Electric Sockets (was: What most surprised...)

For some years now it's also been possible to buy a wall-mounted hair dryer in which the heating element is contained within the main box and you just have a hose and nozzle to deliver the hot air, like this one:



http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TCHDR50.html

He put in an emergency electrical shut off fuse type thing outside the bathroom door. 

It was probably a device known as an RCD (Residual Current Device).  It serves the same basic purpose as the American GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) referred to in the news report above, although the standard British RCD is not so sensitive.

These are standard in hotels.  I wondered how they worked!

Vicky

But Paul, just to add to your vast knowledge, those hair drying units are shite.  I have used them in so many hotels and they are just horrible.  I absolutely hate any hair dryer in a hotel  that's self contained like that as inevitably they refuse to actually dry your hair or you have to keep your finger pressed on the button to make it run (grrrrr). 

Of course when I do actually bring a hair dryer with me (like this last trip to Munich), there will undoubtedly be a beautiful, normal hair dryer in the room.   

That's interesting to get a user's opinion of those units, as I've never been asked to install one and never tried one. 

I have wondered about just how hot the air stream is from them.   That one shown above is rated 750 watts, and I can't help feeling that by the time the air has traveled down a few feet of hose it's probably not going to be that warm, certainly not compared to a regular hair dryer.

The switch issue on some hotel dryers is quite probably a deliberate attempt on the management's part to minimize power consumption (along with timer-operated lights and room heaters, etc.).    I can certainly see how they would be a real pain to use.