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Appliance Ratings and 13A plug tops

statter
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
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    An electrician told me that manufacturers stopped making 3KW heaters for the domestic market back when legislation required appliances to be sold with a mains plug. To use a BS1363 plug continuously on 13A is pushing it to the limit. 3KW heaters were originally designed to be used with a BS546 15A plug.



    From what I recall from the writeups of the discussions that led to the 13A plug & socket - originally a 10A outlet was proposed but that was objected to because of the 3kW heaters commonly in use in parts of the country. So the 13A plug (originally 3120W@240V) was certainly  intended to be able to supply 3kW heaters.


    Maybe the move to moulded-on plugs that presumably must be made of thermoplastic rather than thermosetting material started the decline.


       - Andy.
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  • 0

    An electrician told me that manufacturers stopped making 3KW heaters for the domestic market back when legislation required appliances to be sold with a mains plug. To use a BS1363 plug continuously on 13A is pushing it to the limit. 3KW heaters were originally designed to be used with a BS546 15A plug.



    From what I recall from the writeups of the discussions that led to the 13A plug & socket - originally a 10A outlet was proposed but that was objected to because of the 3kW heaters commonly in use in parts of the country. So the 13A plug (originally 3120W@240V) was certainly  intended to be able to supply 3kW heaters.


    Maybe the move to moulded-on plugs that presumably must be made of thermoplastic rather than thermosetting material started the decline.


       - Andy.
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