Electricity compatibility

[Kitty]

If you buy something electrical in France and use it in the UK and vice versa, is it OK?  I've looked for a thread to answer this question but can't find one.

I've tended to buy electrical things in France for my French house as I've been worried about this.  For some small powered things e.g. CD player, I've brought them over from the UK and used a plug converter.  But then a couple of things keep blowing fuses e.g. a slow cooker and a kettle, so I started to get nervous and now almost always buy my electrical things in France.

I now want to buy a particular type of hoover for my French house but can't find one in the French supermarkets.  I could bring one over from the UK but would it be safe?

 

[cooperlola]

I have never had any problems with UK stuff, but I certainly wouldn't double up anything like, say, a Dyson upright - which is very powerful - with any other piece of equipment, just for safety's sake.  The plug converters are fine, but if your bit of kit is exclusively for use in another country, I would change the plug.  The slow cooker surprises me as it's very low-powered, I can't imagine why that would blow a fuse unless it's the wrong fuse?

[Clair]

I am surprised too at the slow cooker problem.

I am using a Magimix, a kettle, an electric oven, a Dyson, a microwave, a tumble dryer... all sorts of UK bought electricals without any problems. In all cases, we have replaced the UK plug for a French one.

Could it be that using a converter is cauing a problem?

Or could you be using too many items at once for your EDF rating? If that's the case, the lower-rated item would go off first.

[Kitty]

Good advice one and all.  I had not thought of changing the plugs (I've been using converters).  I'll also look at what my EDF rating is (I have no idea and I realise that I could save money if I had a lower one).

So are we saying that the electricity current is exactly the same in both countries?  I feel so helpless about this - I dropped physics when I was 14.  And can I still bring a UK hoover over?

[Clair]

[quote user="Cathy"]

can I still bring a UK hoover over?

[/quote]

I did. It never even occured to me to check compatibility [:D]

[Chancer]

The voltage is the same (or within the same tolerance) the current drawn is dependant on the power of the appliance being used.

Generally the supply current (to the house) is lower than in the UK but it depends on how much abonnement (monthly charge) you pay.

I doubt that your slow cooker is blowing a fuse unless it has a short circuit, do you mean that it blows the disjoncteur differential (RCD) module either at the left hand end of the row of fuses on a modern installation or the main incoming one? If so it has an earth leakage fault and you should stop using it even in the UK where you either dont have RCD protection or it is not as sensitive.

I hope that this answers your question.

[Kitty]

[quote user="J.R."]

The voltage is the same (or within the same tolerance) the current drawn is dependant on the power of the appliance being used.[/quote]

What does this mean in practice, J.R.?  Does it mean that it is better to have French appliances for the more powerful things?

The kettle used to blow the switch on the board, so it could have been my EDF rating.  Then it gave up the ghost after a week (it was old).  The trouble is that kettles are hard to find here, as you know, but I now have a French one.

As for the slow cooker, when I plug it in, it crackles until I have fiddled with the plug converter.  So perhaps there is a leak?

[cooperlola]

Your slow cooker sounds seriously dodgy - especially in the plug department!  I would change its plug to a French one before using it again.

UK operates on 230v and France on 220.  Such a small margin, you really should not have to buy French kit!

[Kitty]

Thanks, Coops. It's great to know that.

[powerdesal]

UK and French (and German and Belgian and and and) electrical kit are all totally compliant with each other. Dont use adaptors, change the plugs to suit the country. If a piece of kit is faulty its faulty no matter where in Europe you are using it.

Get a test plug unit, some areas in rural France may have a "reversal" of connections, including the earth. This point is / was found on various campsite supplies. It is unlikely on more modern wired systems.

[Anton Redman]

If you have a tableau d electricite with fuses rather than interupteurs differentiel I would seriously thing about having it replaced. Broadly if you are lucky fuses cut the power before the wiring burns out. Interupteurs differentiel are like having every socket protected by a UK RCB. 

 

[Jonzjob]

If you have a bit of kit that you are going to use in both countries then you can make up and adaptor by getting a french 3 pin plug a short length of 3 core cable and a U.K. 3 pin socket. If you can't wire them together then get someone to do it for you. It will give you a reliable and safe convertor. You can use them for the things that have the bulky plug/transformers. The sort of thing you find on some phones, cordless headphones, MP3 chargers, etc.

Steve, you will find that even in the newer houses the line and neutral can be reversed and the colours of the wiring have to be seen to be believed!! One of our sockets has line = purple, neutral = purple and earth = blue!!! Our house is 25 years old and was built by a master mason!!!