Gill Stevens

We have posted a thread before about taking out white goods to Spain. People were kind enough to answer about the plug situation but what about the power? The goods we have are not very old and were quite expensive so we would rather take them than have the basic ones that the builders are supplying us with. We understand about either using an adaptor or changing the plug, but what about the different current. We have spoken to Bosch who say that they will work as long as the current is no lower than 220 but I understand in Spain that the power does tend to be a bit erratic and it is possible that it will drop below 220. Bosch then cannot guarantee the white goods will work. Presumably with a freezer the food could thaw a little and there would not be enough power to run the washing machine, dishwasher etc.

Anyone have any answers. Has anyone taken their white goods and they have worked OK?

jaldridge

White goods work fine, that's our experience. Electricity is a bit erratic here but we have not have any problems using any UK white goods in Spain. Any electrical items should work fine (although TVs are not fully compatible with Spanish systems but there are ways around that).

Gill Stevens

Thanks for your reply. Do we need to change the plugs though or use an adaptor?

We were going to purchase a Plasma tv here and take it to Spain. We thought they would be ok as long as we don't want Spanish t.v. which judging from the comments on the various forums, we won't?

We will only be watching through SKY box.

jaldridge

You can just use adaptors, they work fine.

A UK TV through a SKY box in Spain works fine. If however you are just using a standard arial instead then you wont get any sound (but there is a way around this).

svenskidoo

I'd check with a removal company as a lot of these new flat screen thingies require special packing and shipping procedures. Wierd I know but when we moved we were grilled on whether or not we had any flat screen tvs or monitors.

My monitor is powered by a little grey mouse who lives in the back , so I didn't have any problem there.

We don't have any issues with stuff really - the electric kettle takes an extra minute or two!!

steve in pago

plasma screens need to be upright at all times, why buy an adaptor just cut the plug off,we bought over all new white goods & have had no problems at all so do it, i feel that some white goods are more expensive than back in UK so shop around get a bargain at home & bring it over. Quick one plasma's in Spain are very expensive in comparison to UK & American style fridges seem alot dearer.

countryboy

Hi
Having been a Domestic Appliance Engineer for over 20 years in the UK and I have been living here in Spain now for a little over two and a half years I would recomend that you buy your TV here in Spain as they are a bit cheper and will be covered by your guarentee, (some TV's will have three years Gt on them) as for white goods Washing machines, Dish washers, etc you may well experance problems, and if they are still under Guarentee it would cause you problems getting cover here as the good were bought in the UK.

"jaldridge White goods work fine, that's our experience. Electricity is a bit erratic here but we have not have any problems using any UK white goods in Spain. Any electrical items should work fine (although TVs are not fully compatible with Spanish systems but there are ways around that). ""

This poster has been lucky and I hope his luck lasts

The power is erratic and cause problems with the small circut boards, and programming circuts, the power can be as much as +10 and -10 percent and this can cause you problems, there are many stores who sell white goods here in Spain some are much cheper than in the UK.

I do hope this has not put you off

Gill Stevens

Thanks for your reply. We are being offered a furniture package from the builders which includes white goods but we have expensive Bosch 6' frost-free freezer and fridge here which are not that old (didn't know we would be going to Spain when we bought them). Also our washing machine and dishwasher are good makes not that old. We can either get a discount from the builder if we don't have their white goods which will, no doubt, be basic stuff. We can pay to upgrade to better white goods but why should we when we have them here?

Also our white goods are out of guarantee now so that is not an issue.

We don't know what to do now as we are going over in August to either upgrade at the suppliers or tell them we don't want the white goods and get a discount. Should we risk taking our stuff? (If we do have problems we will have to buy new in Spain). Obviously by then all our frozen food may have perished!!

I agree with you about buying the plasma tv here and it going wrong, but we were looking at a Pioneer High Definition tv ready for when they start to broadcast on Sky in High Definition in Jan 2006 and their warranties are international according to Currys!!

Hope to hear back from you.

coralsoft

At the time of moving, we were keeping our house in London, so didn't bring white goods, though all our other electrical equipment has been fine.

One thing to watch out for, though, regarding the supply side, is the rated current you can take out. Certainly where we are (Madrid), the supply company has different tariffs depending upon how much electricity you use and the boundary limits are hard-wired into the sealed part of the consumer unit (the bit with the fuses/circuit-breakers). I suspect that many people try to stick to the lower bands, because we've had problems in a couple of houses. Being a large family, it's not at all unusual for us to have washing machine, tumble dryer, oven, hob and microwave all going at the same time as lights, hi-fi, TV and fridge/freezers (we have 3!!). Many's the time we've had to switch things off and reset the switches.

It took us ages to arrange to get the limits upped, so you might like to check before you go out, if you think you'll be running a lot of equipment at the same time.

EsuriJohn

Hi Gill,

Been watching this thread develop and the last post prompts me to go back 45 years to my 'O' level physics to answer your question.

Power (Watts) = Potential (Volts) x Current (Amps)

There is a euro standard for domestic voltage. It has to be between about 210v and 250v. All UK white goods are rated 220v - 240v so should transfer to Spain OK. If your appliance is a heavy user of power (watts) then the current required will be greater, more current (amps).

In the kitchen fridge freezers use low power if they are 'A' rated, Bosch probably are. Washing machines, tumble dryers and cookers are high power users so take more current (amps). This has two impacts if they are all on at the same time on the same circuit.
1. The wiring will have used a cable sized in accordance with the regulations in force when the property was built. If it is recently built your house should be ok.
2. The electric company has to supply the power from a generator some miles away and therefore starts its transmission with a high potential (volts) and steps it down on the way to you. If too many properties want to draw high power at the same time it causes "Brownouts", remember the bad old days. So the companies try to limit this in Spain by charging more for heavy power users.

To summarise, if your white goods are of good manufacture, to euro standards they should be fine. You must fit new plugs it is dangerous to use and overload adaptors.

TV, HI-FI and computers are different they have all sorts of delicate circuit boards inside which can be affected by power fluctuations, but I doubt those sold in Spain from the likes of Grundig or Sony will be different to their UK equivalent. From bitter experience with a lighting strike I now protect all mine with "Surge Protector " sockets on a trailing lead. I think it would be a good idea to use them for expensive kit. You can even get power smoothing protectors for mega expensive or critical items such as big plasma screens or computers with critical data.

Sorry to be a bore, regards

John.

rogerb

Just be careful when plugging-in that you get the correct polarity, ie the 2-pin plug is in the right way around.

I was told by an electrician that the reason my v expensive hifi amplifier blew a fuse was probably because of this. I thought that with alternating current it wouldn't matter but I am no hifi/electrical expert

He checked, I reversed the plug and got fuse changed (necessitated sending amp back to UK!!!), but I have had no more problems on that score.

BTW I have & had surge protectors.

Moral is: buy Spanish, they are made for Spain, and can be repaired more easily here