Electricity Supply In France

[chrisgel]

Hi, My friend is moving to France soon and has only just realised that the few appliances that she was going to take with her may not work.
Appliances include small low power items such as phone chargers etc through to a large freezer.
Can anyone advise please?

[bert_h]

Our daughter is living in the South of France and everything is okay there, i.e. 240v and 50 cycles, as in the UK. You will need a pin adaptor to connect up to their differently-shaped sockets, but nothing else.

[Buenchico]

France uses a 230V AC supply system (at 50Hz), which is exactly the same as in the UK.

While plug adapters can be used with low-power devices, she should get the plugs changed on other devices:
http://electricaloutlet.org/type-e

[gingejbee]

Sockets are the main problem. Lots of adaptors or change the plugs.

[chrisgel]

Thanks for the quick response folks, I'll let her know. I'm sure she'll be relieved.

[coccinelle]

All those mentioned would be fine, however an oven would need a special kind of plug and socket.

[chrisgel]

Thank you Coccinelle. I'm sure she's not taking a cooker but I will pass it on just in case.

[Khandro]

Everything should work, but if only they could find somebody moving in the opposite direction to exchange plugs with, adaptors are only for tourists with maybe just a couple of appliances. I must have thrown away a hundred UK three pin plugs and had to buy replacements.

[chrisgel]

Khandro - It gets worse than that. I phoned her to tell her what I'd been told on here and she then told me that her and her husband will be living in a caravan they've just bought while they renovate a farmhouse.
It turns out the caravan is American and wired for 110 volts with 110 volt appliances built in.
Told her to buy a primus stove and lots of candles.

[wildwood]

It is a relatively simple operation to wire a stepdown transformer in to the caravan (supply).

[chrisgel]

Thanks Wildwood - I'll pass it on.