Electricity

I am learning a lot about electricity lately. Did you know a TV uses three to four times its average wattage when it turns on? So if you want to be more energy efficient, leave the TV on instead of turning it off to run to the bathroom and turning it back on. Last weekend we drove out to the suburbs to visit an international electronics store. I did not know such a place existed. It turns out a lot goes into bringing a TV overseas–not just the physically getting it there part, but you have to make sure it will work once you get it there. We had to buy an expensive TV converter that does something with the hertz, as well as a power transformer. I guess I’m a little ignorant when it comes to electricity and voltage. I just assumed we could plug all of our stuff in using those little travel adapters. But oh no. Those only work for curling irons and computers. If you want to power the big stuff like a TV, stereo and blender, you need a transformer. It’s about the size of a car battery but it weighs a whopping 35 pounds! We bought a 3,000 watt one just to be safe. I do not want to blow any fuses or start a fire trying to watch TV or make a smoothie.

Voltage is a pain in the butt, especially when trying to relocate internationally. I really wish countries could have had a way to contact each other around the time electricity was invented so that they could ask each other questions like, “Hey, we’re thinking about using 220 volts, what about you guys?” But I guess back then no one imagined people would be traveling internationally or Americans would actually want to go back to England–that’s just madness! I can deal with language barriers and different currencies, but this whole voltage thing really grinds my gears.