Electricity in France - adapter needed if travelling from USA ?

[Ken Lee]

I will be traveling from the USA to France for a short holiday.

In France, will I need an adapter to charge my phone, run my laptop, etc. ?

Will a cigarette lighter-based charger charge my phone ?

[Struan Gray]

Your power bricks will either work, or will require a transformer to step down the voltage. The latter option is not really compatible with holidays :-)

France, like most of the rest of Europe, has 240 V, 50 Hz single phase mains power. Most modern power bricks for computers and the like will automatically compensate for the change. If this is the case, it will either be written on the power adapter in a list of compatible voltages, or it will be in the user manual.

In the bad old days (could be as recently as ten years ago) the power supplies were for US or European voltage only. The easiest solution was to buy a new power brick from a local Dell/Apple/whatever store when you arrive. Some equipment still needs the right frequency, but it's rare, and non-existent among consumer electronics.

You will need a plug adapter to make your US plugs fit French wall sockets. Again, buying a French power cord is sometimes an option. If you have a lot of chargers consider bringing a power strip and replacing the single plug on that with a French one. Make sure any adapters can handle the power load you have in mind (usually only a problem if taking studio flash or charging large batteries) and I personally would look for ones which pass through a ground connection properly. Modern European power outlets are usually backed by a ground fault detector, but by no means all, and rural France can get you quickly back in the days of cloth-wrapped twin-pair mains cords with bakelite plugs for that cozy fire hazard feel.

Cars run on 12V DC just like the states. Cigarette lighters are still fitted to cars, and they work fine with inverters and chargers. Quite a few cars will have a second lighter socket in the trunk, which can be more convenient for charging. Leave nothing of value in the car if you are leaving it unattended, even if in a hotel garage.

[chuck461]

Ken
Most likely, your mobile chargers are made to run on any voltage. Have a look. You should be able to find where it says "100-220V AC, 50-60hz" or something like that. US power is 120 volts 60hz, Europe is 220 volts 50hz.

Enjoy your trip.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

and rural France can get you quickly back in the days

I'm quite sure that Ken (welcome to France, Ken) is looking for picturesque places or rural France where no electricity can be found, and where no hazardous electromagnetic waves generated by disturbing cellular phone equipements can be felt 30 km around.

Hence for the laptop, etc ... if Ken really insists in bringing those equipments with him (but I cannot believe that Ken, an uncompromising LF aficionado, can be such an addict of laptops and mobile phones) the best would be that he brings with him a crank-operated human-power electrical generator, the perfect complement of his hand-operated mechanical shutters.

pssst : not kidding, if you have any question, take the advantage that several French people read and post here regularly ; they will be glad to help you. If you do not find, right upon arrival at the French airport, the battery charger that you are looking for, most likely you'll find it a any major supermarket.
In France we have strange supermarkets mixing food and house appliances, something that US citizen do not like at all ; so it is very likely that pushing the doors of any big supermarket looking for a nice 'n cheap bottle of bordeaux wine, you'll find your battery charger at the same time, even without looking for it: those huge supermarkets are arranged in such a way that usual food & beverage that French buy every day are located in the remotest corner of the shop, exactly opposite to the main entrance, so that you cannot have any direct access to the "baguette - bordeaux - camembert" places without going throug the full assortment of laptops & battery chargers ;)

[cdholden]

I'm not well versed in international travel, but I do know that we have 60Hz alternating current here in the US. The rest of the world uses 50Hz. Regardless of whatever voltage step-up or step-down you need, if any, you'll need something to insure that you have the proper frequency of AC power also (unless all of your powered devices work with either option).

[Collas]

In the UK we did have 240V supplies, but these have now been changed to match the rest of Europe at 230V.

Nick

[Dominique Cesari]

As Chuck and Stuan mentionned it, if your chargers are marked "110-240V - 50-60Hz" they will operate in France, provided that you have the mechanical adaptor for the plugs, something like that :

72286

[Ken Lee]

"but I cannot believe that Ken, an uncompromising LF aficionado, can be such an addict of laptops and mobile phones"

Yes, it is very shocking, but I will need my iPhone to make "connections" :cool:

[doublezero]

Hello ken ,

which part of france are you travelling ?

[Ken Lee]

Hello ken ,

which part of france are you travelling ?

Mainly Paris, with a brief visit to Avignon.

[Philippe Grunchec]

May be we could meet!

