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Appliance Ratings and 13A plug tops

Hello

I looked last year for portable heating and not surprisingly there was little above 2.5kW rating.  All the old 3kW stuff has long gone.

I was surprised however to find a wide range of steam irons rated at 3000W and even 3100W.  (that's almost 13.5A at 230V).  I realise of course that irons are likely to be much more intermittent than heating and that 13.5A is very unlikely to blow a 13A fuse but it cant be good practice to overload plug/ socket like this.  A decent ironing session can still be hours ……   OFC at 240v its under 13A but 230v has been the standard for ages now.   In my experience many socket/ plug combinations are marginal approaching their rating so deliberate overloading will only make matters worse over time.  I would have thought that these appliances wouldn't qualify for CE marking and couldn't be sold legally?  Does anyone know if there is a BS or EN for small appliances?


Thanks


Peter
Parents
  • Very interesting comments. However, since domestic irons (or even industrial ones) are not within my expertise I would like to throw the following into the mix.


    Irons are resistive loads, but we all know that as the temperature increases, so does the resistance. Is the power rating of an iron measured for when it is first switched on or is it the continuous rating (and if so at what temperature setting)?


    Alasdair
Reply
  • Very interesting comments. However, since domestic irons (or even industrial ones) are not within my expertise I would like to throw the following into the mix.


    Irons are resistive loads, but we all know that as the temperature increases, so does the resistance. Is the power rating of an iron measured for when it is first switched on or is it the continuous rating (and if so at what temperature setting)?


    Alasdair
Children
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