Hello.

I'd like to take my hairdryer and an iron with me on my trip to the Middle East and India. It doesn't have a switch on it as some appliances to do change from the American voltage to another. I was wondering if there is anything I can buy which will allow me to use my electronic appliances from the US in Asian countries, London, and Australia. I travel a lot to all of these countries and would like to invest in something hopefully not too heavy or bulky. Please advise.

Cheers,

gtrekker

Your best bet would beto go to a luggage/travel store and purchase dual-voltage appliances and a full set of electrical plugs.

If you are staying in first class hotels there should be no problem with borrowing an iron from housekeeping. The majority of hotels now have hair dryers in the room...saves from electrical damage. I just returned from China and the hotels we stayed in all hadhairdryersinthe room.

I agree with the above poster. You'll be better off to buy a dual voltage hair dryer - they have them at most big supermarkets/drug stores, and they're not much more expensive than the regular versions. I've had the same one for 4 years and it's seen me through over a dozen countries in Asia and Europe with no problems (I prefer it to the in-room dryers which never seem to offer very much power).

Like the Luv2fly, I borrow an iron from the front desk - never had a problem doing that, although I've never asked in beach locations.

Most places have an iron available if needed but getting someone to do it for you is cheap and easy. Yes you can find dual voltage adaptors quite esily from any luggage store type place, though items like hairdryers are 'so' cheap in those places you could almost buy a local obne and leave it, they could be cheaper than buying an adaptor!

Hello.

This may sound like a silly question but....

is a dual voltage adaptor something that you can use with any US appliance? What is it exactly? For example, I have my own hairdryer and other things I'd like to take on travel trips but they don't have a switch on it to change from US to other voltages. Can a dual voltage adaptor be used with these?

Cheers!

The difference between an "adaptor" and "voltage" is a frequently misunderstood topic on this site.

People often confuse a converter with an adaptor. A converter converts the voltage, and an adaptor adapts the plug shape. Converters are generally heavy (more than 5 lbs) and expensive and don?t work well, especially on high-power items like hairdryers and irons. If you use a hairdryer or iron with a converter, you may find that the appliance does not get hot enough to do the job.

I don't think will find anything called a dual voltage adaptor. What you might find is a converter; however IMO this is not something you should buy.

As noted above, the best thing to do is buy a dual voltage hair dryer and then some adaptor plugs which will fit the electrical sockets of the countries you are visiting.

Dual voltage dyers are available all over the US, and do not cost more than regular one voltage dryers, in my experience. Many hairdryers sold in the US are dual-voltage. Check you local drugstore or electronics store to see what they have in stock or can order for you. Conair and Remington make dual voltage dryers. Linens n' Things has dual-voltage hairdryers advertised. You can also buy them on-line, check out drugstore.com., or run a search on your browser for "dual voltage hair dryer" Look on the box or the product description, it should say "dual voltage" or "110/220v". It also could say 220-240/110-120 or variations on that arrangement. Any of these words indicates that the dryer will work in the US and abroad.

If you wanted to bring a dual voltage travelling iron (assuming you could find one that was not very expensive) you could bring that as well. .) I just looked on the web, and Sunbeam makes a dual voltage travel iron that weights ? and cots $26.. That might be what you want, take a look at http://www.1-800-sunbeam.com/3939_iron.html. Also try http://www.letravelstore.com/appliances.htm However, you will usually find an iron either in your room or available from housekeeping. Some hotels will take the item and have it pressed, this may cost a bit but is much better, IMO, than lugging an iron around (or worse, lugging a US iron and a converter which would be heavy and would not work very well

As for adaptor plugs, different countries have different electrical socket configurations, i.e. UK has 3 pins in a triangle, Switzerland has three pins in almost a straight line. It is most likely that you will need to have a few different adaptor plugs with you. These are small and light and easy to travel with. You can usually buy a set of travel adaptors in a bag at luggage shops, or you can buy them on-line. Useful websites for plug configuration info are http://www.voltagevalet.com/country.html or traveloasis.com/elad.html

Pause and consider whether you really need to carry your own hairdryer and iron around the world. When I first started doing much international travel many years ago, I took my dual voltage folding hairdryer along. After several trips, I realized that I had never used it, and I removed it from my luggage (which gave me more space for bringing home my purchases).

As long as you are staying at nice places, you'll always have a hairdryer and iron available to you (call the front desk or housekeeping if you don't see one in your room).