hairdryers in europe?
 

I know about electric adaptors...however, over here (in NY) i was only able to find adaptors that were good in England, Singapore, China and one or two other countries. Is it possible to get an adaptor that's good all over Europe? I was thinking about just buying a hairdryer when I get there..(call me high matience, but i'm picky about my hairdryers..)

Yes, just buy a hairdryer when you're there. It'll set you back about $20. Big deal.

Is your hairdryer 110/220? If not, take StCirq's advice.

If your hairdryer is 110/220, all you need is a simple two-prong, round plug adaptor. You can buy one at any luggage shop or radio shack. I can't imagine it costing you any more than a couple of dollars, if that.

We're not talking transformers now, just plug adaptors? Go to radio shack. ((b))

That two round prong adaptor that Budman mentions won't work "all over Europe" however. In the UK, you'll also need a large three angled prong adaptor.

I, like you am also picky about my hair and dryers. I bought an 1800 watt full size hairdryer when I was in Europe earlier last year - It cost me 25 Euro. I think it was worth the investment.

thanks everyone!

hey Beth--do you know what countries that would work in? i feel so clueless about this electricity stuff lol..my first mission in London will be do get a hairdryer!!!

Any hairdryer you buy in London will still require an adaptor plug to use it in any other country. It's up to you. You can go to any discount store in the US and buy a dual voltage one or wait till London and buy a 220volt one, but either way, you're still going to need adaptor plugs.

Your best bet is a dual voltage hair dryer with plug adaptors. If you don't know anything about electricity, ask someone who does to help you pick one out along with the plug in adaptors. ((b))

Hey MissZiegfeld,

I wouldn't recommend getting a hairdryer in England... they have a weird less adaptable prong. The hairdryers in continental Europe have the more common prong used in other countries. Plus, the Euro to dollar conversion in price is a bit less painful than the dollar to pound price conversion for something that has a prong that will only fit in an English socket. Unless you travel to England more than continental Europe.

I tried getting those convertible 110/220 volt conair dryers here and bringing them with me on vacation, but the amount of power you get out of those once you switch it to 220 volts, well, you might as well use the flobee looking one that is attached to the wall in the bathroom in the hotel because that will supply more power.

I have thick, curly hair which I like to blow out straight - I really think this stuff through!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Beth

Oh, you men. Don't listen to them, Miss Ziegfield!

The advantage of buying a higher powered hairdryer in London and then using appropriate adaptors is that it will work better in Europe on the higher voltage they have. You will be able to get one with two or three speeds. If you buy a dual voltage one in the US and set if for the higher voltage in Europe, you will only get one speed out of it. It will not work nearly as well. Trust me on this. I've done both. Now I keep a European one just for travel.

Buy one when you get to London, and it will likely even have the other European plug adaptors with it. If not, the same store will probably sell them.

Beth, I'm not sure what difference it makes. Mine is from England and has the big three prong plug on it, but it fits nicely into the two prong adaptor for the other countries. Why is that worse than one that has the two prong plug and then having a three prong adaptor for England?

But men, do you see? Beth and I agree that those US dual voltage ones don't work well in Europe!

Whenever I go to the Continent (I am English) I buy an adaptor to use in the two prong sockets they have in Europe. They are freely available here. If you go to Boots the Chemist (they have branches all over London), not only will they have a good selection of hair dryers, they also sell adaptors for use in continental Europe. I have never had a problem with these adaptors.

well, I have rather long, thick hair and I do not agree at all that a dual voltage dryer doesn't work well abroad. I take mine everywhere and it works perfectly fine abroad (and stronger than in US due to the voltage). Maybe you can only get one speed but it is high, not low. Mine is rather old so isn't even the current 1500/1800 travel standard and it is still very strong (and much stronger than those things on the wall in hotels).

I can't imagine why you couldn't find the simple two prong European continent adaptor in NY, that should be the most common one sold. YOu must have been in a store that was out-of-stock or something, I see them for sale everywhere (luggage stores, AAA travel stores, etc.)

I wouldn't buy one in Europe myself (well I haven't even though I go there every year) when you can get one in the US for about $10 on sale as a drug store or something. Also, then you will need to buy the special adaptor in England and that may not be easy to find (not sure, haven't looked). Maybe they have them at Boots easily as someone said, but sometimes those things are never in stock when you need them. You can get a nice travel-size one at Boots, but I think they are about 10-15 pounds, as I recall.

Well, either way you should be able to get by so do whichever appeals to you most, but US dual voltage hair dryers should be fine, in my experience.

Sorry to make a long thread even longer, but I live in Europe and have found that there is a great deal of inconsistency even within a country as to outlet configuration. In Italy for example, some newer hotels have US outlets, some older hotels have conventional 2-prong European ones, and some have an outlet configuration I have never seen before. Also, Switzerland has a totally different configuration (3 prongs almost in a straight line) than other continental European countries. There may be other unique configurations on there that I have not seen yet. My point is that one 2-prong adaptor is not going to work everywhere in continental Europe, and you need a 3-prong for the UK anyway.

My suggestion is to buy a couple of different types of adaptors depending on where in Europe you will be travelling.

There is a website called voltagevalet.com that in my experience is a fairly reliable source of information on the type of outlet configurations you re likely to find. Another helpful site is http://www.escapeartist.com/global/W...wer_Guide.html

As for buying a dryer in Europe, if you want to take the time out of your vacation to run to a drugstore and buy one, that is up to you. If you buy it in continental Europe, it is likely that there will be no directions in English, so bear this in mind. I have used dual voltage dryers for the last 10 years, some bought in the US and some here, and find that they work fine.