Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Hi everyone.
Grateful for any advice on what British appliances will be usable in the US, with or without adapters etc.
Moving to NYC soon and keen to know what’s worth shipping and what will be useless there.
Some items I’m happy to replace, but some are more expensive and/or personally valuable, including: lamps, sewing machine, Sonos speakers, Dyson fan.
Also have the usual kitchen appliances, printer, shredder, vacuum.
Thanks in advance!

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

I would (and did) replace them all. Anything that's got value you can always try and sell in the UK before you move.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Kitchen appliances collectively tend to be the most problematic, followed by "anything with a motor" because motors often seem to be adversely affected by the different mains frequency in the US.

The lamps will be, in theory at least, the easiest to convert to US spec, but that assumes you can find a new bulb holder for American light bulbs (most bulbs in the US use an Edison screw, not the bayonet style connection that is most common the UK), and then you'll need a new plug for the other end of the cable. Contrary to popular, but mistaken, belief, replacement plugs are widely available, in stores like Lowes and Home Depot, or electrical suppliers distributors).

In short, given the things you have listed, I would leave/ sell/ give away everything with the sole exception of any lamps that are important enough to you to take the time to convert.

Printers are so cheap here in the US, it's ridiculous.

As a separate point, if you dig into the small print, US home insurance usually prohibits use of transformers, as do rental contracts if the landlord is savvy enough to have thought about the implications of renting to new immigrants.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

I once saw some advice that if the item supplies heat/light or moves it won't work. We had to give away/sell our kitchen stuff, sewing machine, lamps etc - but did bring our brand new TV, laptops, monitors, speakers, games consoles as they can all run on the lower voltage here. We did get replacement power cables for most of them because using the adapters is just annoying and not great for electrical safety reasons over time.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Keep anything of personal value and sell the rest. They are more trouble than they are worth.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. Sounds like I’ll be busy selling / giving away stuff!
Hopefully we can get new power cables for the laptop and speakers. I don’t think I want to risk converting the lamps.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

I brought 2x TVs, laptop, x6 lamps, TV sound bar and anything that is charged by a simple DC transformer.

Check your voltage and frequency on the back of your TVs. All recent LGs run dual voltage.

Changing plugs in lamps is no more difficult than in the UK.

I was sad to leave my Denon amp and Nespresso machine though :-(

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Laptop and Sonos should be fine, small electronics are okay with a new cable 99% of the time.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Check your electronic devices such as laptops and game consoles as they may well be dual voltage so an adapter or new plug is all that is needed. I agree with the rest of the advice above

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Curious if anyone has tried taken a Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer bought in the UK to use in the US? Planning to sell but would prefer not to. TIA

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Hello, all - just joined so I could reply to this and hopefully help someone.

CAVEAT: FIRST AND FOREMOST, I AM NOT AN ELECTRICIAN! Whenever in doubt, consult a specialist - this is merely my anecdotal evidence from having moved from the US to the UK and then to Canada.

Some takeaways:
The main challenge between North American and UK/EU items are the Hertz and the Voltage differences. Without going into too much painful detail, NA has 120v and 60Hz and the UK/EU have 240v/50Hz.

• What does that mean? Hertz (very, very basically) will govern how fast things with motors complete a revolution in a given amount of time and some odd settings like clocks. Volts is the energy that the item requires to run.
• Plug adapters don't really change either Hertz or volts; they merely change the plug "shape" so that an electronic gadget can fit into a differently-shaped socket.
• Transformers are where the magic is at. They range in size and shape from "per unit" transformers that look like oversized plug adapters to full-blown black boxes, shoebox-sized (or larger) that change the volts to one that the appliances can handle
• Transformers seldom convert Hertz cycles - that's not to say that they don't exist, but they're very, very expensive (or, at least were when I looked 10-ish years ago.) Most of the time, I plugged US extension cords into a transformer for the volts conversion and plugged the transformer directly into the mains in the UK
• Some electronics have transformers built directly into them to be able to handle different volts and, sometimes, hertz. You can usually see it on the label where the plug joins the appliance or in the technical specifications of the appliance in question. Laptops tend to be the best ones as they have the little "power bricks" that do both hertz and volts conversions and only require either switching out the cable between the box and the plug or just a plug adapter (again, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check the labels. When in doubt, don't plug it in, or plug it in and be prepared to lose it. Or, even better, talk to an electrician.)
• Actual "real" computers (i.e. - not laptops) tended to be fine; there was usually a switch on the back of the power supply to flip the voltage and they almost all universally had built-in Hz transformers
• Lamps were dead easy; basically strip the light bulb housing from the wiring, install a new local one and install a new plug type (or use an adapter)
• Clocks aren't work taking, especially digital ones that plug directly into the wall; just sell/ditch them and buy new ones at the destination
• Televisions worked fine for me as (if memory serves) mines supported both Hz types and I just needed to plug it into the transformer (strange that it supported one, but not the other, but I digress.)

