Yes, you need a power adapter in England

Let’s talk electricity. It is something that we think we know, but then it turns out maybe we don’t know so much after all.

Here in the US the standard electricity in home use is 120v/60Hz. (Hz is the standard abbreviation for “Hertz,” which is a measure of frequency.) What that standard means is that the voltage varies between plus 120 volts and minus 120 volts 60 times each second. So, devices made for use in the US anticipate that voltage and frequency.

In the UK, the standards are 230v/50Hz. So, the voltage swings are greater (plus 230 Volts to minus 230 volts) and the frequency is lower, just 50 such variations per second.

Clearly the two are not the same.

So what? Can I use my US made stuff in UK? My computer, phone charger, clock, hair dryer, curling iron?

The answer is, “It depends.” On equipment manufactured for use the US there has to be a label on the equipment showing what the power requirements are for that device. For most electronics, it would look something like this:

Take a look at the line labeled “INPUT.” You can see that this adapter can accept input between 100-240V, 50/60Hz and requires 0.6A (A is the symbol for Ampere, the standard for amount of current.) So, this adapter works both in the US and UK.

Ok, so now go look at your electronics and you may be very surprised at how many of them have this same flexibility. I know that my laptop power supply, phone charger, tablet charger, portable external drive for the laptop all have that flexibility, so for that I’m good to go.

But there are some things that are NOT good for travel. In particular, devices which heat up (blow dryers, curling irons, stylers, etc) need to be carefully checked before just plugging them into the UK power. If you have a blow dryer, for example, that is only good for 120v and you connect it to the 230v of UK power, it will get VERY hot, but only for a VERY short time before it burns out. And there is an excellent chance of it actually catching fire. Marsha has replaced all of her US-only appliances with dual-voltage ones. Some of them are automatic in sensing the input, but some have knobs or dials to select the input current. We double-check them just before they go into the suitcase to verify that they are on the correct setting for the UK, then check them again before plugging them in just in case something was accidentally moved by some inspector.

OK, so we have devices with the right settings, so we are good to go, right? Not so fast. There is also the issue of plugs.

Take a look at this:

The plug on the right is a standard US three prong plug, the one on the left is a standard UK three prong plug. Clearly these two have some differences!  So how do we get a US plug into a UK socket? With an adapter. In fact, the device on the left in that picture is an adapter showing the plug side that goes into the UK socket. Here is a picture of a pair of adapters from the “US” side:

As you can see, now I can plug in a two-prong device into this adapter and we are in business. And for things with two prongs, that’s all you need. Marsha’s various styling appliances all have two prongs, so these adapters work well for her.

But in the picture of two plugs, there is a three prong US plug. How do we deal with that? By getting an appropriate adapter like this one.

In this universal adapter you can use either a two or three prong plug. What is not shown in the picture is that the UK side is the same three-prong plug to fit the standard UK socket.

OK, I’ve got the adapters and I’m ready to go. Everything is connected but nothing is working. What’s wrong?

Did you check the switch? What switch? The one beside the socket. In the UK, sockets are usually individually switched, with the switch directly beside the socket. The proper way to use the socket is to switch the power OFF, then plug in, then switch ON and use the power. Stopping is the reverse, switch the socket OFF, then unplug the cord.

Another thing. In hotels you may see a socket in the bathroom labelled 110v/60Hz and looking like a standard US socket. It may well also say “Shavers only.” Believe it. The power available at that socket is a courtesy to travelers, but the power is very limited. There is a very low value fuse in that socket that will definitely blow out if you try using a heating device. It’s for shavers only.

Finally, in older locations you may see a socket with just two round holes. They use a plug that looks like this:

That socket is an older one, ungrounded. It is similar to the older two-prong sockets in older US homes. While it is technically safe to use, be careful as the socket is 230v and is ungrounded. The picture shows an adapter that we carry as a “just in case” adapter.

Whew! This was a long post! Sorry about that!