A few notes: this is meant to be a visual guide, as many similar outlets have different voltages. Just because a plug fits doesn’t mean it will work. Always double check before you blow up your cell phone/hair dryer/discount lightsaber.
The outlet widely-used in continental Europe is known as the Schuko and varies between countries; Germany’s earth connector is on the clips as opposed to France’s middle-pin. The ungrounded version is called the Europlug and is becoming more common around the world.
And lastly, this doesn’t cover every single country or sub-type of outlet; just the largest lands and most common interfaces.
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Copy & paste this:
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Are you in Europe? Do you need an adapter?
Oh, who doesn’t own an interositer these days?
Every time I build one that darn Exeter guy comes along and blows it up
Did you turn the intensifier disc 18 degrees to the left?
As a person from Denmark I can say that the middle (earth) connector on the Danish plugs is a real pain because many sockets don’t have the matching hole. This is off course done so that you can’t plug something that needs earth into an un-earthed socket. But most people simply cut off the three-pinned plug and put on one that fits in all sockets.
It has been suggested that we should switch to the common EU type. But the problem is the the biggest maker of plugs and sockets are doing a lot of lobbying to prevent this from happening. They more or less have monopoly on plugs because the Danish market is too small to be of interest for foreign companies.
Nooo, they mustn’t change our plug, it’s such a nice and happy smiley face!!
Maybe that’s the problem with the U.S. All their electrical plugs look angry about something.
Hey, if someone was shoving metal prongs into your face all day long you’d look unhappy too.
Ha, I noticed that too — the one in the picture looks like it’s saying “…Seriously, dude?” or maybe “What is your problem?” I checked the one on my wall, because I’d never noticed that before, and it looks more surprised than anything. Must be that the sharper bevels on the one in the picture make the shadows look like eyebrows.
Looks like a giant marshmallow ghost-man-thing wants to eat me! Aarggh!
The Danes must be the happiest people in the world – their plug socket is a smiley face, and they have an island called LOLland
:P
We also have unhappy plugs though ‘xD
That’s cute and all, but honestly, it’d be safer for children if plugs looked angry like they do here in Canada (and US).
The Israeli one is upside down and a bit off-center
That. And the new Israeli uses 3 round pins of same diameter as Europlug, same positions as the originals
Hmmm… another Troll on board, damn it. (I mean the man who made this meme).
“Schuko” is the German abbreviation for “Schutzkontakt” (ground pin). And in fact German Schuko-plugs also fit French Schuko-sockets, because the standardized Schuko-plug has both, a hole for the French ground pin as well as the rails for German ground clips.
True for most (newer) plugs, but there are a few that don’t have a hole to accept the french ground pin (old plugs and most of the plugs you can buy to install yourself). Similarly, the French have some plugs that are completely round and won’t fit the German “schuko” sockets.
“a guide to the world’s electrical outlets”
“just the largest lands and most common interfaces”
Yeah, right. Not even close.
Actually it is very close. Did you bother to click the full guide link before you posted? Are we to assume you are an expert on worldwide electrical outlets? Idiot.
Mark, this is the internet sir. Everyone who comments is a subject matter expert and must be respected as such.
I clicked the full guide link, and it has only 12 varieties. It is missing the fascinating Thai outlet that fits both US and Euro plugs. I’ll bet there is even more missing from other parts of the world.
More more importantly, no mention is made of which are 120 V and which are 240 V.
Also the frequency would be good too…. 50/60 HZ
Also, in Japan they use 100v…
Japan is actually split — half the country is 100v 50 Hz, the other half is 100v 60 Hz.
With the increasing amount of equipment that uses switching power supplies that don’t care about frequency, it’s becoming less and less of a concern.
All of the above are 220/240V
you mean except for the USA…
And the rest of North America, and perhaps others.
Well, the ones that have live and neutral pins close together are 100-120V and the ones that have them wider apart are 220-240V
MuleniuM must be referring to the top row (partial chart) shown. But he’s wrong as UK and Denmark at least are 230V.
I think the round holes are usually on 240V, while the rectangular can be both but are mostly 120V.
Don’t just take my word for it though…
I’m afraid this is not good for a rule of thumb.
There is no relation between plug type and voltage. Especially the US plug is used in both. Europlug and it’s derivatives as well.
Check out Wikipedia on that. It will blow your mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country
Actually, one good rule of thumb is duplex outlets (2 outlets in one site) are often 120v.
