Using electrical appliances brought from another country

[kenny1999]

I have a heater for my home bought from another country with a different plug, it's ok, it's easy to get an adapter to plug it in, which I often did, however, since it's a heater, I have a question, do I also need to put into consideration of the power ,watt and volt something?? or as long as the adapter fits then it's mind safe?

 

[Tom.G]

If it is just a resistance heater you can use it on any voltage at or below its design voltage. For instance here in the US the typical wall outlet has 120Volts. A 120V rated heater will work fine, whereas a 240V heater will have a quarter to half the heat output.

For heaters with a fan motor, the fan may or may not work on a lower voltage. If the fan does not work don't ignore it! Get a transformer, otherwise the motor will overheat and the heating element may also overheat.

For heaters with a an electronic control involved you will generally need a transformer.

If a transformer is needed, it is very likely cheaper to buy a new heater. Look around a bit for a decent price, there are MANY overpriced ones on the market.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[berkeman]

I have a heater for my home bought from another country with a different plug, it's ok, it's easy to get an adapter to plug it in, which I often did, however, since it's a heater, I have a question, do I also need to put into consideration of the power ,watt and volt something?? or as long as the adapter fits then it's mind safe?

Can you attach a picture of the label on the heater that shows the input voltage/current/power rating? What country did you purchase it in?

And what is the AC Mains voltage and frequency where you are now?

 

[sophiecentaur]

Basically, I would approach this problem very carefully and not rely on anything working correctly unless you have the full spec of the appliance and the mains supply in the new country. Operating a device at reduced volts can cause problems - there may be more than simple Power Dissipation involved.

 

[alan123hk]

I have a heater for my home bought from another country with a different plug, it's ok, it's easy to get an adapter to plug it in, which I often did, however, since it's a heater, I have a question, do I also need to put into consideration of the power ,watt and volt something?? or as long as the adapter fits then it's mind safe?

Please note that if the appliance have certain electronic controls, such as timers and intensity selection switches, these components may possibly malfunction or even be damaged if the main AC voltage is getting too low or too high.

I think that even when the appliance looks like a purely resistive load, we should be still very careful, sometimes things are easily overlooked, such as if there are protective components such as fuse, varistor, EMI filter and other safety mechanism inside? and are they still working properly?

Besides, the working resistance of electrical appliances may vary with the applied voltage, so the actual power usually has a complex relationship with the applied voltage. For example, at the same voltage, two 50W tungsten filament bulbs connected in series cannot replace a single 100W tungsten filament bulb to obtain the same brightness, because the relationship between the luminous flux generated by a tungsten filament bulb and the applied voltage or power is more complicated.

 

[zoki85]

I have a heater for my home bought from another country with a different plug, it's ok, it's easy to get an adapter to plug it in, which I often did, however, since it's a heater, I have a question, do I also need to put into consideration of the power ,watt and volt something?? or as long as the adapter fits then it's mind safe?

Read the specs of adapter and the heater first