[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":134},["ShallowReactive",2],{"note-adapter-vs-converter":3,"note-surround-adapter-vs-converter":128},{"id":4,"title":5,"badge":6,"body":7,"date":116,"description":117,"extension":118,"meta":119,"mood":120,"navigation":121,"path":122,"schemaOrg":123,"seo":124,"sitemap":125,"stem":126,"__hash__":127},"notes\u002Fnotes\u002Fadapter-vs-converter.md","Adapters vs converters, explained by a plug","Essentials",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":108},"minimark",[10,14,19,32,39,43,49,56,72,76,79,83,99],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Every year, thousands of travellers buy a plug adapter, plug in their hair dryer in a London hotel, and witness a small, smelly miracle. Plugbert would like that to stop.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"the-adapter-a-costume","The adapter: a costume",[11,20,21,22,26,27,31],{},"A ",[23,24,25],"strong",{},"plug adapter"," is a costume for your plug. It changes the ",[28,29,30],"em",{},"shape"," so your plug fits into a foreign wall. It does absolutely nothing to the electricity. If 230 volts comes out of the wall, 230 volts goes into your device.",[11,33,34,35,38],{},"That's fine for most things you travel with, because most modern electronics are ",[23,36,37],{},"dual voltage",". Your phone charger, laptop brick, camera charger, e-reader, and Nintendo Switch dock all happily accept anything from 100 to 240 volts.",[15,40,42],{"id":41},"the-converter-a-translator","The converter: a translator",[11,44,21,45,48],{},[23,46,47],{},"voltage converter"," (or step-down transformer) actually changes the voltage. It takes 230 V and turns it into 120 V, or vice versa. Converters are heavy, they get hot, and the cheap ones are rated for a few minutes of use at a time.",[11,50,51,52,55],{},"You only need one if you're bringing a ",[23,53,54],{},"single-voltage device"," to a country with a different voltage. In practice, that's almost always something with a heating element:",[57,58,59,63,66,69],"ul",{},[60,61,62],"li",{},"Hair dryers",[60,64,65],{},"Curling irons and straighteners (unless they have a voltage switch)",[60,67,68],{},"Kettles, coffee makers, rice cookers",[60,70,71],{},"Older electric shavers",[15,73,75],{"id":74},"plugberts-honest-advice","Plugbert's honest advice",[11,77,78],{},"Don't buy a converter. Buy a cheap dual-voltage travel hair dryer, or use the one bolted to the hotel bathroom wall. Converters for high-wattage devices are bulky, and the travel-sized ones lie about their wattage.",[15,80,82],{"id":81},"how-to-tell-what-youve-got","How to tell what you've got",[11,84,85,86,89,90,94,95,98],{},"Flip your charger over and find the line that starts with ",[23,87,88],{},"INPUT",". If it reads ",[91,92,93],"code",{},"100-240V ~ 50\u002F60Hz",", you need an adapter and nothing else. If it reads ",[91,96,97],{},"120V ~ 60Hz"," and you're going to Europe, leave it at home.",[11,100,101,102,107],{},"Not sure? Type it into the ",[103,104,106],"a",{"href":105},"\u002Flabel","label decoder"," and Plugbert will read it for you.",{"title":109,"searchDepth":110,"depth":110,"links":111},"",2,[112,113,114,115],{"id":17,"depth":110,"text":18},{"id":41,"depth":110,"text":42},{"id":74,"depth":110,"text":75},{"id":81,"depth":110,"text":82},"2026-09-12","One changes the shape. One changes the voltage. Mixing them up is how hair dryers die.","md",{},"thinking",true,"\u002Fnotes\u002Fadapter-vs-converter",null,{"title":5,"description":117},{"loc":122},"notes\u002Fadapter-vs-converter","IQe1fQJEO2fYw4nE7yhSkzW7-0SkzJi5NAVF3AVyMVY",[129,123],{"title":130,"path":131,"stem":132,"description":133,"children":-1},"The hair dryer incident (a tragedy in 230 volts)","\u002Fnotes\u002Fhair-dryer-incident","notes\u002Fhair-dryer-incident","A short story about an American hair dryer, a Parisian hotel, and the smell of regret.",1791292358018]