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Plug in outdoor socket or wired: which carton fits

Updated: 23 October 2026

Two amazon.co.uk photographs both say outdoor socket. One has a coiled lead and the other has an empty back. The choice is a plug in outdoor socket or wired terminals, and the title will not make it. This page is from the Products Compared editorial team on 21 October 2026. Prices are the 21 October capture on the [garden sockets comparison](/hub/sockets-and-extension-leads/garden-sockets), not a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Use a plug-in kit when an indoor 30 mA socket is within the lead and you can unplug the job. Use a hard-wired IP66 twin when the outlet will stay and someone competent will connect a proper cable.

Two amazon.co.uk photographs both say outdoor socket. One has a coiled lead and the other has an empty back. The choice is a plug in outdoor socket or wired terminals, and the title will not make it.

Our top picks

British General BG Storm IP66 double

Best overall

British General BG Storm IP66 double
9.7/10about £9.99
View offer
RICOKEY RICOKEY IP66 double

Best value

RICOKEY RICOKEY IP66 double
9.7/10about £12.98
View offer
LIKEEM LIKEEM IP66 double, 3 m

Alternative

LIKEEM LIKEEM IP66 double, 3 m
8.6/10about £18.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.A pre-wired box is a lead you can screw to a wall
  2. 2.A hard-wired twin has no lead
  3. 3.Inline and the big enclosure are neither twin
  4. 4.Do not learn the difference from a conflicting row

A pre-wired box is a lead you can screw to a wall

A plug-in twin here is an IP66 face, two outlets, and a flex that ends in a BS 1363 plug, at 3 m, 6 m, 10 m or 15 m. No staged plug-in row states an RCD in the box. The indoor socket has to provide the 30 mA device. Both outlets share that one 13 A fuse. Electrical Safety First says one plug per socket, uncoil the lead, and do not daisy-chain. IP numerals are on the outdoor socket buying guide.

A hard-wired twin has no lead

The hard-wired twins are BG Storm at £9.99, and RICOKEY and Darbony at £12.98. None includes a flex. RICOKEY’s colour line says socket only. A Darbony review says you provide the cable. That is the regular choice when the outlet will stay. Certio lists three ways a fixed job meets 411.3.3: an RCBO at the board, an indoor RCD spur, or an RCD socket. A plug-in adaptor in a drawer does not count, and none of these wall boxes is an RCD socket. A £9.99 socket with no one to connect it is not cheaper than an £18.99 3 m kit you can unplug. The best outdoor socket page names BG only for the cable job.
British General BG Storm IP66 double

Testsieger

British General BG Storm IP66 double
9.7/10about £9.99
View offer

Inline and the big enclosure are neither twin

The orange Masterplug, at £9.83, is a rewireable 13 A inline connector. The bullets say IP44. You wire a flex you already own. It repairs a lead. It is not two switched outlets, and splash is not the jet numeral on the twins. Buy it when the flex failed, not when the wall is bare. The Masterplug enclosure, at £17.99, is about 351 by 220 by 126.5 mm, with a 10 m four-gang lead. The bullets say IP54 and name BS EN 62208:2011. It suits a timer or a tall plug that will not shut under a twin lid. If the shed needs a buried cable, you have left both of these rows.

Do not learn the difference from a conflicting row

Darbony is hard-wired, and its voltage field says 110 beside Type G and 13 A. Zenmos is a 10 m plug-in twin with 3 A in a highlight and 13 A in the amperage field. Kukkasilta’s title says 15 m and a part line says MP22-N-10M, with Type B beside Type G. Learn the fork from a clean file: BG or RICOKEY with no lead, or LIKEEM with a 3 m UK plug. If you can unplug it and the lead reaches a 30 mA socket, buy the plug-in box and stay inside one fuse. If the outlet will stay and someone competent will connect it, buy the hard-wired twin. If you only needed to mend a flex, buy the orange connector.

Common questions

When is the plug-in box the right object?
When an indoor socket on a 30 mA device is within the lead, you can unplug the load, and you are not adding a circuit. A 3 m kit suits a nearby patio. A 10 m or 15 m kit is the same object with more flex, still one 13 A plug. It is a weak home for a pump that runs all year in the border.
When is the hard-wired twin the right object?
When the outlet will stay and someone competent connects a cable to the BG, RICOKEY or Darbony twin. There is no lead in those cartons. The supply still needs 30 mA protection, and none of these boxes contains an RCD. It is the wrong buy if you expected to plug in the same afternoon.
Does screwing a plug-in box to the wall make it a new circuit?
Not on the sources used here. Plugging into an existing socket is not a new circuit. A new fixed circuit in England is still notifiable. A forum worry about the screws stays a forum view. Cutting the plug off to pass the flex through the wall is a different act, and it is not recommended.
What is the inline orange socket for?
It is the Masterplug rewireable connector, IP44, about £9.83, for a flex you wire yourself. One outlet, splash rather than jets. Use it to repair a lead. Do not mount it as the patio socket, and do not hose it.
What is the big Masterplug box for?
It is an IP54 enclosure, about 351 by 220 by 126.5 mm, with a 10 m four-gang lead, for a plug that is too tall for a twin lid. The bullets cite BS EN 62208:2011. Gasket and winter-lid complaints are in the reviews. It is not an IP66 double.
Do both outlets on a plug-in twin have their own 13 A?
No. They share the fuse in the one plug. Two switches isolate the faces. They do not add the currents. A mower and a pressure washer together overload that fuse. One tool at a time stays inside what the listing sold.
Which rows are messy examples?
Do not learn the types from Darbony’s 110 V field, Zenmos’s 3 A highlight, or Kukkasilta’s 10 m part number on a 15 m title. Use a no-lead file or a clear 3 m lead, then check the odd row against the product. The comparison holds the prices.

Related pages

How to fit an outdoor socket

Garden sockets

Best outdoor socket: BG Storm, and when to skip it

Outdoor socket buying guide: check the object first

Outdoor socket for a lawn mower, one tool at a time

Sources

Sources taken from the research digest. Listings were scored on 21 October 2026. This page did not run a lab test.

  1. IET Wiring Matters — 30 mA RCD for socket-outlets (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  2. Electrical Safety First — wiring regulations help (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  3. NICEIC — gardens and electrics (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  4. Approved Document P — electrical safety in dwellings (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  5. Northern Connectors — what IP44 means (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  6. Clarion — IP ratings, including IP66 (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  7. Electrical Safety First — extension leads and cable reels (retrieved 21.10.2026)
  8. NAPIT — burying cables and regulation 522.8.10 (retrieved 21.10.2026)