what electrical appliances from the UK will work? getting lots of different advice

[minhan]

Originally Posted by Piersti

Hi Minhan - just saw your above post. Just some practical input as I went the other direction (US to UK) but the basic issue should be the same for you going from Singapore to US. I had also heard much conflicting advice and mostly ended up re-buying applicances in the UK but I did bring a few things. Here are my lessons learned.

Large/expensive appliances that are long lived - Consider bringing them and buying a step-down converter which will handle the voltage and frequency changes just fine. We brought our US Elipitical machine and hooked it up to a step-up converter for the past 5 years - no issues. Same with our expensive "super automatic" coffee machine. Bought a converter and placed in in the corner of the kitchen and we have used our coffee machine daily. You just have to be careful to buy the appropriate size of converter. We had to get pretty big ones to run these machines and they cost around £100 but for a $4,000 machine it is worth it!

TV/DVD players etc - we ended up selling/giving all of our US ones away due to the pain in dealing with different set ups etc. I do know some people that brought their US ones and figured it out but seemed too much hassle. We did bring our US Wii player however.

Small everyday appliances - mostly I recommend just buying new ones as they are short lived anyway (toaster, blenders, microwave, vacuum etc).

HOWEVER, I had placed some of my larger US applicances such as my food processor, kitchen Aid mixer, etc in storage and wish I would have brought them because I didn't want to shell out the money for them in the UK for only a few years and have done without. I did randomly bring my belgium waffle maker and I just plug it into my same converter that we use for the coffee machine (it has two US outlets) and it would have been easy to use other appliances here with the converter.

LAMPS - this was the biggest annoyance. I had thought I could not use US lamps and so when we moved to the UK, we moved into a house with minimal overhead lighting and I had to buy a huge number of lamps. Happened to have brought just a few US lamps by accident and turns out all we had to do was buy a plug adapter (NOT converter) AND use the appropriate UK light bulb. Ugh - would have saved me a lot of money!

We also kept a few extra small converters around the house for our US guests who despite me telling them NOT to bring their hairdryers, curling irons, etc bring them anyway.

Of course many portable electronics (computers/cameras,etc) are already set to manage 110-240 so no issues there.

Hope that helps...

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I was worried that I have to sell my appliances cheap. About the lamps as well, I thought I have to let go all of them as they are a bit aged but if i can use them in the US, why do I have to buy new ones if all I need to do is to buy plug adapter and new light bulb?

I would be sad if I have to leave my Kenwood mixer and DeLonghi expresso machince. Such a relief!

Thanks again.

[Piersti]

Hi there - no problem and good luck with the move! Like you, I was attached to my Jura espresso machine and when I had to send it to Germany over Christmas for a repair we were in withdrawal

We are moving to Chicago this summer so a few months behind you.....

[Finp06]

Hi Minhan
Do you know what - everything arrived and ut was such hard work that I just packed all the uk appliances in a big box and put in a cupboard!
I bought one transformer but it's huge so really not worth it unless you have a very expensive appliance $$$$.
My electric tooth brush charger won't work on an adapter for some reason so I figure not a lit else will.
I have bought a new bedspreads machine, food mixer and now a vitamix. We were left a toaster/grill thing so using that and went to Target to get a stove top kettle which is Awful as it over boils the water for my tea and coffee but the electric one we we're lent was awful too!
The funny thing is when you start unpacking its really quite depressing as everything looks tired - I guess as it's all so well wrapped the brain is looking for new 'presents'. But no!

[Finp06]

Bedspreads should read nespresso! i

[minhan]

Originally Posted by Finp06

Hi Minhan
Do you know what - everything arrived and ut was such hard work that I just packed all the uk appliances in a big box and put in a cupboard!
I bought one transformer but it's huge so really not worth it unless you have a very expensive appliance $$$$.
My electric tooth brush charger won't work on an adapter for some reason so I figure not a lit else will.
I have bought a new bedspreads machine, food mixer and now a vitamix. We were left a toaster/grill thing so using that and went to Target to get a stove top kettle which is Awful as it over boils the water for my tea and coffee but the electric one we we're lent was awful too!
The funny thing is when you start unpacking its really quite depressing as everything looks tired - I guess as it's all so well wrapped the brain is looking for new 'presents'. But no!

Hi Finp06,

So sorry to hear that things didn't go well. I just sold 1 small fridge and waiting for confirmation for the washer from another buyer. I still have couple big items that I need to sell like big TVs and fridge. I'm getting anxious that my kitchen gadgets won't be able to used in the US. I thought of buying a big converter and only use it when I need. I hope it works.

How's the weather now? I'm looking into winter clothes for the children. They don't really have thermal wear or winter boots. My husband suggested to take us to the mall upon arrival and we will just do one big shopping on 1st day. Is it even feasible? Will the kids and myself survive until the mall?

Can you suggest any brands / stuffs that I can order online, get them send to our serviced apartment first?

Thanks,,

[LilBlossom]

A Norwegian Expat here. Anything electric, just sell it. Get new over here. Even kitchen gadgets. If you're worried about prices, just wait around for sales, everything is constantly on sale here. Also, Amazon has good prices for, well, just about anything you might need. I'm sorry I missed Finp06 to give him advice, but sadly, bringing electrical stuff over here just isn't worth it. We ended up selling a Samsung TV that was less than 6 months old, for very little when we moved over here. I got my electric toothbrush to work on an adapter I have, but I think that's more of a fluke than anything.

As for weather, we're just at the tail end of another polar vortex, and temps are -20C tonight. However, fingers crossed, this will be the last one for this winter. Average temps around this time of year is +6C, but we'll be hanging around -5C for the next 10 days at least. No point in trying to get winter coats over here, as they have mostly been clearanced out and summer apparel is in stores now. Seriously. Of course, this being one of the worst winters since 1985 has a lot to do with stores being barren of winter clothing. But try online, like target.com, amazon.com, jcpenney.com, kohls.com, to see if you can get some decent deals.

[minhan]

Originally Posted by LilBlossom

A Norwegian Expat here. Anything electric, just sell it. Get new over here. Even kitchen gadgets. If you're worried about prices, just wait around for sales, everything is constantly on sale here. Also, Amazon has good prices for, well, just about anything you might need. I'm sorry I missed Finp06 to give him advice, but sadly, bringing electrical stuff over here just isn't worth it. We ended up selling a Samsung TV that was less than 6 months old, for very little when we moved over here. I got my electric toothbrush to work on an adapter I have, but I think that's more of a fluke than anything.

As for weather, we're just at the tail end of another polar vortex, and temps are -20C tonight. However, fingers crossed, this will be the last one for this winter. Average temps around this time of year is +6C, but we'll be hanging around -5C for the next 10 days at least. No point in trying to get winter coats over here, as they have mostly been clearanced out and summer apparel is in stores now. Seriously. Of course, this being one of the worst winters since 1985 has a lot to do with stores being barren of winter clothing. But try online, like target.com, amazon.com, jcpenney.com, kohls.com, to see if you can get some decent deals.

Thanks LilBlomsom. I take a note on this and see whether I can order winter gear to send to our service apartment. Then they will be ready upon arrival. I hope temperature gets better by the time we arrive.