For young current hipsters whose hobbies blogging or vlogging, the opportunity to travel abroad must be used to capture as many moments as possible. But what happens if you have a set of advanced gadgets, but they can’t be charged because the plug socket in the destination country is different from the plug from home? Why are electric plugs different in different countries? Sounds complicated, right? For that reason, this time let’s find out why plug sockets in different countries can be different.
The History of The Plug
The history of the plug began when electricity for the people began to boom in the late 19th century in North America and Europe. Initially, the electrical connection was for lighting purposes only. It wasn’t until 1903, Harvey Hubbell discovered the ancestor of the 2-pin plug we’re using now.
Along with technological and industrial advancements, various household electronic devices with 2-pin plugs have emerged. The problem is that this difference in usage leads to a difference in the price of the electricity connection tariff.
So as we immediately demo every increase in fuel prices, many people do not accept this price difference. As a result, many try to outwit it by using… Edison’s Screw Fitting! It’s easy, they purposely plugged the electronics into the light connection to pay for the cheaper electricity cost. So reckless…
The Objectives of IEC
But as always, recklessness is proportional to misfortune. To prevent unwanted things like short circuits, 3-pin plug variations are created to neutralize the electrical supply to the ground. And because it is still new, the boom of plug technology makes many people want to experiment.
As time went on, rival plug models claiming to be safer continued to emerge. To overcome the agitation of the world plug, the International Electrical Engineering Committee was finally formed. The task of this IEC is primarily to establish universal wearable plug standards.
Unfortunately, their efforts had to be temporarily stagnated because of the political issues during World War. But after the war ended, various kinds of plugs were rampant. Right now, there are at least 200 different types of plugs around the world!
The number of countries recognized by the United Nations is only 193. So, what will be the fate of the next IEC?
Despite the obstacles, the IEC continued its project, until, in a nutshell, N-type plugs were established as international plug standards! But let’s just say, this plug standard is not being revised in so many countries, maybe except Brazil.
The reason for this is that each country has gone after setting its power, voltage, and current standards, concerning two international voltage standards, North America and Europe.
The Challenge Awaits
Just so you know, asking all countries in the world to be able to adherent about electricity is not as easy as turning a palm. The problem is not only in the ego of each country, the conspiracy of big countries, or even the various electronics industries.
The issue is, they can still do it if they have to adjust the product according to the market. Either way, no matter how sophisticated our plugs are, it’s useless if there’s no plug-able socket. The socket integrates with the electrical system that is connected to all the building.
So, if we want to uniformize the system of sockets and plugs internationally, we automatically have to remodel almost every building around the world, right? Just imagine, how much money to spend and how many bowls of meatballs we can buy with that much money…
So, if you later meet international vlogger travelers who are confused when they want to charge their gadgets, don’t just laugh at it! Have them buy universal plugs at a nearby electronics store. I was wondering if we could join him on his vlog later. So now, I hope you already know the answer why are electric plugs different in different countries. Thanks.
