RTA. Plus they quibble, if quibbling was an olympic sport, french insurers would take gold, silver and bronze every time.
Took 5 years for SWMBO to see a payout after some one hit her with a car ( she was on her cycle ), they were going the wrong way, down a one way street, when they saw her, they panicked and swerved into her.When they saw her get up, they drove off.Gendarmes didn't prosecute the driver as "madame hadn"t reported the incident within 24 hours". The question of "how do dead or unconscious, comatose people report hit and run" got a shrug. Other party then lied about where it happened, ( despite witnesses ) and their insurers tried to minimise the damage ( and pay out ) by asking for their medical expert to insist on very many painful movements to be performed in multiple visits over 5 years while their doctors watched. This despite surgery ( 2 months after the event , and 6 weeks off work with physio ) and previously 6 weeks off work as a result of the "accident", the other driver admitted to taking a short cut despite knowing it was one way.
French Insurance Cos. tell me about them! I had a 'run in' with one after being hit on the LHF wheel of my camper van whilst stationary at a road junction. Just knocked my tracking out & chipped the paint on the wheel arch - the Talbot Samba, the 'doer of the deed', was the best part of a 'write-off'. A third vehicle was the instigator by starting to pull out, then drove off, causing the Talbot to skid into me, so down to the local Gendarmerie to make a report. Got tracking fixed under Caravan Club Insurance. Eventually the French insurers wrote me agreeing to pay for my bodywork repairs. A few weeks later they did a U-turn & sent me a claim for the other car's damage, claiming my front wheels were 'over the white line'. After consulting legal rep., they backed down & 'coughed-up'.
 
Several (most) of the cheapo adapters in my kitchen drawer do not have the CE mark. I'm guessing that a lot of the Chinadapters do not.
 
Several (most) of the cheapo adapters in my kitchen drawer do not have the CE mark. I'm guessing that a lot of the Chinadapters do not.
A lot of Chinese products carry a CE mark nowadays but beware it is not a European CE mark. The character spacing is slightly different and is actually a Chinese Export mark.
 
I bought a 4-gang Euro socket (switched) with UK plug from CPC, which I use with all my Proxxon machines. 😇
I brought one home with me one time. Only takes a minute to fit a UK plug and it's handy to have somewhere to plug in the most common international kit.

20230429_190003.jpg
 
One of my French neighbours used one of those to power two 3Kw fan heaters, results below, only indication was the smell of fish in the Living Room. For those that don't know the plastic on a burning Legrand socket smells like fish.

Electrical - 1 of 1.jpeg
 
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First of all, apologies it took me so long to reply. It's been a very busy and tiresome week. I finally had the time to read through all the replies.

Is the backbox in the wall or pattress box screwed to the wall compatible with the UK size?
It will be screwed to the wall. So both socket and box purchased from the UK.
I actually found a system that I really really like and maybe in the future I will use it. Check the pictures for a clearer idea:
Metal clad box with double UK socket and double switch for Creative-Tube

The one to which you link on Amazon has USB outlets integrated. Personally I steer clear of these as when they go wrong, you have to replace the whole thing rather than a plug in USB power adapter.
Appreciate your advice. USB 'removed', I bought the standard option without an USB.

Anl Uk extension lead with euro plug would be the easiest way.
I don't want to use leads in my shop. All the wiring is/will be exterior, mounted on the wallbecause when that space was built nobody thought it will need sockets and ceiling lights. 😂

If this is for workshop use, why not the 16A blue CE plug ?
Simply because I don't have a single machine that uses that plug. Actually I have a router that uses a 110V plug like that, the one I'm trying to sell and nobody wants. As for the rest, residential type UK and Schuko plugs.

and I'd want RCD protection
In my country all modern (from the last 10-20 years) circuits have a main RCD breaker.

We do have our choice of right angle Schuko plugs with standard and low profile shells.
I have never seen such quality Schuko plugs since I was a kid playing at my uncle who repaired now vintage TVs. I am not sure if the black one in the pics is made from bakelite but it looks like it. Modern Romania as it probably is with other countries in a similar economic context, is a very messed up market for the regular consumer. I say regular consumer because nobody here really gives a damn about the regular DYI-er. After all, I did not purchase shop stuff from 3 continents because I'm eccentric.
The Romanian market has a very simple philosophy: 'Get stocks of the products we can easily sell to the masses, quality should be borderline, the components as cheap as possible so we can make profits as big as possible'. Something within these lines. Of course there are few shops who think of the small DYI-er but buying from them is too costly because they are not part of a big chain of supply that can source at better rates. Somehow a few of these shops have survived over the years but I will never buy from them something I can get from across the world, much cheaper after all taxes, duties, shipping, VAT, etc.
So, maybe I could find such plugs somewhere, but they would clearly be utterly expensive and overpriced.

Something that hasn't yet been mentioned is the insurance aspect.
We don't have any form of insurance (yet). Property insurance is something relatively new here. As far as I know, the electrical system doesn't have any specific requirements for insurance except to be certified by a qualified electrician.

Never seen decent Schuco plugs or sockets here
Same here.

