Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 September 19

= September 19 =

Old English law (?)
In England, is there really an old law which says that if a foreign detective is arrested on English soil, he/she must be allowed until sunset to finish his/her work before being taken into custody? (Question inspired by the 1st case in Criminal Case: Save the World.) 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:EDA1:6DA2:2F4C:8E0A (talk) 05:53, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * While there could be many old laws that nobody pays attention to, the current law is detailed here. Foreign detectives have five hours in England and are treated legally as constables. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 14:02, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * The question is different however, and sounds like a fantastical element added for the purpose of the furtherence of the plot. The OP specifically mentions arrest which means that the detective is a suspect in a crime of some sort, and that he could not be detained because he was protected as a detective.  Are constables similarly immune from arrest when they are under suspicion of a crime?  It seems patently rediculous; as though the foreign detective could burn down Parliament or some such, and claim "You can't arrest me!  I have five hours to complete my prior investigation", to which the British authorities would be left to shrug their sholders while comically sad "Wah wah waaaaaah" music plays.  I doubt that highly.  -- Jayron 32 14:17, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * In this case, it is added for the furtherance of the plot -- what happens is, Count Rupert (a suspect in Prince Albert's murder with "carbon oxychloride" piped into a phone booth, because the Count hated the Prince and because he was the next in line for the royal succession) orders the protagonist and his partner Jack Archer arrested (without any charge specified), but Arnaud Dupont, the French detective versed in old books, points out an old law which allows foreign detectives until sunset prior to them being arrested. (Spoiler alert: it later turns out that the Count is not the killer.) 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:EDA1:6DA2:2F4C:8E0A (talk) 09:13, 20 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Are we talking police detective or private detective? jnestorius(talk) 19:22, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Police detective, in this case. 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:EDA1:6DA2:2F4C:8E0A (talk) 09:13, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
 * A huge number of obsolete UK laws were repealed by that arch-moderniser and spoilsport, Tony Blair. The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 for example, repeals (amongst many other laws) "An Act for the repairing of Bengeworth bridge in the county of Worcester (1662)". Alansplodge (talk) 10:27, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

Electric consumption
I would like to know, how much electric a[ny] product consumes while usage, before buying it/them. How do I find out and understand without any tools. 103.67.157.85 (talk) 06:57, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Here in the UK, every appliance has a label with the power consumption affixed to the appliance. This might not be the case in Bangladesh.  Look for a number followed by "watts" or just "W".  Sometimes you might find the current in amps ("A") in which case you need to multiply by the Bangladesh voltage (220v) to get the rating in watts.  If the label says "KW" then these are thousands of watts.    D b f i r s   07:10, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * As Dbfirs said. However there is a difference between "consumption" and "efficiency".  A fridge (this is particularly the case for fridges) might be rated at 500W, which is the consumption when the motor is running. However there's also the efficiency question of how often a fridge needs to run, in order to stay cold.  A big, efficient fridge might have a 600W motor that runs for 20 minutes in the hour, a less efficient fridge might be only 400W, but needs to run for 40 minutes in the hour. One has greater power when running, but the other uses more energy over a day. Andy Dingley (talk) 11:21, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * In Europe, and many other markets, there is a European Union energy label on all such appliances. This gives a simple A (good) to D (bad) overall rating. It may also give an idea of total consumption (thus cost) over a year. Andy Dingley (talk) 11:24, 19 September 2017 (UTC)


 * In the US we have Energy Star ratings, which have spread to other nations, and EnergyGuide, which I don't believe has. The later estimates annual costs for each appliance.  However, they have to make assumptions about how you will use the appliance and what electricity will cost to know what the appliance will cost you per year.  For example, one fridge may handle constant opening and closing better than others, say by containing food in drawers.  But if you don't do this, then this feature may not save you money. StuRat (talk) 00:46, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
 * AIUI, Energy Star was an early system for this (as the US market is so large, many UK-market products also carry it) but it has never been a rating system. Energy Star set out to encourage efficiency, and it provided a single compliance mark, but it didn't (as the European system does) give a fine-grained rating above this.
 * In Europe, the ratings began as a fairly simple four level A...D rating. As the market responds to this, and to customers buying from the A end of the scale, it has expanded with improved A+, A++, A+++ ratings. The market is now between C & D appliances, which are cheap and have nothing else to recommend them, and a fight for the top between A+ and A++ appliances, all way beyond the original peak performance. The rating system has definitely encouraged efficiency, and a development of efficiency beyond what was possible when it was introduced.
 * Energy Star, in contrast, has stagnated with no more than "good enough for the '80s" performance. Particularly for computer data centre servers, a very competitive market on their performance / power consumption ratio, Energy Star has long been an irrelevance. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:11, 20 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes, Energy Star is a pass/fail rating, while EnergyGuide gives more detailed relative energy pricing estimates. StuRat (talk) 05:01, 21 September 2017 (UTC)