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A comment on Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V?. Parent comment

Re:Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V? by Symbiote on Tuesday August 29, 2023 @04:20PM (#37313388)
Britain solves this with fuses inside appliance plugs.

The continental European system doesn't really solve it, as far as I know, so you have thicker wires on low power appliances than you would in the USA.

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Re:Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V? by sbradford26 on Tuesday August 29, 2023 @04:53PM (#37313917)
The US also has fused plugs but their are not widely used for some reason. I see them mostly on Christmas lights, but I have also seen it on some small home electronics like a window fan and air purifier.
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Re:Why does the USA use 110V and UK use 230-240V? by bombcar on Tuesday August 29, 2023 @09:30PM (#37316544)
That’s usually because the lights draw such little power that a short at line amperage could turn them very hot without tripping a breaker.

The fuse prevents that.

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