Using a travel adapter long term

Question

I’m moving from the EU to the UK in a couple of weeks for a ~3-year period, and I’m not sure what to do with power plugs. The easiest option is to buy a couple of power strips and an equal amount of travel adapters, and use one power strip in each room with an adapter in between the strip and the wall socket.

However, I’m not sure whether it’s okay and safe to use them this way. I’m mainly concerned about things like a tv and a playstation, which do not draw excessive amounts of power but which are used for a couple of hours straight.

I bought some adapters that are 13A rated and look pretty solid, but I’m wondering what the risks are of using them this way.

P.S.: I considered asking this in the Electrical Engineering StackExchanged but it was deemed off-topic and the answers didn’t fully answer the question.

Answer 1

Electrical wiring in a typical UK home is different from Continental Europe. Electrical outlets (sockets) are on a ring final circuit and normally rated at 13 A each. Instead of fuses for individual outlets or groups of outlets, in a fuse box (consumer unit), every plug is fused. Every appliance made for the UK market contains a fuse of max 13 A in the plug. Also the plug of every power strip has such a fuse, to limit the current through the socket.

Plugs for Continental Europe do not have these fuses. Therefore a very simple plug adapter, that just accommodates different plug designs would not do. You should use an adapter with a 13 A fuse, which is very likely what you already have bought, between the socket and the power strip.

Voltage and frequency are nominally the same. If your power strip would be safe to use with your appliances in Continental Europe, it would also be safe in the UK.