Hi all,
Do voltage converters for hair appliances really work or would I be better off just buying dual voltage appliances?
Thanks!
Angela

NOt only do you need dual voltage, you need dual frequency. Make sure it sayd 50/60 Hz.

Even with correct voltage, an AC motor made for the US will spin too slowly in Europe and there's a risk of burning it up.

Barry,
I am a bit confused. Are you saying an appliance with dual voltage will still spin to slowly or are you talking about if I use an appliance with a converter?
Thanks for your help!
Angela

I am skeptical that the above comments are correct. I have a converter kit with a stepdown transformer and several plug adapters.

I have charged my electric razor on the 50 watt setting and the hair dryer, American standard, works fine on the higher setting.

A friend of mine took the same kit with her to Australia and ran her appliances just fine.

I have taken my little box of transformer and plugs to Europe every year since I started making annual trips in 1998 and have had no trouble with it.

I just got back a few days ago and I used my little rig in Switzerland and in the UK. Earlier it has worked in Austria, Finnland, Germany, and France.

If you go to Europe often, it might be just as easy to buy a small hairdryer that you know will work. Weight wise, they are about the same as what I carry because the transformer part of my kit is fairly heavy.

Expense wise, I don't think there is much difference either.

Angela,
What it needs to say is something like 120/240 VAC 50/60 Hz. I expect any appliance that provides dual voltage to be OK, otherwise, what's the point of providing the dual voltage?

What I was warning you about is if you use a 120VAC 60 HZ appliance, designed for the US, with a voltage converter, you could run in to problems.

My hair dryer and iron have built-in converters. You choose either 110 or 220. All I have to do is bring the adapter (cost me $4) for the plug and they work beautifully. I have never used the converters... my iron was essential in Italy. Some hotels don't supply them and they suggest you send clothes out for pressing which does not fit my easy going last minute style of dressing...

Oops. correction 120V and 240V

Those dual voltage hairdryers are available everywhere these days, including Walmart, for about $12 or so. I suggest you splurge for one, rather than mess around with a voltage converter. But don't forget a little adapter plug so it will fit into the outlet.

Buy a hair dryer at your destination. In Europe, a hair dryer costs less than an adapter (often only €10 or so), and it is guaranteed to work, whereas an adapter may or may not work with a U.S. hair dryer. At the end of the trip you can bring it home for future trips, or to give to someone else who is travelling to Europe. A hair dryer is a lot lighter than an adapter, too.

Forget converters: they can be dangerous, unreliable, cause electrical system blowouts (just ask me about the time we tripped the circuit breaker for an entire floor in a small Amsterdam hotel by using one), and they can be heavy.

Buy dual voltage appliances here or get a 220 one locally for use in Europe or use battery-powered smaller appliances such as an electric toothbrush.

And if there is an "el cheapo" in the family wagging his finger at you remind him how much he spent on the pickup "boy's toy" truck last year!

Enjoy your trip.

I agree with buying a hair dryer there. I took mine with converter and adaptor and it did not work properly. I also tried to use my staightening iron and it made such an awful noise, I was afraid to use it!

I think all of the observations and recommendations are somewhat skirting the issue. Certainly you can buy a European appliance in Europe, but if you already have a good appliance, I would doubt that a voltage converter would cost more than another appliance. You can buy a combination voltage converter and plug adapter, and contrary to other suggestions it is not big and heavy. I have one that I have used for years, and it measures about 3 inches long by 2 inches in the other 2 dimensions.

The thing you have to worry about more than 50 versus 60 Hz is the wattage handling capacity of your converter. You will always find a wattage rating on the converter, and it must be at least as high as the wattage consumption listed on your appliance.

As for hair dryers, they couldn't care less whether they get 50 Hz or 60 Hz frequency for their operation. Just make sure the wattage is adequate for the converter.

I have used a voltage converter for all kinds of appliances in Europe and have never had to worry about the 50 versus 60 Hz issue. Any modern appliance you buy in the U.S. will operate on 50 or 60 Hz power. Any battery charger you use for camera, VCR, or other batteries will not care about 50 versus 60 Hz.

In conclusion, you are safe with a converter that has the adequate wattage rating for the items you will use. Buy a converter that has built-in plug adapters if possible; if not, buy a separate plug adapter. It's not a big deal and it should not be a worry for you.

If the kit is well designed it is not going to blow plugs. Mine has made the circuit to several European countries.

Those dual voltage appliances are ok IF the plug fits the socket. There are different configurations around. Those in the UK are not like those in Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland. If you don't have an adapter plug the appliance is not of much use to you.

My kit has 4 plugs and I have yet to find a socket somewhere in the room that one of them would not fit. Just make sure the transformer part has more than one voltage setting.

Mine has 2 settings for 110 volt appliances - 50 watts and 1500 watts.
The higher setting is for hair dryers that draw a lot of current. That heat has to come from somewhere. I use the lower wattage setting for everything else that will run on that low amount of current.

We have not tried to take an iron, but most American irons run on 1,500 watts of power. So do most toaster ovens.
But I don't take one of those either.

Often hotels have multi volt outlets in the bathroom, but what I found in London was my plugs didn't fit. So I ended up using the regular wall socket to recharge my electric razor.

Fortunately, the hotel had a hairdryer in the bathroom, so that that problem became a non issue.

There is one funny story about that I can tell on myself. I was in the South Tyrol on the Italian side of the border.
The voltage there at the time was different. I plugged my transformer into the wall, plugged my electric razor into the transformer, and attacked a few day's growth of beard. The razor grabbed hold of my whiskers, froze up like a lawn mower in tall weeds to the extent that I had to take the blade head off of the razor to free my face.

Then I headed out to find a regular safety razor and some shaving cream. I managed to get rid of the beard with no loss of blood. Since then I have been very grateful for electric razors with battery packs.

I bought a cheap hair dryer for $12 and it has settings for both 120 and 240 works perfectly. All I needed was a plug adater and I have a kit..actually you can easily pick up plug adapters in Londonthat adapt US to UK plugs and then another adapter, they cost a couple of bucks each which converts UK to Europe if any of the plugs don't work.

My mobile phone charger is dual voltage so all I need are the plug adapters.

But I do need a voltage converter for my electric shaver as it is a royal pain to use the ones in the loo and in many places on the continent they don't provide 120 outlets.