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What transformer do I need? |
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If you have electrical equipment from the US or Japan and you are wanting to operate it in the UK or Europe you need to change the electrical current supplying your device.
The US operates an electrical system based on 120 volts (v) In Japan it is 100 volts. Europe and the UK operate on 230 volts and therefore appliances from the US and Japan cannot be run straight from the power out of the wall in Europe and the UK. A list of voltages in different countries.
This is where you need a transformer.
A transformer is plugged into the wall and your appliance is plugged into the transformer.
This transformer is used to change the size of the voltage. In the case of using Japanese or American appliances in the UK or Europe you need a stepdown transformer, this reduces the domestic voltage from your local wall socket to the 120v required for US appliances or 100v that Japanese appliances run on.
All you need to do now is ascertain how much power your appliance draws to operate.
As you might imagine an electric kettle is going to use more electricity in a minute than a string of Christmas tree lights.
The power consumption of an appliance is expressed in Watts (W) or Volt-ampere (VA). The more the energy required to run the appliance the higher the wattage (Watts) or VA. These terms are interchangeable, a wattage of 1500W is the same as 1500VA.
When purchasing stepdown transformer for appliances purchased in the US or Japan you need to look for the label or plate on the appliance or in the handbook of the device telling you the power consumption.
For example:
| | Portable Radio | 50va (50w) | | Large flat screen television | 400va (400w) | | Travel iron | 500va (400w) |
Some electrical equipment, for example laptop computers, will run from an adaptor, either on the power line or one that plugs directly into the wall. In this case you need to read the power consumption information from the adaptor that plugs into the appliance.
Our transformer selection guide is a guide to the va (watts) rating of common appliances. This is only a guide and it is advisable that you check the details of your appliances power consumption using the attached label or plate or manufactures users guide.
Having taken a note of the power input voltage (V) and the power consumption in va or watts (W) of your appliance you need to choose a transformer that best suits your needs.
If this is an American appliance and shows an input voltage of 120v you will go to our American 120v transformers page and in the description of the various transformers listed you will see figures followed by va.
This figure relates directly to the power consumption of your device. (Watts and VA are interchangeable)
It is best to choose a transformer which has a va (W) rating higher than your device. This way your device will never be starved of power when working hard.
For example:
My laptop from the US has a power input of 120v and the only figure (read from the power adaptor) that is followed by a 'w' or 'va' is 65 (65w)
Going to the American 120v transformer page, looking down the list I see the US0100 transformer.
The details show that this transformer is 100va (or 100w) and converts 230v to 120v and is thus a stepdown transformer.
Although my laptop is quoted as needing 65w (65va) to operate correctly, there is no 65w (65va) rated transformer in the American 120v range so I need to choose the next highest wattage (va) ie the US0100.
The process of choosing a transformer for Japanese appliances is identical as for equipment from the US, but you need to make your selection from the Japanese transformer range.
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