One evening last week, I had just about finished making dinner when Jim and the boys walked through the door. We were having Hawaiian Haystacks-a dish with rice being one of the main ingredients. After a few minutes Jim asked, "Where is the rice?"
My quick response, "Why, upstairs in our bedroom- of course."
Don't we always cook the rice in our bedroom? What a bizarre conversation, but it's true. This is my life- absolute craziness that is some day going to turn in to this fabulous worthwhile experience! Some things are just so inconvenient and hard to get used to over here- power being one of them. I'm starting to get it, but most days, I'm still not totally sure.
I didn't know any of this before finding out we were moving over here... The standard American voltage is 110 volts. In Germany {and probably a lot of the rest of the world}, it is 220 volts. You can buy items that are rated for 110 to 220, or dual voltage that can be used just fine here with the flip of a switch. Not only is the power different, the outlets are different as well, so if you do have something that is rated for 220 voltage, you have to use a converter in order to get it to fit in the socket.
The thing that is most irritating to me is all outlets do not have the holes going the same direction. Some are horizontal, others vertical- no obvious pattern that I've figured out yet. So, most of the time I have to have a light on to see in order to get it to fit in. Just irritating more than anything. I bought a hair dryer here that is dual so all I have to do is make sure the switch is pointed at the 220, then plug it in to the converter, and into the wall. Pretty easy {now}.
Not all electrical appliances or gadgets are rated for 220- this is where it gets a little tricky. If you plug something that is 110 {US} in to the wall through just a converter there is just too much power and you'll blow it up. I think Jim blew up five surge strip protectors trying to figure this out. Better than learning the hard way by ruining a tv or computer. It does make a pretty good pop when you do it- a little scary as it has tripped the breaker every time. Hopefully, we've figure it out and won't blow up anything else. I simply just don't plug anything in that I'm not sure of- yes, I'm a little scared still.
Transformers are what we have that allow us to use US voltage products here. The problem is they suck a lot of electricity {that is already expensive to start with} and they are hard on appliances. The base issued us two of them to use. We bought a third one from a guy moving- the one seen above in our room that we plug our DVD player into. The second one is upstairs in Ty's room for games. The third one is in our living room that we use for the DVD player downstairs. With only one downstairs, you can either watch tv or use it in the kitchen. This is how the rice cooker ended up in our bedroom.
Transformers are what we have that allow us to use US voltage products here. The problem is they suck a lot of electricity {that is already expensive to start with} and they are hard on appliances. The base issued us two of them to use. We bought a third one from a guy moving- the one seen above in our room that we plug our DVD player into. The second one is upstairs in Ty's room for games. The third one is in our living room that we use for the DVD player downstairs. With only one downstairs, you can either watch tv or use it in the kitchen. This is how the rice cooker ended up in our bedroom.
Transformers are always pulling electricity as long as they're plugged in to the wall. So, you're supposed to always unplug them when not using them. You're also supposed to unplug appliances from the transformer before they are disconnected from the wall plug or they can become damaged. On top of all of this- there are different sized transformers to use with different appliances. A 75-watt transformer is for small radios, sewing machines, etc.There are also 300 watts, 500 watts, 1000 watts, 1600 watts, 2000 watts and 3000 watts options.
This is the part I haven't figured out yet. A 500-watt transformer is supposed to be for hair dryers but also refrigerators. You would think there's a huge difference between those two appliances. Maybe they're talking about German refrigerators- that would make more sense.
1 comment:
When my parents moved to India, my mother found a place here in the US that sold small appliances that were made for other countries. They fit not only the outlets, but the voltages too. Have you thought about just purchasing a few new appliances that you use a lot? I think she bought a rice maker and bread maker and panini maker, hair dryer and stuff like that.
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