Interesting

What is the standard of sockets in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: US, EU, UK or AU? How do they differ, and which plug to choose when shopping in online stores?

Good time!

Not so long ago, a friend of mine ordered a phone in a foreign online store (I don’t advertise the store itself, who needs a list of them - it’s here). When he opened the package, he was somewhat discouraged: the plug (socket) was completely different from the one used in our country ... 😒

In general, as it turned out, when ordering, he simply did not pay attention to such a "trifle" as the choice of the type of plug (and ordered a device with a charger for the English type of sockets ...). That was the catch ...

Actually, in this note I will give the most popular outlet standards (of course, the one that is used in our country). And I will also consider the question of whether it is possible to connect a device with a different standard to our network.

So...

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Should I choose US, EU, UK or AU?

The basics

When a foreign online store sells electrical goods to different countries, as a rule, when ordering, you must indicate the type of plug (in Russian stores, the goods are localized to our standard, and there, in principle, there is no such question).

The most common are 4 types:US, EU, UK and AU... Some users who have not yet encountered this do not even pay attention to these abbreviations ... (but in vain ☝).

Pay attention to the choice of standard ...

So here, these abbreviations stand for plug type (as you can see in the photo below, they all have different geometries and are not backward compatible!).

US, EU, UK, AU

Note!

In Russia, Ukraine and Belarus the standard is used EU (see photo). It is still sometimes labeled as EC, or EU Type C. But about their difference a little below ...

Brief explanation:

  1. US - American type of sockets (in general, there are several subspecies). Used in countries: USA, Japan, etc. Voltage: 100-120 Volts, frequency: 60 Hz;
  2. EU - one of the most popular types of outlets, the so-called "Euro". Used in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, EU and CIS countries. Voltage: 220 Volts, frequency: 50 Hz.
  3. UK - English type of sockets (countries: Great Britain, Singapore, Malta, Cyprus, etc.). Voltage 220 Volts;
  4. AU - Australian outlet (countries: Australia, China, Fiji, New Zealand, etc.). Voltage: 220 Volts.

What is the difference between EC, EU, EU Type C?

In different Euro online stores, the outlet standard is marked with different abbreviations. For example:

  • The EU - this is the European Union;
  • EU (European Union) is the same thing, just in a different way. Those. there is no difference between EC and EU.

However, sometimes you can find another designation: EU type C (or EC type C). It differs from the EU by the presence of additional insulation at the base (it is considered safer, since accidental finger contact is practically excluded when the plug is connected to the network). Of course, EU and EU type C are backward compatible. See the photo below.

US, EU, UK, AU (another illustration)

What to do if the device was purchased with the wrong plug (can it be connected to our outlet?)

If a your device uses a different plug standard - then the difference may be not only in the geometry of the legs of the plug itself, but also in the voltage (frequency) for which it is designed.

Those. you can't just cut off one plug and rewire it to another, and then connect the device to the network! If, for example, the voltage is not taken into account (and not everywhere it is 220 Volts!), You can simply burn the device (or perhaps knock out the switch, or something else ...).

therefore, I will not be original, but if you are not an electrician, it is best to use ready-made adapters and adapters. Fortunately, they are in bulk in any store dealing with electrical goods. If you are not going to connect something powerful to the network, then the issue can be resolved within 1000-1500 rubles.

Adapters and adapters

PS

Also, in this note, I cannot but note that there are (in fact) slightly more types of outlets than I indicated above (see the screen below). Some of them are very similar to each other and differ, for example, only in the presence of grounding (and, of course, a plug without grounding, as a rule, fits into an outlet with grounding feet).

Socket types ...

Since I am not an electrician, and the blog is not dedicated to this topic, I don’t stop there anymore. The above should be enough for a general understanding and the possibility of buying a "suitable" electrical product ...

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Additions on the topic are welcome ...

Good luck!

👋

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