Why? Because 240 v outlets are actually wired +120 and -120v, with the difference between them being 240. Meanwhile in North America (etc) they’re wired +120 or -120 to 0V – one live wire, one neutral. They basically split the voltage right up the middle, and allow you to have twice as many outlets. Not all are wired that way but many are – so called “split receptacles” which allow 2 15-20 amp loads on one outlet without blowing the breaker, common in kitchens.
This is most evident on the 4 prong outlets used to supply 240v mains to heavy load electric appliances like stoves/ovens. +120, -120 allows you to tap off 240v for the heating elements, but the third neutral prong allows you to take off 120v for the outlets or even the little light inside the oven (the fourth, of course, being ground).
No, I don’t think the above is anywhere near the general case. The “240 v outlets are actually wired +120 and -120v” thing is definitely true for North America (US and Canada at least) but not so much where 100-120V outlets are rare. Duplex 240v outlets are not unusual.
The “split receptacle” configuration you mentioned requires 2 hots and a neutral, and an earth. It’s more common in older kitchens than new ones. Now it’s common to have many receptacles, with no 2 adjacent receptacles sharing the same breaker.
And no mention of some Arabian countries. Depending on the enterprise that delivered the initial electrical installation, wall plugs, voltages and frequencies change. Depending on the city part where you live.
Also… in Saudi Arabia, SCECO (Saudi Consolidated Electric Company) uses 60 HZ, and in the American communities, we used 110v. Just outside the fence, the locals use 220v… We all had to buy multi voltage equipment there. 220v to test in the store and 110v to use at home!!!
Why not buy a transformer once and use it for testing in the store ?
Largest lands? Well, I suppose the US is a pretty small country…
Try clicking the link before commenting…
Come on, read! U.S. is after the link to the full guide.
Too lazy…
Moron’s who are too lazy to click a button do not impress anyone. When people become that lazy then society as a whole is doom.
I’m suprised you aren’t out with the other losers “occupying” some street corner begging for other people to do all your work for you.
Mark’s just cranky ‘cos he hasn’t been able to sit down for years on account of the stick.
However, SOCIETY IS DOOM!
Awww. The danish plug is the cutest most happiest pareidolia I’ve seen all day. It is somehow very fitting to it’s country.
it kinda scares me that japan has not spot on the socket for a ground. all those people, so little space, so many fire hazards.
They do have the three prong as well, just in fewer places. The bathroom might have one, for instance, but not the bedrooms. My dorm room had 2 prong, but there was a 3 prong in the common area.
Ground can create fire hazards as well as prevent them
It can cause short circuit where otherwise there would be stray currents, so tripping the breaker, preventing fire. (a short circuit with properly working breaker will never start a fire. An uncontrolled stray current will very easily)
But the earth can be the target for arcing and stray currents from another device (where otherwise there would be none without the target), so creating the hazards in the 1st place
Explaining stray currents : You have an unearthed light fixture with isolation fault, it is live. Next to it on a wood ceiling there is a water pipe. The wood is slightly conductive (due to ambient moisture) so will pass tiny current between the bad fixture and the water pipe all the time. This current will electrolyze the wood turning it into carbon, then the current will rise as the carbon is better conductor and heat up to smoldering at the increased current (still not enough to trip the breaker), but the carbon is also flamable…
If you are pretending to be an electrician and an expert on current flow then you are failing miserable.
And for his next trick, MuleniuM is going to explain why imperial measurements are more “logical” than metric.
and the EU spoke to its people… TRY TO FIND A PLUG THAT WORKS! UP YOURS!
Does anyone else see a bunch of little faces?
Oh yeah. Switzerland has a real derpy grin. And the US takes itself way too seriously – as usual.
(Unless you talk about the NEMA 5-20R 20A outlets that are winking at you…)
Still, it’s the best on the list. Didn’t know Brazil had those too.
Also, the Swiss flag is square!
Good, I’m not the only one who noticed that!
I’ve never seen that 3-hole outlet in Brazil!
This is FAIL!
They have either the U.S. American style outlets, or two-hole outlets, sometimes even outlets which will accomodate both types of sockets – at least as far as normal household outlets for 110 V or 220 V are concerned. Special high-power outlets for air conditioners have a different shape, reminding of the Chinese/Australian ones in the above image.
Go to http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A4nder%C3%BCbersicht_Steckertypen,_Netzspannungen_und_-frequenzen or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country for more accurate information.
