I will be traveling to London in a few weeks and I am having trouble finding a voltage converter for my 1875 W hair dryer and 120V flat iron. I already have the adapter plugs I will need but every voltage converter I look at on Amazon either says do not use with your flat iron or vice versa your hair dryer. The reviews on Amazon are very conflicting. I know there has to be one out there that will allow me to do both with one device.
HELP !!!! my trip is in 2 weeks :)
Sara
My advice is to avoid playing with converters, especially for hair dryers and flat irons. If you're staying at a hotel, I would call/email and ask them to confirm that there will be hair dryers available. In my experience there almost always are, and if one isn't automatically available, very frequently the staff will find one for you (the receptionist at a very spartan guest house in London produced one in about seven minutes). As for the flat iron, I would just buy one once you're there. I know it's an extra, and temporary, expense, but it wouldn't cost that much more than the converter, would be guaranteed to work, and likely won't blow a fuse in your hotel (embarrassing...).
Caroline
there'a a good electrical safety reason they don't want you to use with a dryer or flat iron. Just buy appliances over there if your hotel doesn't provide.
Hotels are not going to provide a flat iron ( which is for straightening hair, not ironing clothes). I suggest you buy one there, or get a dual-voltage one.
We made the mistake of letting our daughter take hers along, with a voltage convertage that was rated sufficient for the wattage. It still burned out the hair straightener.
Temporary new hairstyle ?? Big hat ?? If you can't find the converter you want, don't let it ruin your trip.
Most/all hotels will have a hairdryer available in the room (although it may be lower power)
I was in England and Scotland for 6 weeks last summer. Every place I stayed, from the cheapest to the most expensive, had a hairdryer. So you don't need to take one.
Once in Europe people often find that they don't spend as much time with their hair (and makeup) as they think they will. But if you absolutely have to straighten your hair, follow the advice you've gotten so far and buy a British flat iron. Donate it to a charity shop when you leave, or bring it home with you to take back on your next trip to the UK.
P. S. I have never seen so many hair salons in my life as I saw in the UK. They're like Starbucks in the US. Step out of your comfort zone, throw caution to the wind and get your hair cut and styled while you're there!
I toyed with the idea of buying a converter for my trip, for the same items. In the end I skipped out and just bought an iron from Boots when I got there for £15, cheaper than a converter would have been :)
As the previous poster noted, to get a converter of sufficient wattage that properly converts the voltage (not only by clipping the peaks of the waves) will cost you much more than what a blow dryer and flat iron will over there. Add to that the converter would weigh in the range of 10 pounds, a big chunk of metal to carry around. Head out once there and do some shopping or figure out if you can do without.
Listen to Emma and go to Argos. It is a trip. We have nothing like it in the USA.
It's like an electronics fast food store. You order at the counter and they bring it out to you. No showroom.
The Sainsbury market I use just put a branch of Argos in the store.
Forget about getting a converter. I no longer even bring a hair dryer, all the hotel/B&B we've stayed at over the years have had the rooms equipped with one. I also purchased a flat iron in England from Boots on one of our trips, you'll find the same assortment that we have here in the States. They're not expensive and you know you won't have any problems.
I hope your adapters are to British Standard and not the low quality things so often sold outside the UK, including on Amazon. Especially if you were to be putting that kind of power through them & a converter. Otherwise it could be frying tonight.
Sainsburys now own Argos, hence the increasing links, including having the sales catalogues blocking up the entrance.
Sara,
I agree with the others. Don't bother with the hair dryer as most hotels provide dryers these days, either in the rooms or on request from the front desk. In addition to that, many of the high wattage Voltage Convertors use a solid-state conversion principle which produces a very rough sine wave and some appliances won't work well with that. The best Voltage Convertors use transformers, but those are inherently heavy so not as practical for travel with high wattage versions.
Regarding your flat iron / hair straightener, some manufacturers specifically prohibit the use of their products with Voltage Convertors. As I recall Chi is one of those manufacturers. It would be better to either buy a similar device in the U.K. as emma suggested or to just dispense with that for the trip.
Finally as Marco suggested, it would be prudent to use the correct U.K. Plug Adaptors. As I recall, this model meets all the requirements (it's fused and has the shutters over the hot terminals).......
https://www.amazon.com/Swiss-Gear-Grounded-Adaptor-Singapore/dp/B004MKMH5K
