American voltage

[squeb]

hello, i am going to america for a year and i dont know if i will be able to take my various chargers and electrical things. can anyone shed some light on the subject ?

[sifellis]

They'll work fine, just make sure you remember your adaptor. you can get 'em from any electrical store or odd's and ends shops.

[dzug]

The US uses 120V.
Most chargers are dual voltage - check that yours are. Other appliances will probably work but not necessarily very efficiently. For example a kettle will take twice as long to boil.

[buildersmate]

Things that get hot like kettles, irons and hair-dryers - as per Dzug's comments. Things that have motors in them will probably just about turn around slowly. Things like audio-visual equipment powered off the mains probably won't work at all. You can get an inverter for US use that will drive about 60W.

[squeb]

so will my laptop work ? and my striaghteners ? those are the 2 things im most worried about !

[dzug]

You'll need to look at the power supply for your laptop - if it's marked 120/240 volts, then it's OK. If it's 240 (or 220)only, then it won't work.

Straighteners are more difficult - they may not heat up enough to work or they may be OK. You can't tell without trying.

[lady_p_gold]

er .. not everything works fine, as pointed out some things run slow especially epilators !!!!