MULTI-VOLTAGE
APPLIANCES (100V – 240V, 50 – 60 Hz): The
electrical information on multi-voltage appliances will say (among
other things) “input 100 – 240V, 50 – 50 Hz”.
A multi-voltage appliance usually is usually “self-sensing”
(meaning it automatically switches the appliance depending on the
input voltage) and usually only requires plug adapters for each
country visited (be sure to verify this with the owner's manual or
with the manufacturer). The electrical information labels also
indicate the amps (A) or watts (w). The watts or amps information is
more important to you if the appliance is not multi-voltage or dual
voltage.
DUAL
VOLTAGE APPLIANCES (110/120V – 220/240V, 50 – 60 Hz):
A
dual voltage appliance is similar to multi-voltage in that both
usually only require plug adapters for each country visited. The dual
voltage appliance usually has an electrical information label that
refers to two voltage ranges, a high voltage range and a low voltage
range. This is often expressed on the label as “110/120V –
220/240V, 50 – 60 Hz” but it could be some variation of
this. They will also often show the amps (A) or watts (w) but again
this probably will only be important if the appliance is not dual or
multi-voltage. These dual voltage appliances often have small
switches for changing from a low voltage range to a high voltage
range and visa-versa but many of them are “self-sensing”.
Self-sensing means that they will electronically sense the input
voltage and adjust the appliance accordingly
ELECTRONIC
OR NON-ELECTRONIC APPLIANCES:
An
appliance can be considered an electronic appliance even if it only
has one electronic component such as some curling irons with an “auto
off” feature as an example. Determining if an appliance is
electronic or not can be difficult. If in doubt, contact the
manufacturer. If an appliance is electronic it will require an actual
transformer for voltage conversion instead of a simple solid state
voltage converter. That is why it is important to detemine whether or
not an appliance is electronic or not.
GROUNDED
OR UNGROUNDED APPLIANCES:
Appliances
that are considered to be grounded have three pin plugs while
ungrounded appliances have just two pin plugs.
If
an appliance contains any electronic components or is grounded (3 pin
plug) it will need a step down transformer in most foreign countries.
The transformer will converter the 220V, 230V, and 240V electricity
to 110V, 115V, or 120V. Most US appliances are designed to operate
comfortably with input voltages from 110V to 120V. The nominal
voltage in the US and Canada is actually 117 volts.
If an appliance is
non-electronic (even the “auto off” feature, such as
found on some curling irons and other appliances, is electronic) and
ungrounded
