Is the electricity in America the same as in France?

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Indiana Frenchman

not the same .. you will need some adapters ...

Electricity in France is 230 Volts, alternating at 50 cycles per second. If you travel to France with a device that does not accept 230 Volts at 50 Hertz, you will need a voltage converter.

There are three main types of voltage converter. Resistor-network converters will usually be advertised as supporting something like 50-1600 Watts. They are light-weight and support high-wattage electrical appliances like hair dryers and irons. However, they can only be used for short periods of time and are not ideal for digital devices.

Transformers will have a much lower maximum Watt rating, usually 50 or 100. Transformers can often be used continuously and provide better electricity for low wattage appliances like battery chargers, radios, laptop computers, cameras, mp3 players and camcorders. However, they are heavy because they contain large iron rods and lots of copper wire.

Some companies sell combination converters that include both a resistor network and a transformer in the same package. This kind of converter will usually come with a switch that switches between the two modes. If you absolutely need both types of converter, then this is the type to buy.

check web page for more including pictures!

lingua06437

The current will be different from what you are accustomed to. You will need an adapter for your device or it could break or cause a fire. Don't plug in your device without the proper adapter.

SCOTT M

I'm sure you are asking about the way we generate it rather than the electricity itself.

About 80% of France's electricity comes from nuclear power plants. We only get about 20% from nuclear.

My concern about nuclear is waste disposal. From the time they go on line, our nuclear plants pay the EPA a fee to pick up and dispose of the nuclears wastes those plants produce (spent fuel rods). To date, the EPA has no removed a single ounce of waste from any of our nuclear plants. The spent fuel rods are being stored on site and the plants are running out of storage space.

Nobody wants a garbage/trash landfill anywhere near them. That goes to 50X when it comes to nuclear. And the problem is not jusr selecting a safe final "resting" place for spent fuel rods; it's transporting them from plants to the burial site that concerns many people.

This is a major problem. In most cases we take action and worry about the consequences later. In this case we worry about the consequences now and don't take any action at all.

Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been in the works for years, but it's not clear whether it will ever be used to store our nuclear wastes.

Help!

DaveNCUSA

France is 230 volt/50 Hz AC with a different plug. see my first source for voltage, the second for plug.

blunderbuss

http://www.aglobalworld.com/cgi-local/volts.pl

USA 110/220V

France 110/220V

I hope the PLUGS in the POWER OUTLETS are the same shape...â˜º

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