Voltage Converters & Transformers

Operating your appliances in a new location or in a new country can be a major hassle. You might find that the voltage available in the country is higher than what your appliance uses. But by this time, you appliance might have already burnt up and hence it might just be a little too late.

Hence, it is better to take a few precautions than sparing money from your budget to meet the repair expenses of the appliances or in some cases, getting new ones completely. This care might also be required while you travel from one region to another in the same country because the power supplied in that region might have completely different voltage or frequency. In other cases, the plug outlets used in that region or country can be different from the plug of the power cord of your appliance. In that case, you need plug adapters to connect the plug of your appliances' power cord with the plug outlet there.

Now we shall see the importance of Voltage Converters in helping our appliances function properly and preventing damage to our appliances.

Power supply in all the countries of the world is supplied at voltages of 110v to120V or 220-240V. The appliances manufactured in a certain country are built to function at voltage at which power is supplied in that country.

For instance, in Belgium, the power is supplied at 230V and 50Hz. Hence, any appliance built in that country can function without problems at that specific voltage. When you take these appliances out of the country to another country where the voltage is lower or higher, then there might be a problem. This is where Voltage converters or transformers are useful.

Voltage converters are available to convert voltages between 110-240V and supply the suitable voltage to the electrical appliance.

If an appliance operates at a higher voltage than that supplied in the country, then there are STEP-UP transformers to increase the voltage to the required level. These converters are available in 110-220, 110-240, 120-220 or 120-240V ranges. On the other hand, if the appliance functions at a voltage lower than that supplied in a country, there are STEP DOWN transformers to lower the voltage to the desired level. These bring down the high voltage of 220-240V to the desired level. This raising or lowering of the voltage is what provides security to our electrical appliances. These converters are grounded and with build-in fuses, which cuts off the power supply to the appliances during excessive voltage fluctuations and provides safety against electrical shock and damage.

The choice of the voltage converter depends upon the Wattage at which your electrical appliance functions. If the wattage of your appliance is 600W, then you must choose a converter or transformer that has wattage of more than 600W and increases/decreases the voltage as required.

Some electrical appliances might require some additional power at the time of starting. To accommodate for this excess requirement during certain times, the converter used should be able to supply at least 20% more power than that normally required by the electrical appliances.