Airports tend to mainly supply universal adapters (see above), and they almost always cost double the price. It’s always a good idea to do your research and purchase the specific adapter you’ll need prior to your trip. Navigating the international power adapter labyrinth After all, it would mean spending a whole lot of time, effort, and money replacing outlets, re-modeling buildings, and manufacturing new appliances. In 1986, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) tried to get everyone to settle on type N as the universal plug, but only Brazil followed through-and they didn’t even fully implement them until 2007. ![]() The Europeans, for example, found that operating at 220 to 230 volts was the most cost-effective, providing more energy with less copper wiring. But when other countries began to build their own grids-and needed to account for appliances beyond lights-they started to make improvements on the American design. In the 1880s, when American inventors like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla built the world’s first modern electrical grid, they established 110 volts as the standard-the perfect amount to power indoor lights. Similar to the divide between the metric and imperial systems, the origin of national plug types is closely entwined with both advancements in technology and politics. Why do countries even have different plug types? To make sure you’ve got all your plugs covered and then some, we compiled a list of every type, as well as some helpful information for navigating all kinds of electricity situations overseas. And that sucker was as big as a brick.ĭon’t let this be you. I ended up having to buy two adapters-US to EU and EU to Type M-to form a composite adapter. On a recent trip to South Africa, for example, I learned the hard way that the country actually supports three different plug types. Then there are those universal adapters that claim to support 150 countries, but never really do. The difference between Type M and N, for instance? Who knows. ![]() Yet if you Google your destination’s plug type, you’ll often find the results aren’t very clear. ![]() For some reason, it’s often the last thing to cross our minds when compiling a packing list, despite the fact that communicating with the rest of the world could very well be impossible without them (though in some cases, that could be a good thing). When it comes to international travel essentials-the best neck pillow for a red-eye flight, all that head-scratching paperwork, the list goes on-we don’t talk about electronic adapters nearly enough.
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