If we’re gonna be bringing any electrical devices with, you on your travels then, this is a post for, you. I’m gonna talk about some of things that, you need to know if you’re planning on plugging anything into the walls in a foreign country first thing, you need to know is that electrical outlets around the world don’t all use the same plug shape there are over a dozen different plug shapes that, you can be plugging your electronics in various outlets around the world now the reason why there are so many different plugs around the world goes back to the 19th century when electricity first came in to households each manufacturer of those countries develop their own plugs. And sockets. And there wasn’t a need for a universal adapter because the only electronics people had were lights at the time.
TRAVELING WITH ELECTRICAL DEVICES WHAT, YOU NEED TO KNOW Photo Gallery
And they weren’t traveling with their lights. So that is why there are so many different plugs out there.
And the cost to just replace them all at this point is just too expensive now although there are so many different plug shapes you’re only really gonna be dealing with a few in most of your travels. So, you have your North American plug your Australia New Zealand parts of South America plug your Europe plug.
And your UK and. We’ll see your travels will involve one of those four plug shapes. And there are a bunch of different adapters that, you can use to kind of help fit your electronic device into the plugs of others.
So these are single adapters that take one plug style. And will convert it to another plug style there are single plug multi adapters. So one doctors that take multiple plug styles.
So this one will take your pin it will also take North American. And convert it to UK. So this will go a plug to either Australian or North American plugs in like that then there are your multi plug adapters that take a variety of plug inputs.
And can do a variety of outputs like. So so either in North American you’re an Australian your UK or your European. So those are mainly the ones that.
I travel with the multi adapters just because they’re way more versatile also this one has USB ports in it. So that means, you could be charging your newest speed of as well that’s a great way to kind of save on plug space because. I generally travel with a couple different adapters.
And then. I just rotate my electronics into the adapters. So having ones with USB spots on them are next level there’s also a grounded multi adapter that, you could get they allow, you to have that third prong there.
So again just kind of like push the button. And they slide out these are super super handy, you see. I have a few of them, this is another one that just kind of now all of these travel adapters allow, you to physically be able to plug your device into the wall however they do not change the voltage that’s coming from the wall.
And into your device. So that is the second thing that, you need to consider in the entire world there’s only two types of electricity coming from your standard household outlet 110 to 120 volts such as in North America. And 220 to 240 such as in Europe.
And in pretty much the rest of the world. So, it’s important to know what your device is designed for before, you plug into the wall. So how, you determine what voltage your device is designed for is that well it says it right on the device.
So look around the plug or wear your cords attached to the device for any numbers that are listed there now if there is a single number that means, it’s only designed for that specific voltage if there is a number followed by a slash. And then another number it means that it can be used for those two voltages, but, you need to generally switch it over if there is a number followed by a dash. And then another number that indicates a range of voltage that the device can be used for now let me show, you some examples of typical things that, you will be bringing with, you on your travels now most electronics that, you are going to bring with, you will have a voltage range and, you don’t need to worry about it, but, it’s always good to double check.
So let’s take a look at some of the common devices. And I’ll show, you where, you find the voltages, this is a MacBook Pro power pack. And if you look right here, you will see it shows input 100 to 240 volts.
So that means good to go anywhere in the world for that, this is a canon battery pack. So charging up my DSLR cameras. And right here it says input AC 100 to 240 volts, this is a standard iPhone charger that would plug into the wall.
And if you look on there it says input 100 to 240 volts. So again you’re good to go anywhere in the world another space-saving option for, you if you don’t want to be carrying a bunch of these things around for all the electronics is to get a multi USB adapter. So it has multiple different USB outputs and, you only need one input to the wall.
So, you only need one of these and, you can plug in a whole bunch of USB devices phones cameras tablets they all go through USB. So these are a great option for, you other electrical devices now, this is where, you got to be a bit more careful with your voltage levels because, this is how, you blow fuses. And destroy your devices.
So, this is a hairdryer it is a travel specific hairdryer. And if. I look right here it will show that.
I have two voltages. So 125. And 250.
So if. I am traveling in North America. I will have the switch flipped over to 125.
And if. I’m going to Europe. I will switch this over to 250 volts and.
So this will be compatible with me when I go on my travels but I do need to manually switch that over now this one is one of my hair straighteners.
I actually got this in Europe as, you can see it has a European plug but I could still use it here in North America because if. I look here it has the voltage range.
So, it’s 110 to 240 volts this one is good to go. So when it comes to hair products, you do need to be very careful with that because there are a lot of devices that don’t have the range at all. So this one is a hair curling one, but if.
I look here it only has 125 volts that means if. I wanted to use this in Europe. I would need to get a voltage converter or else this will completely fry out because it’ll have way too much voltage running through the device.
And all fried the device. So as, you can see each device has different voltage requirements. So make sure, you double check before, you go.
So, you don’t fry any sockets fry native devices start fires, it’s really not as complicated as it sounds. And once you’ve checked your device you’re pretty much good to go. And the third.
And last thing, you need to know is wattage which is how much total power the device is consuming. So, this is a mainly an issue when it comes to hair products. So hair dryers or other curlers or straighteners because they could sue a lot of power.
So this hair dryer is rated for 1875 watts. And this adapter is only rated for 750 watts. So if.
I plugged it in to the wall like that. I could melt this adapter this adapter can’t handle the amount of power that this hairdryer draws now this adapter is rated to three thousand two hundred. And fifty watts so.
I could plug my hairdryer into this adapter no problem side note if your device doesn’t show the wattage right on it. And shows the amps instead all, you need to do is multiply the volts by the amps. And you’ll get the wattage now.
I know, this is a lot of information, but it really isn’t as complicated as it sounds once you’ve gone through your electronic devices once you’ll know if, it’s good to go for the rest of your travels then, it’s just a matter of purchasing two different adapters or a multi adapter for the countries that you’re going to thank you so much for reading this post if you enjoyed it please give it a thumbs up. And let me know down below in the comments if there are any other topics of this sort that, you would like me to cover in a future post also don’t forget to comment if you aren’t already.
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