Electricals In America

MrsMcSteamy

Hi all,
Heading off to New York in the morning, so was just wondering if irish electricals primarily a hair straightener will work over there. I have a feeling that there is a difference in the watts/power between ireland and the usa that will make it obsolete so would like someone here to confirm this, save me bringing it and taking up space when it won't work. Thanks for all replies.

TheIrishGrover

MrsMcSteamy wrote: »

Hi all,
Heading off to New York in the morning, so was just wondering if irish electricals primarily a hair straightener will work over there. I have a feeling that there is a difference in the watts/power between ireland and the usa that will make it obsolete so would like someone here to confirm this, save me bringing it and taking up space when it won't work. Thanks for all replies.

US electricity operates at 100 volts and a frequency of 50 Hertz. Irish ecectricity operates at 220 volts and 60 hertz.

If you look at your electricals you are thinking of taking you should see a label stating what power it accepts. Nowadays most items that can be transported are dual voltage, meaning that they can be used in most places

You should see something like "Operating Range 110 ~ 240V 50~60 Hz"

If your device does say 110 ~ 240V then you should be fine to bring it. However you will need a plug adaptor. This fits over the prongs of your plug to fit the US sockets. Dunnes have them and you can find them in many places. They are cheap enough (You don't need to go for very expensive ones you find in the airport. Check out hardware in Dunnes with the suitcases etc)

MrsMcSteamy

Thanks for the reply, already have the adaptor from previous travels abroad. I shall check my appliance and hopefully it will work

juvenal

MrsMcSteamy wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, already have the adaptor from previous travels abroad. I shall check my appliance and hopefully it will work

It's more than likely that your hair straightener will not work, unless it's specifically designed to be a travel one.

It will plug in fine through a plug adaptor, and will even warm up, but nowhere near as hot as you'll need it. Untimately this may damage the unit, as the voltage it's getting is somewhere near 110V and it should be getting 220V or so.

Personal electronics such as laptop chargers/mp3 players/cameras/camcorders etc are nowadays designed to be mobile and their charging units are generally rated to accept 110V-220V, so all you need is a plug adaptor. On the other hand, things like hair dryers/straighteners etc aren't generally designed to travel (no idea why tbh), but they'll only be rated to one voltage.

So your Irish unit going to the US, will only warm up slightly with the lower voltage, but if you brought a US unit to Ireland and plugged it in, you'd probably hear a crack and perhaps a puff of smoke, as the straightener is expecting 110V and it gets 220V.

Hope this helps.

TheIrishGrover

juvenal wrote: »

It's more than likely that your hair straightener will not work, unless it's specifically designed to be a travel one.

It will plug in fine through a plug adaptor, and will even warm up, but nowhere near as hot as you'll need it. Untimately this may damage the unit, as the voltage it's getting is somewhere near 110V and it should be getting 220V or so.

Personal electronics such as laptop chargers/mp3 players/cameras/camcorders etc are nowadays designed to be mobile and their charging units are generally rated to accept 110V-220V, so all you need is a plug adaptor. On the other hand, things like hair dryers/straighteners etc aren't generally designed to travel (no idea why tbh), but they'll only be rated to one voltage.

So your Irish unit going to the US, will only warm up slightly with the lower voltage, but if you brought a US unit to Ireland and plugged it in, you'd probably hear a crack and perhaps a puff of smoke, as the straightener is expecting 110V and it gets 220V.

Hope this helps.

Actually, you're probably right about hairryers, straightners, kettles etc....... I would imagine it's the heating element in these devices.

Tabnabs

I have a transformer to run Irish bought gear in the US, buy a decent one and it will serve you well.

(check out http://www.threedoubleyou.com/convertpower.htm for example)

robinph

If the item has the dual voltages listed on it then there is no reason that it will not work exactly as intended over there as it has clearly then been designed for both markets.

The plug adapter that you may already have is probably the wrong type though if you've only been to Europe before. EU has two round pins, US etc has two flat parallel pins, Oz/ NZ has two flat pins set at an angle to each other.