For consumer grade equipment, one might argue that you could do away with ratings and assume that if you purchase something from you local retailer it will work in your home, however, for permanently connected equipment and for more industrial/commercial equipment, I think the need for electrical ratings is more important, especially in the global society that we now live in. Personally, I feel that electrical ratings on the product are still important. Do I look at them when I purchase some consumer electronics from my local retailer, not always, but I do consider the current/power ratings when deciding where to plug in certain appliances, or if I do trip a circuit when my daughter is using the curling iron, my wife is using the hair dryer, and I am ironing a shirt all at the same time.
I also think that electrical ratings on the product get people to ask the question "Can I use this when I travel to a foreign country?" I can't count the times that I have been asked by coworkers or family members who were planning a trip from the US to Europe if they could use their personal grooming appliance or laptop computer or cell phone charger while traveling if the electrical ratings on the product were ___________. Most consumers don't know a Volt from an Amp or how they relate, but they do know they are important and will seek out the answer when it is important. Kevin Robinson On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 4:23 PM, Richard Nute <ri...@ieee.org> wrote: > > >The ratings could just as well be in the accompanying documents. > > > > ... which are thrown away, no, sorry, *recycled*, with the packaging. > > Of course. But, as I said before, why do I > need to know the ratings? Especially after > the equipment is installed? > > Most manufacturers now provide e-copies on the > web. So, I can get most any accompanying > documents at any time. > > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc > discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < > emc-p...@ieee.org> > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html > > Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at > http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in > well-used formats), large files, etc. > > Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Scott Douglas <emcp...@radiusnorth.net> > Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> > David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com> > - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <emcp...@radiusnorth.net> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>