SOME items will work, even if they had motors. Our KitchenAid, for example, worked fine in the UK with a transformer. It was a bit odd in first "gear", but I really didn't notice a huge difference above that speed. I suspect the inverse would also work for the reason I mention above. It worked fine for the whole 4.5 years we lived there. Our espresso machine from the UK, however (A DeLonghi), would not work here no matter the transformer (I couldn't find a Hz one, so just didn't bother and bought a new machine.)

Hope this helps some people.

Cheers

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Certainly bring your Sonos, it only needs a new lead.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

I brought a lot of electrical appliance's and don't regret it I did it to save money given that I didn't get any reasonable offers when trying to sell, To name a few things I brought Henry and George vaccum cleaners, A/V receiver, subwoofer and still using it all till this day almost 7 years later.

Got the best transformer I could find and have had no problems.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Interesting - so the vacuum cleaner worked fine? (Was this NA -> UK or the inverse?)

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Appliances are really cheap in the US. Walmart, Target, TJ Maxx and Costco are places for these goods. For Electronics, Costco and Best Buy have really good deals from time to time, especially during the Superbowl, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Thank you so much, Chisel. I am not keen on using a transformer so I guess I need to sell my Kitchenaid Mixer and hopefully buy a new one.
Anything else electrical we'll be selling and buying once we've moved.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

If you have one, I'd give it a go - KitchenAids are notoriously expensive, no matter where you buy them and our US one worked fine in the UK above first gear with a transformer - just make sure to take a long extension cable (like one of those orange thick construction ones) and plug your standard US surge protector into it. If money isn't of a concern, then maybe best just get a new one, but my gut would be to try it.

That said, you know your needs way better than a forum of randos, so take with appropriate grain of salt haha

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

We brought over a number of UK-voltage items - since these were part of the household 'baggage'. The HiFi (Nad amp/deck/tuner) are run through a transformer - no problem. We also have a 240V supply (all/most US homes actually have 240V which is split into 2x120V) which we use for a UK kettle, (clothes) iron and toaster. (The 240V kettle is a godsend TBH!). To put things in perspective, our cooker top is a Schott Cermaic top - 240V - as is the oven, a Bosch (240V). The AC unit is a Worester-Bosch (240V)... . you get the picture!
Most electronic devices are now dual (multi) volatge anyway - we have a few 13-amp extension leads with US plugs which means we can just use the UK plugs on those devices.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Now that is interesting; I wasn't aware (Although am thoroughly not surprised) that mains are 2x120v here in North America (I probably should have been a sparky, haha). How would you "reintegrate" those two separate outlets into one that you could use with a lead? Did you hire someone to do or do it yourself or....?

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

First, the usual caveat and disclaimer - I'm not an electrician, etc ,etc, and the usual (extreme) caution needs to be taken... .
Yes, the power supply into US homes is (usually) 240V and is split at the main distribution board into 2x120V (the distribution board will have an 'A' and 'B' side: A-B is 240V, A-neutral/Earth and B-neutral/Earth is 120V). Things like your tumble dryer will be 240V - and have that large odd-shaped plug (and probably any electric cooker too). We had a few 240V cable runs put in, primarily for underfloor heating, and of course for larger appliances like the cooker, hob and AC unit. I would defer from offering advice that it can be done, but I have run 240V to a UK 13Amp socket for the kettle, toaster and iron - these are all resitive loads and should not be a problem.
(There will be those who will throw their hands up in horror though... but... US plugs don't have fuses... wiring cannot be over-rated... sockets/recepticals don't have switches... and other oddities)

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

"You" have run, or you had it run for you? :unsure: ...... I am intrigued what you did, if you did indeed do it yourself, despite being a self-disclosed non-electrician. As your description of US domestic power supplies is at very least economic with the truth, but I think betrays a significant lack of understanding of US electrical power wiring - so I sincerely hope that you did find an electrician to do the wiring work for you.

