Out of curiosity, what will happen if I run my computer with the Power supply's voltage switched to its non-default setting? I have to ask, because I'm not dumb enough to try it without knowing the result beforehand. I only recently noticed that the voltage could be changed.

You could damage the PSU or other parts of the computer that it supplies power to. You live in the U.S. So leave it on the 110/115v setting unless you want to replace some hardware.

That's what I figured. Thank you.

The power supplies used in PC's are constant power devices. If you set it for 220/230 @ 50Hz and run it at 110/115 @ 60Hz you will draw twice the current (not really, but close). Hopefully, the breaker supplying the outlet your PC is plugged into is appropriately sized and has overload as well as overcurrent protection.

If the person that wired your house didn't comply with the National Electric Code (as augmented by local ordinances) and the breaker is some POS (more common than it should be), then the wiring could overheat causing the insulation to begin burning. This burning insulation will cause the insulation inside your wall to begin burning. Eventually, your smoke alarm will sound (unless it is integrated with your now destroyed PC or you didn't change the batteries lately) because your house is on fire. So don't try with your neighbor's PC either just to see what would happen .

And if you live in the UK you're really screwed since they're apparently starting to ban fire extinguishers cause they claim they're a safety hazard. Silly Brits..

To translate this into english, if you change the voltage setting you will wind up letting the magic smoke out of the power supply, the computer, and possibly the house electrical system.

Now, I know that everyone tells you about things like volts and amps and watts and other thingamajiggie-like stuff, but the truth is that all electrical systems and electronics run on magic smoke.

Rule Number One for working with electrical thingamajiggies is that you NEVER EVER want to let the magic smoke out because it is a major contributor to global warming. And it usually winds up costing lots of money.

So don't do that.

Really ? I thought they promoted safety by helping to extinguish fires, now they want people to burn ? Meh, fine with me.

I'll try to find the article but they said if people have fire extinguishers, they might get caught up in trying to put the fire out and make matters worse by either getting trapped, make fire spread, etc. I think they're trying to say, if you don't have a fire extinguisher, it promotes you to get out faster. Which is kind of stupid, what if you have some small fire breakout on your stove while cooking, I guess just allowing your house to burn down and maybe your neighbors house burn down while waiting for the fire department to show up is the right thing to do..

Once upon a time, I was told by someone that the Brits were a very down to earth people, though you couldn't tell it from their press.

But lately, I have been wondering about that...

Problem is, the US is following firmly in their footsteps, as far as the Nanny State is concerned.

There's probably some validity to that. More than once a homeowner has burned their house down throwing water or using a CO2 extinguisher on a grease fire. Or people will whip out their CO2 extinguiser to put out an electrical fire only to realize that opening the breaker is the right course of action, but then they can't find the right breaker, get trapped in their basement and burn to death. Or even worse, they try to put out the electrical fire with water, get electrocuted AND burned to death.

Of course, in the U.S. we get lower home insurance premiums if we have an extinguisher in the home.

Well, I keep a fire extinguisher next to the stove just in case, one specifically designed to put out oil and grease fires (the most common around stoves).

a fire blanket is the best choice to keep near a stove!

and as far as i know there is nothing banning fire extinguishers, meerly stating what colour they must be (red) and what colour flash there should be on them to determine contents (water=red, co2=black, foam=cream, powder=blue, wet chemical(for fat fires)=yellow and Halon(now banned)=green)