I suppose it's a loophole type of thing, but why doesn't a Bathroom outlet, which already must meet the expected power requirements of the inevitable hairdryer (20 amp circuit)have to be a 20 amp device? And why shouldn't the Hairdryer have a 20 amp plug on it? The latest (1875 watt) hairdryers are certainly capable of - and will most likely be used at a rating that would normally require such a plug. And the sudden appearance of this "funny plugs" might make the public more aware of what they are using and that an upgrade of some sort is in order to be able to use these things safely.
This is admitedly a pet peeve of mine, so Please excuse any emotion you might detect in this post. I think of the tremendous strain that these very, very popular items are putting on the Electrical systems of yesterday and it makes me very nervous. I have seen a jump in the number of service calls resulting from the use of these Hairdryers and their effects on a typical 15 amp household circuit. They will sooner or later find the weakest points in the system and it will fail. The fact I find most disturbing of all is that the average person is not aware of any of this. Do we have to wait for statistics to pile up on this?