[Ken Lee]

Merci bien, I will contact you privately Phillipe :)

[John Kasaian]

I've never taken converters on my trips to Europe. Proper voltage electrical appliances are wisely supplied by the hotels and americans with voltage converters are about as welcome as Attila the Hun:rolleyes:. You may want to contact whomever made your cell phone and lap top to see what they recommend and if your hotel in Paris has compatible charging station. With all the trans Atlantic business going on I wouldn't be surprised if your hotel already has what you need.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Just a short note : I recently bought a 9V DC supply for a DSLR, and discovered that the "black box" will accept any AC voltage on input, 50 or 60 Hz, from 100 to 240V AC; the plug & chord is supplied according to your zone of residence however.
i.e. if you find such a modern DC supply for your mobile phones & other devices, with the proper plug or plug-converter accessory, for anything electronic using DC@low voltage, you'll be all set for the Whole Planet except may be Antartica, where electricity is hardly found except at scientific & military bases ;)

Looks like AC-to-DC technology has made tremendous progresses since my heavy 110/220 transformer I had to buy in order to continue using a few electrical appliances bought in the US in the '90s and brought back to Europe ...

[Dominique Cesari]

I've never taken converters on my trips to Europe. Proper voltage electrical appliances are wisely supplied by the hotels and americans with voltage converters are about as welcome as Attila the Hun:rolleyes:. You may want to contact whomever made your cell phone and lap top to see what they recommend and if your hotel in Paris has compatible charging station. With all the trans Atlantic business going on I wouldn't be surprised if your hotel already has what you need.
John, if you find a US-style plug in an accomodation here, I offer you the travel :
The Land Of Attila The Hun
or "printemps en Margeride"
72538
Half way from Paris to Avignon, but not by the most straight route.

[Ken Lee]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will be traveling by train, so I won't be able to explore very much.

[rdenney]

Looks like AC-to-DC technology has made tremendous progresses since my heavy 110/220 transformer I had to buy in order to continue using a few electrical appliances bought in the US in the '90s and brought back to Europe ...

Nearly all power supplies use a switching design with regulated DC output voltage. With the switching design, it's easy to change the shape of the AC waveform (using the switching circuit) to average to the correct output voltage, and then rectify it for DC output. In the old days of linear power supplies, a higher input voltage would have burned out the output DC voltage regulator.

Power bricks for laptops have served wide input voltage ranges for longer than a decade. I went to a conference in Copenhagen probably in 1997, and every power brick I needed for that trip accepted 240VAC input at 50Hz. When we traveled to London in 2008, I took plug adapters but not transformers. Some places require a certain flexibility--Brazil had two different plug and voltage standards when I was in Sao Paolo in 2010.

These days, phones will charge from USB supplies, so if you can charge your computer, then just bring the USB-phone cable to charge the phone. Another approach is to bring a backup battery. I have a Lenmar PPU916 that will charge my iPhone and my Kindle several times each through its USB output plug, and it charges from the same power brick my laptop uses (using a small plug adapter). Thus, I only need the power brick for my computer and the battery charger for my camera.

If you take your personal phone, however, check the international roaming data rates charged by your supplier. It might be cheaper to rent a phone over there.

Rick "who has had more trouble finding a usable outlet in some U.S. hotels than abroad" Denney

[Darin Boville]

Here's the short answer:

All you probably need is a plug convertor. There are a million of them. The Europe side will look like http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs_c or http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs_e

Get two since sometimes the fuse inside will blow.

Then buy this: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Outlets-To-Go-Powerstrip/dp/B000ONZTMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335193581&sr=8-1

Best travel power bar. That way you just need one adapter and you can charge up your phone, laptop, and cameras all at the same time. Daisy chain two (for a total of seven open plugs) if you are traveling with family.

Just double check all your gizmo's "bricks" to make sure they can handle 240. All of them will, no doubt, but check anyway.

Hotels will usually have adapters but sometimes they will be clueless or just hand you a variety box of adapters for you to figure out.

Final word, I believe the plug in France varies (thus the two link, above). Paris is one plug, the countryside who knows. They look the same but they are not. But you can (almost) always buy adapters locally, though you'll pay $$.

--Darin

[Dominique Cesari]

Final word, I believe the plug in France varies (thus the two link, above). Paris is one plug, the countryside who knows. They look the same but they are not. But you can (almost) always buy adapters locally, though you'll pay $$.
--Darin
No : "la République est une et indivisible" (the Republic may not be split). But the Monster Outlet could be a good wariness.
Anyway, I hope that Ken wil be very pleased.

[Darin Boville]

You need to tell that to the B&B in Normandy we stayed at last summer! Plug adapters were fine in Paris, oh so close but not quite right in Normandy... :)

-Darin

P.S. The English owner left a lot to be desired in terse of hospitality--so bad it was funny. At least it is funny now :) Maybe the quirky plug was just another aspect of the level of service?


No : "la République est une et indivisible" (the Republic may not be split). But the Monster Outlet could be a good wariness.
Anyway, I hope that Ken wil be very pleased.

[Ole Tjugen]

Get two since sometimes the fuse inside will blow.


Fuse?? There's no fuse in that plug, that's only in the UK plugs.

[SergeiR]

Ken, get yourself travel iphone charger they sold in every major airport now. And for god sake do not forget to switch off data roaming or you will be facing bill larger than cost of yer tickets...

[Ken Lee]

Thanks to all.