SA to get new electrical sockets, plugs

[Houses4Rent]

I always wondered and never really asked the right people: Why does a socket have a switch? Any device plugged in has its own switch anyway. At least I cannot think of anything which does not have its own switch. I am German and we do not have a single switch at any socket in Germany. All my sockets are permanently switched on as I am tired of checking/flicking switches which have no purpose.

[irneb]

I always wondered and never really asked the right people: Why does a socket have a switch? Any device plugged in has its own switch anyway. At least I cannot think of anything which does not have its own switch. I am German and we do not have a single switch at any socket in Germany. All my sockets are permanently switched on as I am tired of checking/flicking switches which have no purpose.

Partly because the socket design isn't the most safe in the world - i.e. the openings (round) make it possible for a child to insert their fingers into it. Though that has been alleviated through a mechanical mechanism where the earth (big top slot) has a lever which opens plastic gates in the smaller live/neutral slots, not exactly perfect but a lot better. Unfortunately due to this mechanical safety measure, it's not ideal to simply unplug and re-insert plugs to turn off / on, the socket would wear out rather soon - and then you'd have worse safety. Much less chance of something going wrong with a switch.

Next, not all appliances here actually have their own switches. Things like fridges, most washing machines, etc. only have controllers and don't actually turn off without you needing to unplug or turn off at the plug itself.

And lastly there's an issue called "vampire" power. All electrical / electronic equipment still consume a small amount of power even when they're "turned off". Think of something like a TV where the remote turns it back on ... that means there's still some power consumed to keep the infra-red receiver watching for a signal. There's very few equipment which doesn't have something like this, and usually only simplistic stuff like a bedside lamp don't have this issue. Only way to truly turn them off is unplug / switch at socket.

[pedruid]

Thanks AndyD for going to so much effort. The Veti Omni range whic I'm using offer more sockets in a panel than the others. Only time will tell if I've made the right choice.

[AndyD]

I'm not a domestic sparky and I've no first hand experience of the Veti range but I'm sure they're respectable, I've seen them around in the big name wholesalers for some time. I installed Gewiss Chorus in my own house about 6 years ago and they've been good.

I always wondered and never really asked the right people: Why does a socket have a switch? Any device plugged in has its own switch anyway. At least I cannot think of anything which does not have its own switch. I am German and we do not have a single switch at any socket in Germany. All my sockets are permanently switched on as I am tired of checking/flicking switches which have no purpose.

There are certain circumstances that the regs require a socket to have a switch and there's certain circumstances when both the live and neutral wires should both be switched although in most applications unswitched sockets are permissible.

Unplugging something when there's a substantial current flowing reduces the life of a socket and especially nowadays where surge arrestors are commonplace inside appliances, unplugging an appliance without switching power off first is more likely to cause arcing that in turn can cause an RCD (earth leakage breaker) to nuisance-trip. Also it's nice to have a switch that can be operated from some distance in the case of an emergency such as an appliance fault. Finally think of all the employment it makes for people designing and manufacturing the switches.

Okay....I ran out of valid reasons so I made the last one up to pad out the reply a bit

[Dave A]

I always wondered and never really asked the right people: Why does a socket have a switch?

And then there's the classic head-space answer -

Some folk ask "why", while others say "why not".