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Thread: electricals?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Default electricals?

    Hi all. I've read somewhere that some electrical items from the UK will be fine in NZ with a new plug but that others over a certain voltage such as things that produce much heat or things like vacuum cleaners etc aren't safe to use in their mains.

    However when we had a shipping quote last week the bloke said that wasn't true and that it'd all be fine to use over there.

    He sounded plausible but I just wanted to check with others if this is actually the case. Did you take your vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, kitchen appliances etc?

    Also where in the uk can you buy new plugs to rewire everything?

    Lastly we want to update some of our stuff like microwave, kettle etc - would you wait till you're in NZ or get stuff here and put new plugs on?

  2. #2
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    Jul 2008
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    North Canterbury, New Zealand
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    Everything will work just fine if you change the plugs. The voltages are the same but the maximum current for most NZ sockets is 10A whereas in the UK it is 13A. This means that some UK appliances will overload the NZ socket. This only applies to devices that use a lot of power, kettles, heaters and cookers. Items rated at above 2400 Watts will in theory overload the NZ socket but there really aren't many such devices these days. You can get the NZ sockets changed to 15A if you really need to.

  3. #3
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    Aug 2009
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    At some point your stuff is going to be crossing the oceans and that is when you'll need your kettle. So best to replace it in the country you will be in without your possessions. Otherwise you will end up moving here, buying a kettle and then having a spare kettle 3 months later when your things arrive. For example we sent a washing machine, vacuum cleaner, TV etc in the container, and bought a kettle, very cheap vacuum cleaner and basic household stuff to get by when we arrived here. The house we moved into had a cooker and fridge and I did the washing by hand until the washing machine arrived. Hope that makes sense.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2008
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    Tauranga, Bay of Plenty
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    Buy your new plugs over here in NZ and do the changes as you need to. You will find supermarkets the cheapest to buy them from although you can get them in Mitre 10 or Bunnings (B&Q equivalents) sometimes they have specials like 10 in a bag for $20 but you need to get lucky as this kind of offer are few and far between. The only thing we replaced was the kettle because of the wattage.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2010
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    Auckland<->Penang
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    I have alot of electrical equipment which have the UK-style plugs (ie. Laptops, Cellphones) which is difficult to replace. WHat I did was to bring a couple of the extension plugs so I only need to change the plug on this extension sockets. Note that it is very difficult to find these in NZ (although i saw a couple of times in the Sunday market) and may not be approved here. I only use all the low power appliance on these sockets (I buy the heating appliance - Kettle, toaster and hairdryer here in NZ very cheaply).

    ukpower.jpg

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Holy Moly View Post
    Hi all. I've read somewhere that some electrical items from the UK will be fine in NZ with a new plug but that others over a certain voltage such as things that produce much heat or things like vacuum cleaners etc aren't safe to use in their mains.

    However when we had a shipping quote last week the bloke said that wasn't true and that it'd all be fine to use over there.

    He sounded plausible but I just wanted to check with others if this is actually the case. Did you take your vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, kitchen appliances etc?

    Also where in the uk can you buy new plugs to rewire everything?

    Lastly we want to update some of our stuff like microwave, kettle etc - would you wait till you're in NZ or get stuff here and put new plugs on?
    Maybe you confused the bloke as it isn't the voltage that changes but the amount of power that they consume.

    As has already been said, any device that uses 10A or less, or 2400W or less, or 2.4kW or less will be fine in NZ with a new plug.

    If it is over these values that then you are probably better off selling it in the UK and buying new in NZ unless it is something that you are attached to, in which case as mylesdw said you can get the sockets replaced for higher rating (15A) but maybe not so easy if you are in a rental, or you will want to plug the device into different sockets around the house.

    It should be noted that some appliances allow you to set them to different ratings so it may be possible to adjust them for NZ use.

    Also note that if you want to use an adapter, then some aren't rated at the full 10A in which case these figures will be lower.

    Ian

  7. #7
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    Wellington
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    I second the idea of bringing some 3-4 way UK extention leads, and changing the plug to a kiwi one - that way when you have a collections of UK electricals (like TV & hiFi systems in our case) you only need to change one plug instead of multiples. But yes, while the voltage is the same, I think the amp limit it 10, compared to 13 in UK. We had a 3k fan heater that was fine in UK, but melted a plug here! Formula to work out amps: Watts ÷ volts = amps, so in my fan's case it was 3000 ÷ 240 = 12.5!

  8. #8
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    As others have said, you should be right. But if you like a hot beverage you'll need to buy a kettle once you arrive--but ship your current one too. Never hurts to have more than one.

    We have a few power bars that have a NZ/Aussie plug for the wall, but the sockets accept any type of plug: UK, Canada/US, Europe, NZ/Aussie. We keep one in the living room for our various DVD players, one in our office for charging various devices.

  9. #9
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    May 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by jawnbc View Post
    As others have said, you should be right. But if you like a hot beverage you'll need to buy a kettle once you arrive--but ship your current one too. Never hurts to have more than one.
    ...
    Have to disagree, it is very likely that the current one uses too much power to be safe, so better to leave it behind and in this instance it could very well hurt

    Ian

  10. #10
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    May 2012
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    From the UK to NZ?

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW99 View Post
    Have to disagree, it is very likely that the current one uses too much power to be safe, so better to leave it behind and in this instance it could very well hurt

    Ian

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