13 amps

[Griffin]

Why is finding out how many amps appliances use like drawing teeth?

I have a 13 amp socket (UK standard). I want to plug in via extension 4-gang socket:

Phone charger with phone
Answerphone machine
Digital-Analogue phone adapator
Printer

All of which I estimate will be less than 13 amps. But can I be sure of that?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I don't know the exact answer but 13 Amps are a LOT of current. If your printer is a Laser it may draw more than 1KW while printing and that may get close to the peak for your socket, but that will take a small amount of time [unless your are printing all the time. Note this applies to Laser printers, your average Ink Jet printer will not go even close to that amount of current].

Unless you are printing bootleg books with a Laser printer you should be fine.

[Bluenose]

I agree with Zono.  I'd be more than a little surprised if the current draw exceeded 13 Amos with that load.  Laser printers usually draw most of their current on startup and even then I doubt it would cause any issues for you.

[Griffin]

Thanks to both of you. The issue became academic as I found I didn't need to move equipment across the room which would have created the issue. I got away with a very long telephone extension cable instead of moving the actual phone. The printer is an inkjet not a laser.

I am now addressing a similar question in my bedroom where I am short of a socket for my fan which I need as it is getting hot and I have no air con. However I can create a free socket by removing a phone plug and moving it to an existing adaptor with a spare slot. Or alternatively using a smart plug (I need to be able to switch off power at the wall to the fan from my bed without moving). The fan itself has a remote control but has an "on" light if any power input which is annoying when wanting to sleep. I know enough usually to resolve these kinds of problems but no idea how the average (wo)man in the street copes. I have 34 wall sockets in my bedroom, all used. Mostly this is due to living my whole life in bed but I am sure lots of people manage with less than 34 in their whole home. My latest addition to items needing power is a reusable-mask steriliser (which the average idiot does not need as they don't bother to wear masks, preferring to catch Covid, which might kill me).

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

There's a low tech solution for the LED light, use a bit of black electrical tape over it. That's what I did with the temperature reading for my wine cooler.

[Griffin]

Zono - It's not rocket science. I even have black tape - the sort to use when cables start unravelling - I find my brain will no longer come up with simple solutions to anything. I used to be pretty good on solutions. I am finding life increasingly frustrating and puzzling. I am hoping it is the ME/CFS brain fog and not early stage dementia.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Hey, don't overthink it, it happens to all of us.

[Aggie]

Here, amp ratings should be printed on every device. It's sometimes in an inconvenient place on larger appliances, but for things with adaptors it will usually on the adaptor itself.  There should be no issue with the original group of items, especially since your mains power is 230V (so the same appliance would draw about half the amps as here). Per Zono's example, a 1000 watt resistive device would draw ~4.35A. Inductive devices such as motors have a higher inrush current, but it's transient. My laser printer is rated at 5 amps for 120V, and would be 2.6A there.

Be careful with extension cords, as they are often the weak link in the chain. NEVER use them with high wattage appliances such as portable heaters, don't run them under mats, carpets or other heat-insulating materials, and make sure if you have ordered them online that they are properly approved and have a certification sticker on them. I suppose you may get EU certified products sometimes, which will be fine, but if it's dropped shipped from China you should be wary. The gauge of cheap cords is usually much smaller (higher number) than the equivalent house wiring. I'm going by Canadian standards (US is equivalent) but a 14 gauge wire is desirable, 16 ga is standard for extension cords but sub-par for larger appliances, and higher numbers are probably dangerous (OK if it's part of a light fixture or is the cord of a small appliance).

Those numbers are American Wire Gauge, so I'm sure it's a completely different unit there.

Be also wary of any drop-shipped appliance or device as they are often unapproved. It's a constant headache because homeowners order lights online that I am not permitted to install, and get upset with me about it. 

Fans should be no issue on extension cords as portable residential fans wouldn't draw more than an amp or two (and less there). If you do get an air con unit at some point, it will draw a lot more power and might need its own circuit, or at least to be combined with low-draw items.

I'm slightly more concerned about your 34 wall sockets, depending on how many circuits are involved. Multiple wall sockets are much better than an octopus orgy of splitters, powerbars and extension cords, but I assume that their are multiple outlets per circuit. Probably nothing to worry about if there are 3 or more circuits involved, and you should just blow the breaker (or fuse??) if you overdo it. Too much on a single outlet is more of an issue than an overloaded circuit. Portable heaters here tend to be pushing the boundaries of what's safe and can cause issues; for your 13 amp circuit I'd feel safe with anything 2000W or under, and be a bit concerned over 2400W. Hopefully this doesn't apply.

Hopefully I haven't overexplained and totally confused the situation... I'm a sparky by trade and we are prone to that. 

[Griffin]

Thanks Aggie. I am aware I have a number of issues. For example, an electric wall fire plugged into an extension cable (only item that is) where the extension cable plugs into a wall socket behind a full floor to sealing bookcase nailed to the wall to ensure it does not fall over. Nothing except the extension cable plugged in to that soclet.

I have another electric wall fire plugged into wall socket which is one of a run of six wall sockets.

My third electric fire is I think plugged into an extension lead from an inaccessible wall socket but too much junk laying about to see.

All the electric fires were supposed to be wired in and not plugged in at all. Wretched fitters cutting corners.

Another, but oblique moan, I was supposed to be able to control the fires with a remote control but it doesn't work and manufacturers say it's an obsolete model. Hence I have my heating on 24/7 which is ridiculous.

For the time being I have put doing anything about any of this on the back burner as I am barely coping with the front burner items!

[Aggie]

I will pray to the thunder gods that you do not have any actual electric fires! Hopefully I am on good terms with them still. I've had a few things blow up in my face lately (sometimes literally, there is some molten copper spatters on my safety glasses still).

[Griffin]

Thanks Aggie.

Electric fires are always plugged in directly to wall socket or extension lead and are the only thing plugged in to those. ie. nothing else plugged into extension leads if it is an electric fire.

I've got another appliance wants plugging in. An electric blanket my son gave me. I haven't opened it, it is still in its box. It will require some plug shuffling as no sockets left for it.