Will the lamp I bought in Dubai work in my home in the US?
Asked by
Allie (
17546
)
October 17th, 2015
from iPhone
I bought a lamp on my recent trip to Dubai which has, of course, a different plug. I can easily get an adaptor for the outlet to be able to plug it into my home wall outlets. My question is will doing so fry the lamp?
There are no tags or instructions on the lamp stating what the voltage is. My logic, which could very well be totally wrong, is that if I can plug in a floor lamp now, I should be able to plug in any floor lamp (a lamp is a lamp, no?).
I thought I’d better ask before I electrocuted myself or burned the house down.
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7 Answers
Dubai uses 220/240 current, and the US uses 120 current. This means that the lamp fixture is expecting a larger amount of power than you will be supplying it.
If it is just a bulb (nothing fancy, no dimmer, no motor, etc.) It ought to work OK< but probably the bulb will be half as bright as you expect.
You won’t burn the lamp out or anything like that, because you’re sending through LESS current than it normally is used to. (This is better than going the other direction – a US lamp would definitely have problems in Dubai.)
You should be OK
Does it matter that it has an, I think, UK plug with two, small round prongs as opposed to the UAE plug which is three flat prongs? Maybe it was made in UK, I have no idea.
Another issue is what kind of bulb does it require? If the socket will receive a bulb of the wattage you normally use in your lamps, then all you need to do is rewire the plug. If your normal bulbs do not fit in the socket then that may have to be switched out too. Both changes are easy DIY projects.
The lamp could be fixed at a lamp and shade shop. I would do that just so you could use US / North American light bulbs.
Given that most lamps are just wire, a switch, and a bulb, there isn’t much that can go wrong with one, though a bulb replacement will likely be required
@elbanditoroso Not quite. Ohm’s Law dictates that drawing the same number of watts (same amount of power), but halving the voltage (electrical “pressure”) will double the amperage (number of electrons that go through every second). That is part of why electrical transmission lines run 20–50 thousand volts; to keep the amperage low enough to avoid burning up the cable.
That said, Ohm’s Law doesn’t really account for the fact that the resistance of many light bulbs has a non-linear relationship with voltage applied. So you are correct, but not for the reasons you stated; the real reason you are correct is that reality doesn’t always follow theory.
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In terms of the plug, once you use the adapter it will work fine. There are also converters you can buy for voltage.
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