If you want to use power tools which are fitted with a UK 13A three-pin plug elsewhere in Europe, which not just use a 'travel adaptor'
I have a few. Except for the poor or doubtful quality that was already mentioned, they are not rated for 13A. Mine I believe are 10A rated but I wouldn't use them even with 10A. I use them for some small kitchen appliance that I bought here as new but imported from the UK.

The voltage range (i.e. the minimum and maximum) across the whole of Europe is the same. Within that range, each country might have a different nominal voltage but no manufacturer would ever design something that will only work properly at nominal.
Thanks a lot for clearing it out, this was my main concern.

I like the robustness of the UK plugs and sockets, but the lower cost of Shucko plugs
Well, from my side of europe, I like the robustness of the UK plugs and sockets AND the lower cost of UK plugs and sockets. Here I wouldn't be able to buy a socket of that quality for 10 GBP. Not even for 20. Or 30. If I would find such quality, that is.

The basement lights and cooker were on one fuse, the downstairs lights and the immersion on another, three rings on six fuses.
This house I live in was built over my dad's oversight but he doesn't actually have knowledge in the matter. Basicall, the builders did what they wanted. My mother is an architect and I worked alongside her when I was younger, helping her with CAD design. I learned a lot. When I moved here the electrical circuit was very similar. Since then I brought in real professionals and rewired most of the house. We still have a few such messed up circuits but that required rewiring the main panel and that still is on a To-Do list.

Which is one of the things shocking me the most when I came to the UK 25 years ago. Everybody could do anything without qualification.
Compared to my country where Everybody does anything without qualification. Of course they aren't legally alowed to. They just do it and many of the residential or even industrial customers close their eyes to this to get away with it cheaper. The dismissal of safery concerns is catastrophical in my opinion.
I do like the UK system as a concept.

The problem there being the best qualified aren't necessarily the best builders and sometimes the unqualified are brilliant.
That is perfectly explainable and in a broader sense is one of the age-old issues with our society.
I call it 'hiding behind diplomas'. Basically, many of those who get certified stop expanding their knowledge after the diploma or accreditation, while those who don't have certifications follow a lifelong learning curve. Which causes many of the unqualified ones to push so hard to overcome their 'deficit' that they become brilliant as you call them. While the ones with proper credentials get sloppy and lazy because their papers open doors.
 
Although those with diplomas and belong to an accredited Association or Institute have to carry out constant CPD to retain accreditation and continue learning, those without stop learning and do not know or care about becoming updated with the latest Regulations or practice's, so a bit of one and none of the other.
 
I would like to add something. I have a very intricate electrical circuit in my home. But the intricacies were by choice after I started rewiring the house. In case anyone is interested I can take and add pics later.

So, the main connection to the electricity network is outside of the property, near the street (my property is directly on the E-road Network, E60, which gives us connection to the main line). It has over 60 amps, don't remember precisely atm, 63 I think. Three-phase, with a RCD breaker. It is 2-way because we have an on-grid PV system but that's another matter. It has the RCD, another thing that should act as a voltage regulator and the main circuit-breaker. This is about 50 metres away from the house.

Next, the house has 3 floors and it was built on a slope. Don't know the exact inclination but it's bigger than 30 degrees and less than 45. So the lowest floor where my shop is is above the ground at the front and almost completely underground at the back. It's built like an anti-nuclear shelter, reinforced concrete on all sides with a very deep and solid foundation. The house has a main electrical panel on this level. From there I made two distinct circuits that lead to another 2 electrical panels, one for the 1st and only floor and one for the shop. The one on 1st floor is pretty basic, has a circuit breaker for the lights, one for the sockets and some LED transformers installed in wall recesses specifically made for them. I have a plethora of wiring here inside the walls but it's not relevenat to the topic at hand.

On the other hand, the electrical system in my shop is work in progress, I'll only finish it after I have all workbenches built and all machinery placed in their final positions. The first thing was a Schneider Electric LC1D18 contactor before all circuit breakers. Funny thing, neither of the qualified electricians that worked here knew what to dowith this contactor or how to install it. This was some years ago and I also forgot its purpose. I believe it was meant as a primal safety instrument in case other NVR swicthes fail. At that time we would have frequent power outages. Then I have 2 x 16A circuit breakers for the sockets, one for the lights, one signal light and one 12V transformer for the LED strips, everything rail mounted. This is only a skeleton of the future system, enough to get by for now.
 
What about light switches, in the UK we have had the option of using the grid system for decades,

1683019686051.png


Then we now have the euro module system which handles more than just banks of switches

1683019876791.png


but I assume at least the euro module system is common on the continent but when seeing programs regarding american property you see several independant switchs so is this how the Americans do it ? This is how we in the UK did it once upon a time, a wooden pattress with maybe four round bakelite toggle switchs.
 
What about light switches, in the UK we have had the option of using the grid system for decades,

View attachment 158372

Then we now have the euro module system which handles more than just banks of switches

View attachment 158373

but I assume at least the euro module system is common on the continent but when seeing programs regarding american property you see several independant switchs so is this how the Americans do it ? This is how we in the UK did it once upon a time, a wooden pattress with maybe four round bakelite toggle switchs.
Don’t ignore the flexibility of using Quinetic RF (wireless) switching.👍
 
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