Going to London, please help. My flat iron reads 120V AC. Will I need a converter?

Tavy

You really do not need to bring it here. Every hotel has irons, if you stay with a friend they will have one.

John P

Best to buy a cheap iron in London and give it away to a nice friend when you go back to the USA. Or, indeed, buy an iron which is "dual voltage". If you plug your 120 volt iron in to the British 240 volts it will most likely explode - noisy and expensive, not to mention hazardous. I have seen one such explosion happen and the results of another (lamp, and slide projector, not iron, but the principle is the same). Any convertor would be heavy. Note also that British plugs have pins of totally different shape and layout from American plugs, but simple "plug adaptors" (no transformer) are easily available.

Ghost Of Christmas Past

Yes. The iron and the converter will be heavy in your luggage. Wait until you get to London and buy a dual voltage travel iron. It will have the right plug. Then you can take it home and put a rewirable US plug on it.

Clive

Yes. The UK uses double the voltage and that is likely to cause it to catch fire or even explode. Consider what voltage is - it's the electrical equivalent of pressure in a water pipe, and if you force water down a pipe at double the pressure it can actually take, you can imagine it will burst. So you would need a transformer, and a plug converter as the plugs are totally different. But really I wouldn't bother. Irons are heavy and if you have a luggage weight limit on the flight, it'll eat into your allowance. And have you thought about an ironing board to do your ironing on? Hotels generally have an iron and ironing board you can borrow. Just ask at reception. Or if you're staying with friends, borrow theirs.

Jon

Yes, one with a transformer as the UK uses 240V. Connecting a device meant for 120V to a 240V supply without a transformer in between will at best damage the device and quite possibly cause a fire. Probably easier to get a cheap iron when you get here.

Eddie

yes.

W.T. Door

The voltage in the UK is 220 instead of 110 like in the USA, so yes - you would need a voltage ' All electronic devices made in the past decade accept any voltage and all you need is a plug adapter. The adapters are sold at stores like BestBuy. Do not take any appliances that require a voltage converter. Buy them locally instead, and there are stores like Walgreens everywhere.

Greg

The converter you would need is heavy and expensive.