For anyone interested, the power supplied to a US home arrives at the breaker (fuse) box as two, out of phase, 120v supplies, which can then be used for certain types of appliance designed to run on 240v supplies in the US (or Canada). This "two 120v supplies" is maintained through the breaker box and all the way to each 240v appliance, such as a clothes dryer or electric stove (cooker), which is why electric stoves and (modern) clothes dryers have four pin plugs - there are the usual ground and neutral pins, but two live pins, each with 120v. The result of this is that you cannot just stick a US 240v plug onto a British device and run it off US 240v supply. I suspect that what has been done is that the neutral wire has been connected to one of the live supplies, which will give 240v across the two live pins, and this should work just fine given that many modern electrical devices, (TVs and hifi components, and computers, periferals, and gaming consoles etc.) use a live and neutral with no ground wire connection. This is comparable to the wiring on older US clothes dryers, which use three pins - two lives and a neutral, with no ground connection. .... I am not convinced that this is totally safe, but it is still common in the US and doesn't appear to be a major cause of concern, either through deaths or house fires. A few years ago new neighbor asked if I could help him by replacing a 4 pin dryer socket with an old-style three pin socket so that he could plug in his three pin dryer cord - I respectfully declined and countered with an offer to put a 4 pin cord on his dryer, which he accepted. He watched me with amazement as hooked up the live and netral wires, then connected the ground wire to the frame of his dryer using a self-tapping screw.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

things that run off step down transformers in the U.K, for example led lighting , small portable low voltage devices, if you like them, are worth bringing in my opinion. you can buy the US equivalent transformer over here pretty easily, and sometimes you cannot match the quality without paying $$$.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...846190ae08.jpg

I finally (after 4 years) got around to buying a 120-24VAC 60Hz transformer for a set of Konsts*** xmas LED lights which ran on 240-24vac 50Hz in the U.K.
reason: the set I had brought in U.S at Home D***** had failed on more than 1/2" of the led string , and they only got used over 2 xmas periods.

I thought I would gamble on +10HZ, the transformer was $19, I would rather buy a transformer than purchase another set of junk.
the lights powered up fine, lasted through the xmas period (5 weeks of timed use), I am sure they will be fine again next year.

not quite sure if its brighter, or faster cycling, either way, its not on fire :lol: (exterior lights) . There is a control PCB in between the PS and the Lights, that may help buffer any difference.

anything I can revive from the U.K house is a WIN for the morale :thumbsup:

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Sell all of your c#$p and buy stuff over here.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Is it still true that transformers invalidate home insurance?

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Have no Idea, since you 'know its true' go and check your information source :thumbup:

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

I think I will leave you to do it, in the hope you post something useful.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

wait.. you made a claim, so please substantiate , the floor is yours :thumbup:

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

It is common sense. Nice shades, good luck with your dice roll

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

My understanding of English grammar and syntax is that all PEP did was ask a question, and made no claim to have any current knowledge, which appears to be why he asked the question. :unsure:

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

'is it still true'

says that this person has known at some previous time that it was true.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Thank you! As well as awesome to speak again on here with yourself!

My grammar is on the most part awful, though! Let me reattempt...:

'This discussion has come up many times, I am sure it is a bad idea to use voltage transformers to power crap from the UK in the US. EDIT: Periodically, people state they have investigated and were told it invalidates their insurance'. I have no desire to be an insurance agent, the commenter can do his own research.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Correct, but that is not what he asked, and in any case it's no longer relevant, is it, or at least not unless you own a Delorean that can take you back in time?

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

thanks for your better attempted grammar. Nothing is going to happen to the string of lights or power supply an EE just verified that me, I was pretty sure anyway, thankyou for your concern. Product from the UK is proving to be better quality than the product I purchased, it probably had stricter standards to meet, I am not so sure I would have stereotyped UK products crap, that is a bit of a generalization.

You may be right about the potential insurance invalidity 'if you say so' and that stands, I'll err on the side of caution and heed your comments and do my own research, however its not going to stop me running a string of led lights outside which have been placed on a perfectly rated transformer. :thumbup:

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Do you honestly think my grammar comment was referring to my original post here? Reading between the lines, I think you struggle to accept criticism, likely get passed over for middle management jobs a lot, and now will try anything to defend powering tat from the UK using a bulky transformer.

I think I should be a shrink.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

if I did own one I could have rigged up the flux capacitor to run the lights :rofl:.
have actually sat in one at a local 'night at the museum , back to the future theme night' and they ooze 80's nostalgia, it was a lot of fun.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

what an amazingly constructive comment.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

The machine can be readily converted by replacement of the motor, control panel and power cord. A neighbor did this. The task is pretty straightforward but the three parts struck me as expensive.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Reminds me of an old UK comedy sketch...... A road sweeper loves his broom so much, it has lasted him 15 years. Only had to change the head and handle 12 times each... (I paraphrased, but close enough lol)

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Trigger, from Only Fools and Horses. Classic.

Re: Electricals - to ship or not to ship
 

Would a UK TV be able to tune to US broadcasted channels (or cable)?