Converting, transforming and adapting in France…electrically speaking
February 22nd, 2007One of the big questions we had before moving to France was what we were going to do with all of our electrical and electronic appliances and things. My company paid for all of our moving expenses so we could take eveything with us, but would we be able to use them.
The two main differences between the US and France is the form of the plug and the type of electrical current. The plug in France is a standard form that is used across western Europe (except for UK,Switzerland and Italy). It is actually much more sturdy than the US design that often gets bent.
The electrical current in France is 220v/50hz vs the 110v/60hz that is used in the US. If you plug in an appliance that is built for 110v into a 220v socket you will likely hear a little pop, maybe a fizz fizz and probably smell a little sulfur smell. (Don’t ask why I know this…)
So, for anything you bring from the US that needs to plug in, you will need one of the following:
* Adapter
* Converter
* Transformer
Adapter
All an adapter does is let one form of plug be used in a socket for another form of plug. Adapters are usually small and lightweight but they DO NOT convert the electrical current. So, you will normally need a converter or transformer instead of or in addition to the adapter.
The exception is for any device that has a variable power supply. This is usually the case for a la^top computer for example. If you have a laptop and look on the power supply you will probably see something like:
* INPUT: 100-240v, 50-60hz.
This means that the power supply can be plugged into any power source with voltage between 100 and 240 volts with a frequency between 50 and 60 hertz. In this case, you only need an adapter to allow it to plug into a socket in France.
Converter
Converters convert the electrical current for electrical appliances with electric motors or heating devices (irons, hair dryers, fans, coffee machines, etc.). They are fairly small but shouldn’t be used for more than a few hours.
Transformer
Transformers convert the electrical current for electronic devices (computers, printers, radios, etc.) You can buy transformers of different sizes that are sized by wattage (100w, 300w, 500w). The more wattage they support the bigger and heavier they usually are.
We have had limited luck with converters. We bought a couple and used them for our pancake grill and vacuum cleaner. They seemed to work ok starting off but they would heat up very quickly and seemed to convert poorly as they got hot (the grill wasn’t very hot for the last few pancakes!). We think also that as one converter quit working so well we kind of fried our vacuum cleaner. We ended up buying new vacuum cleaner and pancake grill in France (of course the pancake grill is a crêpe grill here). So we don’t use any converters anymore, just our transformers.
We bought 3 transformers online before moving to France and we are still using all three. We plug them into the socket in a room and then plug in a US power strip to have extra plugs. We did find that sensitive surge protectors do not work so well because they will often trigger their protection and turn off because the current is not exactly like a US plug. SO it works best to have cheap power strips without protection. We have been using the transformers for radios, computer equipment, TV, DVD players, etc. for over 5 years without any major problems. The only thing you need to know is that the transformers do no convert the frquency, only the voltage. So 220v/50hz becomes 110v/50hz (not 110v/60hz). In most cases, this isn’t a problem. But certain things like digital clocks depend on the frequency to determine the time. So, we tried a digital clck and it worked, except that the time was off by about 10 minutes per hour! Oops.