Unfortunaly you’re wrong, since january 2010 our plugs are similar to those used on switzerland, but the dimensions are diferent (making them incompatible).
look here for info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1
the info on those links you sended are outdated by almost 2 years.
do not trust wikipedia completly unless you’re absolute sure the facts are real or up to date.
The Israeli one is upside down in the picture. In its proper position (earth hole down) it is like o.o and in the original version (with thinner flat blades) like \./
Yanno, I’ve seen a lot of sites that TRY to make a “World List” – and they’ve all got holes you could drive a truck through. Even the Manufacturers Catalogs aren’t helpful for this, though Pass & Seymour/Legrand does try…
We need to get a bunch of Electricians from every country together in one spot – perhaps Wikipedia – and make a REAL “World List” condensed down to a page or two per country.
Standards are wonderful – that’s why they made so many of them.
In addition, the Brazilian and the Swiss plugs aren’t exactly the same. Different pin diameters, a slightly different spacing of the pins.
SEV 1101 is the Swiss plug, IEC 60906-1 is the Brazilian one.
I’m impressed that somebody else noticed that.
Another lost soul with too much trivia in his head. Greetings brother.
It’s becoming increasingly common to mount US receptacles the other way ’round, with the ground pins on top. This lessens the likelihood of a conductive object — say, a loose metal outlet cover — falling across the hot and neutral of a partially-inserted plug and staying there.
Agreed… I have seen that happen, with a METAL faceplate no less.
Quite a show!! (until the breaker tripped!!)
oooh that’s why! I’ve wondered why in some newer places I’ve seen them upside down. =P
Which negates the old reason for mounting a US receptacle upside down – to signify that it’s either Switched by the wall switch (for a table lamp) or Split & half-switched.
There’s a tab on the side you break to split the receptacles, and then you wire the bottom half Constant and the top half Switched. (Same source.)
Hm, that’s funny because when you’re installing outlets one part says “top” so the outlets look like those in the picture.
For mobies the voltage dosn’t matter. Also the frequency. Becaus all power adaptors for mobiles n’ stuff are so called ‘Switched-mode power supplys’. Those convert AC (In most cases 110-240V (50-60Hz)) to DC. Then a transistor turns it again to AC with a very high freqzency and a random voltage ( Depends on the Transformer in die circuit) (The transistor is controlled by a ‘Multivibrator’ (lol xD)). Then a transformer transforms the AC to another AC with lower voltage (42/24/12/5V). Then AC is turned into DC again. The ‘Multivibrator’ ‘checks’ the output and controlls the transistor. So the output voltage is always XVolts because of the power supply is stabilized.
And lol, no PE in russia and japan :O
Well said I just want to add three systems, NTSC, SECAM and PAL. This gets people into trouble more than anything else I’ve seen. So many electronics are frequency dependent and adapters just don’t address this.
Happy Danish outlet is happy.
and American outlet is unhappy
As a Brazilian I say that our new standard is pretty much a PITA. All electronics manufactured here use the new power plugs, but older buildings still have outlets in the older standards.
Many people break/remove the middle pin in power plugs of laptop/computer power supplies, and/or carry a set of adapters with them.
Because people here have a brain the size of a pin.
New connectors fit perfectly in the old outlets.
With the connectors with grounding pin is much more easier switch the outlet, or in the case of mobile equipment using an adapter.
In new installations do not have problems. (only with old equipment, which we agree, ought to be exchanged for new ones)
But Brazilians only knows complain …
FAIL
Lote of mistakes, just a few models.
Swiss one and brazilian one look like the same but aren’t.
And please stop making rectangular swiss flags, It is square !
Not to mention that Germany, Denmark, France and a few others seem to be out of the EU now. Why make a distinction between the German flag and the EU flag otherwise?
Because all three are variants of the “euro” plug, but differ a bit and are only really present in their parent countries of France and Germany. The other EU countries, use a variety of Europlugs.
The South African one pictured is what we call a 5 amp. Thats wrong, Most SA houses hotels etc use a 15 amp socket. Which is the same config but bigger, like the 13 vamp socket next to it.
5amp – gee what can you run on 5a ?
Quite a lot of stuff. Most laptops, lighting and chargers are below 5 amps.
You’d be surprised at how much stuff runs on 5amp.
There should only have been one outlet to rule them all.
i prefer the german one, it’s the most universal(most european fit it) and safestest one, though it might be a good idea to create an other one for the 110V
In Hungary we have the ‘German version’ grounded outlet.
