kathp

Hi,

I wondered if anyone on here could advise me on whether I should take over my electrical goods to the U.S.

I'm due to move next year and my company will pay for the relocation of my belongings so I'm wondered whether to take the big electrical or not? By big electrical i mean the expensive stuff like white goods (tumble dryer, washing machine, TV's etc). I know the plugs are different but not sure how easy it is to permanently turn a UK plug in to a U.S one (i wouldn't want to use a make shift adapter for a washing machine which could be potentially dangerous)? Also due to voltage differences not sure if it would be safe to take U.K goods either.

Any advice would be brilliant! If i can save having to buy these items again by shipping over that would be great... providing it is easy to change the plugs and safe!!

Many thanks

Suri

sir_eccles

No. Sell them, buy new ones in the US.

Hellopaul

...but prepare to be disappointed by the high prices, low quality and antique design of the white goods over here. They still sell those top-loader washing machines like your grandma had!

Bob

White goods are the worst thing to bring over...and just like in the UK, you buy bottom end of the scale, you'll get shit stuff. Nothing different here.

The 240v supply for things like cookers in the US is different to that of the UK too, so really, not a good idea and a transformer would have to be massive and weigh a ton to not burst into flames with that kind of load.

kathp

Thanks for the advice... sounds like it's a bad idea to bring that stuff over and best to buy new... shame my company wont buy it as well

thanks again!

Bob

Get them to give you cash in lieu to replace whitegoods that you'll lose money on flogging. It'll be cheaper than shipping for them anyway, so win-win.

Just get them to gross up the cash amount so that once tax is taken out, you aren't short changed.

kathp

Great advice - Thanks!!

MadRad

Don't underestimate the cost of decent white goods. We 've just paid almost $10,000 for an oven, microhood, dishwasher, gas hob, fridge freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer. I'm not all that impressed with the dishwasher, either.

penguinsix

http://www.bestbuy.com

That's a major electronics store in the USA. You can use them to get a general idea of the prices for certain electrical items.

GeoffM

But would you actually buy from them? Are they like the scum of the earth, Comet, in the UK (IMHO, of course)?

(Incidentally, up until very recently, BB had a small number of stores in the UK. Note the past tense, though it's no reflection of their US status.)

S Folinsky

As a general rule, it is not advisable to bring in your electrical or electronics goods to the US. There are exceptions on some of the electronics, but other than for computers and digital cameras, it is probably not worth figuring it out.

It should be remembered that many things in the US are different than they are in the UK. [BTW, the term "white goods" generally refers to bed and bath linens in US English]. [Further BTW, there is often a tendency to think that everything from "home" is better and the stuff in the new country is "shite."]

I have noted that many people refer to "The US" as a consistent whole. The US is a big country and appliance use can vary from region to region -- this is often related to climate and the availability and comparative prices of particular forms of energy [e.g. natural gas and electricity]. As noted above, the standard home electricity is 120v/60hz -- many, but not all homes are wired with one or two 240v circuits.

On appliances, the prices vary considerably. When we upgraded to front-loading washer and drier, we found that the base "Frigidaire" units were quite reasonable in price and did the job quite well -- we did not need all the "bells and whistles."

FWIW, I think that there is one small home appliance that you will not find a satisfactory one in the US -- an electric "kettle." A 120v kettle will be slower than a 240v one.

Bob

They are a bit shit, especially customer service...but the prices are pretty good and make for a good guide.

Lowes and Home Depot might be better, you also tend to find coupons on those places, especially Lowes, they always have 10% off coupons for people moving.

Better still would be a local appliance store, if you have one, which there probably will be, they'll often price match and if nothing else, offer much better service and after care.

Edit: BB are also massive....their buying a 50% stake in Carphone warehouse and setting up the 11 stores in the UK was a bad idea as they didn't count on any competition and had completely unrealistic expectations of being able to open up 200 stores across Europe...as they failed to realise they had absolutely no brand recognition in those markets.

Bob

To be fair, base model washing machines are pretty poo when compared to the UK, but then the mid plus range tend to be as good and the front loaders are great, but often a fair bit more pricey unless on deal.

Dishwashers on the other hand are shit the world over

Hovik

Bring everything which runs on 60hz. Some eletrical equipment only works at 50Hz, and will do you no good in the US. Most however will work fie on 60Hz. We're using most of our smaller appliances with voltage converter ( http://www.amazon.com/Goldsource%C2%...287814&sr=1-11 )

For battery operated equipment, check if you can get a US battery charger.

rpjs

I was expecting that, but we bought a Bodum jug kettle and it's been great, not noticably slower than a UK kettle on 240v.