Which brand of plug sockets to buy.

I’ve both MK and more designer ones by Legrand and both are excellent. I wouldn’t use cheap sockets. It’s just not worth it and for the white simple plastic ones, MK Logic is consistently good quality.

A bit like cheap tyres. Simple devices but something you’re probably better off not skimping on..

I don’t see the point of incorporating USB chargers anyway. It doesn’t add much convenience.

Simple and solid!

I just don't use poor quality USB chargers.

The other issue is that most of those sockets are USB-A which is rapidly becoming obsolete and replaced by USB-C

Speaking of which, I was shocked (pardon the pun) at the cost of some of those in France. I was upgrading a few around a holiday home. €59 for a USB-C + single socket with a decent bit of design from Legrand and over 60 quid for a double plate with no USB.

That yoke was almost €60 ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJEHMgXHi8 (they've a flat plate that covers the recess until you push in a plug but even so .. pricy! I thought Irish prices were steep...)

EU fixed cable colours are completely ignored over there too, which is surprising. Still red (Live) + blue + green/yellow.

They make sense in places like airports and cafes where people might be arriving with chargers from other countries with different pins. It certainly saves on adaptors.

Most USB C wall plates cannot provide full power for a laptop for example or even do rapid charging for a mobile, so it's still not that much use for a lot of devices.

If you consider say my MacBook Pro adaptor it can deliver: 4.7 amps at 20.5V, or 3amps at 15V, 9V or 5.2V.

An MK USB C Socket is limited to 5.2V at 3amps.

For example, if you want to get a quick charge boost for a phone, you're much better off plugging in an original Apple or Samsung charger etc, rather than using a 3rd party USB-C socket and USB A is way too slow.

One of the most sensible designs I've seen (despite all the moaning about Apple and proprietary connectors on the end of iPhones) is Apple's USB-C laptop charger.

It's a compact power USB-C brick, with a 'duck head' connector on the mains side. So you can snap on a UK/Ireland plug, a continental CEE 7 plug, a US NEMA plug, Aussi plug, Chinese plug etc etc or just push in any IEC 'figure of 8' power cord. Extremely handy when travelling and those heads fit all of their chargers.

Polarity is actually are enforced in France and Belgium now - live on the right, neutral on the left. Only the flat 2.5amp plugs used on small appliances are reversible. However, I still wouldn't trust older wiring to be polarised though and EU harmonised regs don't require it anyway as 'Schuko' used in most countries is fully reversible. Sure even here you can reverse a 'figure of 8' connector without any issue. All their MCBs are DP though.

However, I was just more stunned at the price of French electrical accessories. They don't allow the general CEE 7 (schuko) stuff. It has to be French with the earth pin and polarisation and shutters. A lot of ppl seemed to think it was just protectionist lobbying by Legrand and Schneider Electrique.

However, I think until USB C (at full power output) becomes ubiquitous I wouldn't really be all that fussed about installing the sockets in a domestic setting. It's just expensive and also the electronics providing the USB C power are usually not isolatable with a switch, so are effectively connected 24/7.

I'd be more concerned about some of the crappier smart sockets and so on that are appearing. It could also get worse in years to come due to UK drift from CE standards or end up with poor customs enforcement and I would assume Ireland will be unable to enforce anti-grey market regs. A lot will depend on whether the UK goes for tight regs or free market laissez faire (burn the red tape etc etc)

There are plenty of dodgy looking electronic devices - USB sockets, smart sockets, data over mains or wifi etc that are being made to quite dubious standards and are widely available online and being integrated into people's fixed wiring.

You could see a lot of small electronics having optional USB C power though if buildings were actually wired for it - plenty use >100W

Although, other than countries using the enormous UK plugs we use here, most have a neat 2-pin mains for small devices e.g. CEE 7/16 (the flat 2.5amp Europlug) in Europe or NEMA 1-15 in the US, Canada & Japan, and the 2-pin version of the Aussi/NZ/Chinese plug, so I doubt it's all that relevant to manufacturers to be bothered as there are already very neat solutions in most other countries.

The fold up pin chargers that have appeared in this market in recent years have also resolved a lot of the issues of having to carry bulky devices.

Centrally supplied USB C isn’t all that ideal. You get into low voltage and high amperage - big conductors, voltage drop and fire hazards.

Low voltage is fine over short runs but over long ones you start to see why 230V is used! I’ve seen some scary looking melted junctions on low voltage DIY halogen lighting. Thankfully cool, low wattage LEDs have largely done way with it!

I wouldn’t fancy having a few hundred watts running on 24V.

I’ve seen junctions literally melted by 12V from a large transformer driving 400W of halogens.