Hey everyone, its going to be my first time in Netherlands. Not there yet..hehehe. BUt I'd like to know certain things before I come there. I have a few electronic items like my TV, radio, mixi, juicer etc being shipped to my residential apartment in Amsterdam. I just bought this expensive Canister Vacuum Cleaner. You can see the link. Can I use it in Netherlands? Would there be a problem in the volts? My wife is pregnant and she is so comfortable using that. Please give us a reply at the earliest coz Im travelling in 2 weeks time. I have to sell it if I shouldn't take it that's why.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
European electricity is quite different from Canadian electricity.
You don't say where your stuff is coming from, the only clue my Sherlock has is that there is a Canadian flag on the website you link for the vacuum.
If Sherlock is right and you are moving from Canada the vacuum will not be the only problem you will have. The TV, the radio, and the juicer likely won't work without plenty of work.
I don't know what a "mixi" is.
Canadian electricity comes out of the wall at 115 volts and 60 cycles (Hz). European voltage is twice that and at only 50 Hz.
A/c motors run at a speed determined by frequency; so a Canadian motor, even if you convert the voltage, will run slow, hot, and have a short life.
Devices which have clocks may use the frequency as a reference.
I don't know from your TV. North American analogue is NTSC, Dutch is PAL. Most European TV is now digital, and you still have the input voltage issue.
Check the printing on the plate on back o all devices, or on power blocks. Sometimes the writing (like on Apple devices is white print on a white background, or black on black so hard to see.
Anything which says only one voltage, like "115 VAC 60Hz" will need much more than adapter plug. All adapter plugs do is change the physical shape of the plug so that it can connect the wire to the wall. It does nothing to change the voltage or frequency.
Voltage can be changed using a large heavy transformer but nothing can be affordably done about the frequency.
The radio may or may not work depending on if it can set European frequency intervals. There will be a switch or a software setting if it can.
The juicer can be another problem. It is almost certainly like the vacuum only one voltage.
I know it is a bit late now but you need to prepare yourself for a few unpleasantnesses.
You can use transformers for the motor stuff, a pain in the neck but then you don't have to sell. Be aware that a transformer for a vacuum cleaner will weigh at least 8 kg.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
other considerations will be hair dryers, hair curlers, flat irons, clothes irons, light fixtures, video recorders (digital/tape/disk/hard drive), games consoles......
if it plugs in the wall you need to check it.
If you plug in a 110/115/120 VAC only something into a Dutch power point it will blow up nearly instantly with a great hail of sparks and smoke, and if you are particularly unlucky, fire. You will also probably knock out the electricity to the whole building (landlords love that), and maybe the neighborhood.
Check, check, check.
Posted by
Tucson
4183 posts
It sounds like all those items you list as "being shipped" to your apartment are already on their way there. If they are not dual voltage as I suspect, and if you want to keep them for when you come back to North America, I hope you have someplace to store them in your Amsterdam apartment. I certainly wouldn't try using any of them with a transformer. You can buy the same things over there at the right voltage and sell them or give them away when you go back to Canada.
That is definitely a very expensive vacuum. I think you are going to have to sell it. I saw nothing in the link about voltage, but beyond that, it is highly unlikely that you will find any expendables for it in Amsterdam. Your wife will not be comfortable with it if it doesn't work or is dangerous to operate.
Fortunately, when I moved to Germany in the 80's for a job with the US Army, the only appliance of any kind that I had was a hair dryer which I quickly replaced with a dual voltage one from the PX. There were a couple of transformers with attached space heaters in my apartment. Those had been provided by the Army and used by the former US tenants, but other than those I didn't use anything with transformers. I could barely move the things.
It sounds like you, like all of us these days, have way more electric/electronic stuff that is a regular part of your life. That appears to mean much more that won't work there and possibly much more to replace in Amsterdam.
Just curious, is your apartment in Amsterdam on the ground floor or does it have an elevator?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
The shipment would begin in two days. We are expecting to receive the goods 1 month after we settle there. I guess I better do a check on the voltage of all my electronics. Thank you so much guys!...God Bless You all.