In the UK, the power sockets in a house are connected by means of ring circuits, which are protected by 32 A circuit breakers. This type of wiring is rarely used outside the UK and requires the use of fused plugs. Small appliances, like mobile phone chargers, usually have a 3 A cartridge fuse inside the plug; heavy duty appliances, such as coffee makers, have a plug with a 13 amp cartridge fuse. Almost everywhere else in the world radial circuits are used. In this system each wall socket, or group of sockets, has a circuit breaker at the main switchboard, so there is no need for plugs to be fused. As a result, if you take some foreign appliance to the UK, you can use an adaptor, but technically it must incorporate the correct value fuse. Most would have a 13 amps one, too big for computers for example.