US Hair Appliances in Europe
 

My granddaughter will be going on a school art tour through Spain, France, and Italy next summer and she has asked me if her hair flat iron will work with a plug adaptor or if she will need to have a convertor too. On the inside of the iron, it says 120 - 240 V.

plug adapter only

My experience has been that it works but not very well. (Actually not at all, it was on but never got close to hot).

The currency converter only made it worse! And my US flat iron got fried...which is why I now have a French flat iron.

For electrics that don't pull too much power, the dual voltage items work fine with the plug adapter. I haven't seen anything that works well with currency converters, unfortuantely. And they are usually as expensive as just buying a European appliance.

But, for items requiring a lot of power (for me hair dryers and flat irons), they just don't work well at all. I have very thick hair though and it takes a lot to get it dry!

You may hear differently from others. My husband's dual voltage trimmer works fine with the plug adaptor, but doesn't pull any where near the power a flat iron does.

I would agree with a previous poster. Dual voltage appliance that have blowers and need power for heat usually don't work very well (power output is lower than stated). Appliances that don't need any power (pc, camera & phone chargers, etc) work fine. I would buy inexpensive appliance locally; chain stores like Carrefour (have them in all above mentioned countries) or other chain stores (Monoprix or Casino in France) should have something in 10 to 20 euro range.

I would buy the appliance once in Europe too. Just remind her to bring it home so she will have it for her next trip. I stupidly left mine in Italy last trip but thankfully they don't cost that much. Wishes that your granddaughter has a wonderful trip, judi.

It will "work" but it won't likely get as hot as it does at home . . . and even IF it does work, it will also possibly burnout, burn up, or blow the circuits in the hotel/hostel.

If she just <i>must</i> use a hair straightener and can't make do for the short time she is on tour, then she should buy one once she is in Europe.

Many hotels in europe are older and just don;t carry much power. So appliances that head - including hair dryers - just never get very hot. If the hotel has a sign near the outlet in the bathroom saying it is for shavers only - they are serious. Trying to use hair appliances can 1) fry the appliance or 2) blow the fuses in the hotel. To play safe it is better to buy a local one that pulls much less power - or get another hair do. (I don;t get hauling all this stuff around Europe - who wants to waste vacation time foofing with your hair. Let he just put it in a pony tail.)

In my experience with dual voltage heat appliances in Europe, you need to set them to a lower setting. If there are heat settings on her flat iron, she must select much lower than in the US or it will get too hot. Same thing for curling irons and hair dryers.

oh - to sort of clarify the seeming difference between my response and kybourbon's . . . too hot or not as hot?? We are both right in a way :)

Many dual voltage appliances have some sort of governor/regulator that prevents you from using the higher temps so it will run cooler than at home. If it doesn't have this -then yes it would run too hot and you need to use the lower settings.

Thanks!

BUY IT THERE..the simple answer and the needed intellectual challenge