Some may think all Singapore electric home appliances must use 3-pin plug. Which is not the case.
Basically, there are 3 types of legal plugs allowed to be used in Singapore. Refer to below image. Download the document for more details.
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| Legal Plugs in Singapore |
It is not compulsory for an home appliances to use the 3-pin plug, even it bears a safety mark. BTW, not all appliances require a safety mark. Only controlled goods are required. We will elaborate on this matter in another post.
Only in two cases, 3-pin plug must be used. (1) required by law. (2) the wattage of an appliance exceeds 500W. Let us explain the second case in details.
Pay attention to the 2-pin round plug. It has a prefix "2.5 AMP". This indicates the maximum current allowed to flow through the wire. Apply the formulae: P = UI = 220 x 2.5 = 550W. In other words, the maximum wattage of an appliance which uses 2-pin plug is roughly 500 W.
Finally, a separate safety mark is required for the 3-pin plug. So an appliance should bear two safety marks, if it uses 3-pin plug. One for the appliance itself, another for the plug.
