A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.com/
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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Type E and F plugs are not really a thing anymore, today it's more common to find combined Type E/F plugs.
Fuses in british plugs are a mistake and only a requirement because of sketchy practices allowed in british electrical code immediately after WW2. Nobody else does that because nowhere else electric code is built in such a way that it is necessary. Switch seems to be mildly useful tho
F plugs are the only type I've ever seen in all of Scandinavia, Germany, Spain and The Czech Republic. Never in my life have I seen an E plug or anything resembling a variation of E+F combined in any way. Only F. I don't understand how you can say they "are not really a thing anymore".
You mean not a thing in the UK?
UK uses type G. Type E/F plug has both contact for grounding pin like in type E and two sliding ground contacts on side like in type F. Sockets are either E or F, and i've mostly seen E
Oh you mean the plugs, as opposed to the sockets? Then I misunderstood. 😄
E is only common in five countries, F is more widely used.
I've seen E in France.
Not really the point, what I'm saying is that F sockets are definitely still "a thing".
Oh, yeah, absolutely. The best thing. I just wanted to say that E type plugs are also in use.
The best thing 😆 Yeah they are pretty great. Admittedly I am biased 😅
Went to Poland for a few days and encountered the type e plugs and I immediately hated them because they interfere with chargers and they weren't reversible.
I thing it is about the cord vs the plug. The plugs are as they are in the picture, but most cords are in F+E configuration. That is, there is the ground plates on the side of the cord (F) and there is a hole in the cord with a springplate to connect to the ground thingy in thr plug (E). I have two extension cords at home of the same brand, one in E and one in F configuration, but all my cords are compatible with both. I'm a bit unsure on this, but I may have seen a plug with E+F configuration in a country which usually goes E, but definetly never in a country with F config.
I think you mean plugs vs sockets. I was talking about sockets, but I mistakenly wrote plugs. I think I misunderstood the original comment in that regard.
Fuses mean protection is localised. If the socket is good for 13A, but the cable is only safe to 5A, you can fuse at 3A or 5A, and know it's safe.
This is partially useful for extension leads. We don't have to worry about overloading a multiway extension. If we do, it will pop a 10p fuse, rather than cause a house fire.
Or you could just use thicker wires like everyone else, or drop the use of ring mains, which is the actual reason why fuses in plugs were introduced. The reason why this was done was post-WW2 copper shortage. In other countries you'll see more likely star type circuit
Are you really going to change the fuse in the receptacle when you plug a different cable in?
Low amp rated extension cords are dangerous unless they have a fuse in the cable. Best practice is to always use a cable that is rated higher than the circuit breakers.
The fuse is in the plug itself. It goes with the cable. That's the point of it! 🤣 It lets you down rate your cables from the breaker rating.
this is totally wrong. type F (“schuko”) is the main standard in europe.