UK extension leads safe to use?

Question

I have seen some cheap extension leads on ebay UK. Should I be checking for any sort of electrical safety stamp on these before using them?

Answer 1

Look for the British Standard Kite Mark. Extention leads are safe if used correctly, many people misunderstand how they should be used, say for instance you have an extention lead with one socket, you can plug up to 13 amps in it, if it has 2 sockets, you can only plug into it a total of 13amps, so if you put in one 13 amp appliance, you can't put another appliance in it at the same time, but you can put 2 5 amp or one 5 amp and one 3 amp appliance in it at the same time. /same goes for a 4 socket one. Still only a total of 13 amps. Many people think that on these extention leads you can plug in as many appliances as there are sockets, but going over the 13 amp total there is a danger of fire.   also as long as they have a British Standard Kite Mark on it, it is classed as safe. Although more expensive, one with a surge protector is better still as it protects your appliances against power surges.

Answer 2

you really shouldnt buy anything to do with electricity from any where but a store,at least then you can take it back if not suitable,and you will know what uses it is for .

Answer 3

A 13 amp extension lead will be fused at 13 amps. End of story. Plug in more than 3000 watts and the fuse will blow. That is the safety aspect that all extension leads sold in UK must adhere to. On appliances you will see the wattage, e.g. 480w, if you divide the watts by 240 you will get the amps that the appliance draws. 480 watts draws exactly 2 amps.

Answer 4

I think from your supplementary comments you dont understand the difference between volts amps and watts.

13A is the Maximum current you can draw from a single plug in lead regardless of the number of things plugged into it.  That is a lot of power - over 2000 watts as someone else said.  Most lights computers TVs etc draw very little.  Look on the back and find a W or Watts rating.  A 250 Watt applicance will draw 1 Amp, so you could have 13 of them and not blow the fuse. Heating uses much more - fan heaters may be 3000W or 3KW which will draw 12 Amps.  All of them will be 240Volts in the UK, and that does not change with different appliances.  

Answer 5

go to Poundland

Answer 6

Probably best to get a surge protected one if you are going to be plugging thousands of pounds of electrical equipment into it.

Answer 7

Better to buy from a shop.

Answer 8

Just check is it safety-marked, it'll be fine. I take it you mean one of those things with a "bar" of sockets at one end, rather than a wind-out extension lead used for power tools & the like.

As already said, you can plug in up to just below 3 kilowatts - as a guide a one-bar electric fire is 1 kilowatt.  It's quite safe to plug in a series of things such as most of us do, PC, printer, modem, desk lamp, etc. you'll run out of sockets before you run out of capacity.

Only when you use heavy power-consumers such as heaters, kitchen apopliances and the like are you likely to come near the limit.

PS if you plug a PC in, make sure you use a lead with surge-protection built in.

Answer 9

It's always sensible to check for the British Standards kite mark. However, there are probably plenty of people out there using cheap versions which are fine.

Answer 10

13 Amp.s @ 220V. = 2860W.

What kind of appliances are you running?

Answer 11

No. They are cheap at Poundland but people buy them.  

Answer 12

Should be fine, just don't use it in the bath. Worst case senario, everyone in your family dies in an electrical fire caused from the faulty extension cable. Best case senario... you get a cheap extention cable that works, saving you a few pounds.