scilly

I've never been really lucky taking small dual voltage appliances such as hair dryers, coffee grinders, etc back to the UK even for short visits.

I ended up buying a similar version in the UK, then putting it away when we got back here until the next visit.

I did the same with a hair dryer in Australia.

Both "foreign" ones are still in a cupboard somewhere in the house . I have brought them out occasionally when we've had visitors from those countries staying with us.

durham_lad

Exactly.

I had an old DVD player that was region free and I loved it so when we moved back I splashed out $50 on a voltage converter so I could use it in England. It worked but after a few weeks the DVD player finally broke. I bought a new region free player that works just great at a cost of £25.

BP_1990

Thanks for all your responses! It might just be easier to replace most of these things, even though the coffee grinder is kind of expensive. The only thing I know I can't get an exact version of is the light. Pulaski curious if lamps/lights typically work (if you replace the bulb) or those are also not worth risking.

Thanks again!

Pulaski

Lamps are an interesting and are commonly misunderstood in the context of moving from one country to another. A lamp comprises [1] some sort of phyical structure to hold the other elements, [2] a cable to connect [3] the plug to [4] the bulb holder, and lastly, [5] the bulb.

Therefore if the voltage is the same, the only thing you need to do is to swap the plug; if the voltage is different you would also need to buy a bulb designed for the voltage. Bulb fittings are sometimes different in different countries, so you may need to replace the bulb holder too (which might be difficult for an old and/or unusual lamp), for example bayonet fittings are more common in the UK and Edison screw fittings are more common in the US (though most Americans seem to consider the screw-in bulb to be ubiquitous and don't even know that it has a name! )

There is the likely theoretical risk that the insulation of the cable and the switch (if included) might not be rated for the higher voltage, but lamps draw little power and I don't think that insultation and a switch that are good enough for 120V are going to fail at 230V, so I wouldn't consider these things to be worthy of concern, unless the cable and switch are very old and deserving of replacement anyway.

TL;DNR version:

durham_lad

yes they do.

My son had an ornament cabinet he was very fond of. He brought it over and we replaced the bulbs with UK LED bulbs and changed the plug to a UK one. That was 3 years ago.

BP_1990

Thanks so much, Durham lad and Pulaski ! Very much appreciate your help with this!

Admiral Byng

Durham Lad, Thanks for responding to my question re insurance. Unfortunately, I can't remember on which thread I posted it! AB

spouse of scouse

Here you go Going back to the UK

Jerseygirl

try this...post #22

Going back to the UK

Rusty Chainsaw

As a rule, if an electrical appliance contains a motor, don't bother bringing it as, even with a stepdown transformer, the electrical frequency will be wrong and it'll run more slowly (50Hz vs 60Hz). This includes mixers, food processors, coffee grinders, hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, etc. They also draw a lot of current (especially food processors and hairdryers) so you'd be needing a big and expensive transformer. It'll be cheaper and easier just to replace them on the other end. Last time I looked, Currys was quite reasonably priced.

If you bring lights, be prepared to change the bulb fitting as well as the plug - all lights in the US use screw fittings, and it can be harder to find screw-fit bulbs in the UK, since most light fittings are of the bayonet type. They are available, but harder to find. Most Ikea lights use screw-fit bulbs though, so if you have a local Ikea in the UK, you might be able to get some bulbs there.

If you have a recent model Xbox (ie, an Xbox One X or S), they will work on 240V with no issues, all they need is a standard IEC C7 power lead with a UK plug, or just use an adapter. If you have an older one (360, original Xbox One) you'll need a replacement PSU, which you can get from Amazon for about £40.

scot47

Scrap the appliances and start again.