They should really enforce a globally universal plug type, same for phone/electric equipment chargers.
The world would be a better and more convenient place.
I’m curious who you think “they” are. There’s no World Government with a Board of Electrical Whatchamahoozits that could step in and demand everyone throw out their old appliances just so the occasional international traveler doesn’t have to buy an adapter or two.
Actually most Danish ones only have two holes xD
Statistisk set… nej ‘xD ( men der er også 2 typer jordbunde, og kun 1 uden P: )
Denmark gets smiley face outlets, but America has angry faces instead.
THANK DOG that national genitalia aren’t thusly differed.
Is it just me, or the Canada/USA/Mexico outlet looks like a concerned bomberman?
Try http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm for the big boring version
This site is a great resource regarding outlets worldwide: http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm
also the Wikipedia entry on the topic is quite well written, and offers more info regarding the Israeli plug, which needs to be corrected in the above image.
I forgot to link to the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#Israel_SI32
Italy apparently managed to create the only plug that doesn’t look like a face.
I just can’t see the point to have different sockets. At least on one continent. But TBH the voltage and the sockets should be the same everywhere. Pain in the ass.
At home we use the german style EU sockets/plugs, but I like the UK/ROI type, it’s just more safer. Every socket has its own built in fuse and without the plug you can’t reach the dangerous parts, because the socket’s holes are closed.
Also, I love the flat extension leads
It’s an odd thing to notice but as a Brit I have became aware of the advantages of our outlets when travelling. The flat surface really does make it much safer, not to mention it also holds the plug more securely inside the outlet.
Denmark: LOLcat.
China & Australia: the mask from “Scream”
US & Canada: “f*** yeah” rage comic guy
I personally took all my outlets out. Any electricity I need is obtained by twisting the exposed wires together, with my bare hands and the wires live.
Tell me I’m wrong and countries outside of Australia and China have the ability to turn off power sockets. Or are they all live, all the time?
Speaking as an American, ours mostly are. (Occasionally you’ll get one that’s wired up to a light switch somewhere, because it’s likely to be used to plug in lamps and it’s dangerous to have to fumble for their proper switch in the dark.) But they’re not as dangerous as most since they’re only 115-120 volts, low enough that anyone who gets shocked by them would reflexively let go (I speak from experience).
Russia and Japan don’t have grounded outlets?
So, I assume that they don’t have life saving RCDs which break the power supply in case of a short circuit…
Most devices are double insulated there. Just as good as the grounded devices. (not sure about in Russia, tho
)
Russia have almost switched to the Schuko outlet (Germany) with the grounding.
I’m just glad that north america (US, Canada & Mexico) decided to stick to one type. Unlike the EU which changes every 100 km as you cross borders.
Same voltage? The situation in the EU is not as bad as it seems like. The mainland mostly use the same uni-EU plugs, so you can connect your devices without having trouble even if they’re slightly different.
Like this:
http://www.o-digital.com/uploads/2179/2217-1/EU_Plug_European_Power_Cords_418.jpg
or this:
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/445085655/Euro_2_pin_flat_plug.jpg
F.e. the italian type isn’t really popular even in Italy for obvious reasons.
Denmark has the coolest outlet, obviously. Who doesn’t like a happy face eletrical outlet?
It should be all the same
I love how the Swiss one looks happy where as the North American ones are all angry-like.
Meant Danish of course, not Swiss. Dunno why I wrote that lol.
The China one is wrong. While they do have outlets like that they are almost always paired with another that it’s 2-pin US standard (US plugs go in fine–just beware that it’s 220/50 rather than 110/60.) Thus you see a collection of 5 holes. This pairing is standardized–I’ve encountered a few safety designs that only allowed 3-pin plugs to be used, even on the US-plug side. (A real pain when all you’ve got is 2-pin adapters!)
Sierra Electric (now part of Pass & Seymour Legrand) probably made those outlets, they liked odd “Designer” stuff.
Touchplate for the one button switches, with remote relays in the attic or closet. They still sell it.
Just because the Brazilian (which is not widely used there but is the proposed IEC worldwide standard) and the swiss plug look almost the same does not mean that they are compatible. They are not!
If this guide should be helpfull it should at least be correct…
kru
And my TV came with a switch on the back to change amps and whatnot . . . and a bag of power cables to go with it.
Its old, its real old, so I don’t think they’ll be much use anymore, but it still works here.
WHERE IS NEW ZEALAND, ARE WE NO LONGER APART OF THE WORLD