International Plugs and Wiring

Just a thought. When you shift to a new country you may find that the plugs on your appliances are different to the ones in your new country.

Note: the thing on the end of your appliances cable is called a plug and the thing on the wall is called a socket.

Also, you may find that the electricity rating is different. For example, New Zealand supplies 230V to all households. In America, their electricity network runs at 110V.

Check out the electricity rating before you shift. Some appliances may not work in your new country and you maybe forced to leave them behind. Use Google.

To use your appliances in your new country you may have to do more than just change the plug. Some appliances have a switch on the back where you can select the voltage. Check this and your new country’s electricity rating BEFORE you plug in your appliances otherwise you may damage them beyond repair.

Often at airport terminals and tourist shops you can find plug adaptors which you can put on the end of your plug to use foreign power points. Ideally buy these before you shift.

I would recommend employing an electrician should you decide to change any plugs. I have seen so many DIY types get it wrong. Often they didn’t terminate the cables correctly, sometimes they switched the cables (green, brown and blue) around. Potentially very dangerous. All to save a few dollars.

One other thing….the colours of the internal cables of appliance leads can be colour coded differently from country to country.

In New Zealand the colour code for appliance leads is: Green and yellow=earth; Brown=phase/active and; Blue=neutral. Phase is sometimes called the live wire.

In New Zealand the colour code for household wiring (the wiring in the walls) is: Green=earth; Red=phase/active and Black=neutral.

One thing that I want to add here is….. some people think you can only get a shock off the red one. They think that the black is safe to touch. NO IT ISN’T!!!!! It is possible to get a shock off the black one. DON’T TOUCH ANY WIRES!! Consider all wires to be live (carrying electricity) and are potentially capable of killing you.

So you’ve had a shock before and it didn’t kill you. That doesn’t mean that it won’t. Consider yourself lucky. Try loading a gun with one bullet and play Russian roulette. One of these days…..

Blue Light Electrical 027 572 7000

11 Replies to “International Plugs and Wiring”

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