joschwin

Will be traveling in Ireland soon Will I be able to use my hair straightener there. I do have an adapter. I have heard that they could not be used that it will get fried. Any thoughts?

Cjar

I will be in the same position in a few weeks except traveling to Italy. I read the same thing about fried appliances. I managed to find a dual voltage flat iron which I hope will be fine with just an adaptor. I believe that if your appliance is not dual voltage you need a converter as well as an adaptor ( they don't do the same thing.) One changes the voltage from standard u.s to european and the other merely makes it possible to plug your appliance into an outlet with a different configuration. This is my understanding. I hope that with the dual voltage I won't end up with a fried appliance and bad hair days. Hope this helps.

janisj

Assuming it is dual voltage it will 'work' - sort of. Most of the time it will be fine, but the odds are also pretty good that it will at some point overheat (melt even) or blow the circuits in the B&B or cottage.

So if it was me - I'd leave it home and buy an inexpensive one after you arrive.

Christina

The OP never said anything about a B&B or cottage. Of course you can't use one that isn't the right voltage, but if you have a dual voltage one, it should work. An adaptor doesn't do anything but change the shape of the prongs. I've had a dual voltage hair dryer in Ireland and never had any problem with it.

spaarne

<i>Hair Straightener
Posted by: joschwin on Sep 12, 13 at 11:16am
Will be traveling in Ireland soon Will I be able to use my hair straightener there. I do have an adapter. I have heard that they could not be used that it will get fried. Any thoughts?</i>

For intelligence on electricity in Europe see http://tinyurl.com/2y9zvv. Is your hair straightener a dual voltage unit?

nytraveler

Many older properties in europe do have have the correct wattage (?) for very high powered appliances - anything that throws off a lot of heat like a hair dryer, iron, etc. So, it may not work much (not really get hot) or it may blow the wiring. This will not happen in a newer property - but in anything from WWII or before - it may well blow all the circuits.

janisj

Christina -- >>The OP never said anything about a B&B or cottage. <<

My guess is that if the OP is going to Ireland at least SOME of their nights will be spent in B&Bs since 80% of accommodations in Ireland are B&Bs/guest houses. And until you have had a flat iron or hair dryer (yes dual voltage models) blow all the circuits in a place you have absolutely no idea.

I've had MANY dual voltage hair appliances (Dryers/flat and curling irons) over MANY years. Have traveled to the UK or Ireland more than 30 times and lived there for 5 years. <i> Most</i> of the time they worked. But 4 times - yes 4 times - they either blew all the circuits, melted, or overheated and burned up. I now ONLY use a UK-purcahsed flat iron and never bother w/ a hair dryer since most places provide them either in the room or at the front desk.

Believe me - it isn't pleasant explaining to a landlord why cooking breakfast was interrupted when all the power went out . . .

kybourbon

I've used dual voltage appliances in Europe for years and never blown any circuits. It may be you need to operate the appliance on low instead of high. The low settings produce high results (you might fry your hair if set too high). I don't use a flat iron, but have used curling irons and hairdryers. Dual voltage hair dryers usually have a switch you must turn manually before plugging in (120 to 240). Curling irons don't and switch automatically.

hetismij2

With Ireland's "soft" weather any hair straightening you did in the morning will probably be undone by lunchtime .

If your straightener is dual voltage (read the label on it - if it says 110-250v it's dual voltage) take it. If it isn't buy a cheapish one when you get there.

jamikins

My mom also gave up on the straightener...too humid to last more than 15 mins in the uk and Ireland!

janisj

There is the futility of it all

but >><i>It may be you need to operate the appliance on low instead of high. </i><<

Actually most dual voltage models <i>only</i> run at the lowest heat levels over there. I don't know the technical term but they have a sort of 'governor' built in that prevent using the higher settings. And I'm not saying they will<i>alway</i> fail. But maybe 4 or 5% of the time (IME - anecdotal only - could be more/less) . . . If it happens to you it will be once too many.

nytraveler

This is the reason that the "hair dyers" in many older hotels don;t acutally dry your hair. the electrical system will only allow them to operate on low - so they are just blowing the hair around - not actually drying it with heat. the reason so many older hotels want you to use THEIR hair dryers.

Ackislander

I sat in a friend's room in Paris as her dual voltage hair dryer, which had worked fine on several previous trips to Europe, blew all the fuses on her floor in the hotel when she tuned it on.

So it goes.

jaja

For my trip to Ireland with the grands, one of whom straightens her hair, I bought on Amazon.com a "European" flat iron for not much money.

I used to have a dual voltage hair dryer but it became useless when the little dial to change the voltage wouldn't move off of 110. It went in the trash and I went to a grocery store in New Ross and bought a cheap one that works beautifully. Many B&Bs now have hairdryers in the room or you can borrow one from the hostess, but there will be the odd one that doesn't have this benefit.

kybourbon

>>>With Ireland's "soft" weather any hair straightening you did in the morning will probably be undone by lunchtime<<<

LOL. I doubt the hair styling would last more than a few minutes.

>>>Actually most dual voltage models only run at the lowest heat levels over there. I don't know the technical term but they have a sort of 'governor' built in that prevent using the higher settings. <<<

Mine haven't been that way. Most curling irons have a range of settings (my current one starts at setting #2 and goes to setting #20 in increments of 2). If you select a higher setting, you can smell it getting too hot. You need to start at the lower settings (not all the way down to 2, but on the lower side) and see if that is hot enough.

You could buy some curl creme and go natural for vacation, but that usually involves going out with damp hair (something I don't like to do).

>>>Many B&Bs now have hairdryers in the room or you can borrow one from the hostess, but there will be the odd one that doesn't have this benefit.<<<

I have thick hair and many places that provide hairdryers simply don't put out enough air to dry my hair. I take a cheap Conair dual voltage hairdryer (1875 watt) that folds. It's my every day dryer at home too.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Conair-Fol...-Dryer/9906752

joschwin

Thanks for all the imput I will look for a dual voltage straightener...my other thought after reading this I was just curious as long as I have an adapter and am using it for chargings phones, kindle ext. it should be ok right?

raincitygirl

Yes your phone, Kindle, I-pad, camera charger etc will all be fine.
Enjoy your trip, I was in Ireland for a week at the end of June and loved it.