Voltage Converters | How Do I Figure Out How Many Watts Voltage Transformer Do I Need

Every country uses a different kind of voltage, so it is essential to know where your items are coming from before you use them. In most cases, things bound for your country are built with your country's voltage in mind. However, if you buy an item from a different country and have it shipped, you may need to check the voltage rating to see if it will work. It is where voltage transformers, or a voltage converter, comes in as they either increase or decrease the voltage to match the item to the voltage of the wall plug. However, this isn't the only thing you need to think about when buying a voltage transformer because you also have to ensure that you are getting the wattage that you need.

What is Watts, and Why is It Important?

When we think about our wall sockets' power, we generally talk about the wattage or watts. It is essentially the amount of energy needed by the device to function. The higher the wattage rating, the more power-hungry the appliance is, and the higher the electric consumption will be for that item. Typically, you only need to think about this when looking to see which of your electronic items consume the most power to find out which item you are paying more for electricity. However, when you need to use an extension cord or a transformer, or any go-between from the wall plug to the item, then you need to know the wattage rating for safety purposes.

Since wattage is the amount of power consumed by the device, all the cables leading up to the device will also carry the same amount of watts. The higher the watts, the more power travels through the wires and the more dangerous it is. It would help if you made sure that the circuits can handle that amount of energy or else, it might cause a fire due to excess amounts of heat being generated.

How Many Watts Do I Need?

If you bought an item overseas that runs on 220 volts, if you plan to use it in your country that uses 110 volts, then you will need a transformer to step down the voltage from 220 to 110. However, you will also need to take into account the watts required by the item. It should be less than the watt capacity of the transformer. Many experts agree that you should only use up to 75% of your watt capacity. Wattage ratings are often written near the socket or you can calculate by multiplying the item's voltage requirements by its ampere rating.

So if your appliance uses 350 watts, then buying a 500-watt voltage transformer is more than enough. However, if you plan to hook up an extension cord to the transformer to use multiple items, then you will need to add the total watts requirement of all the things you will put. So if you have a 350 watt PC, 200-watt lamp, and a 150-watt radio, they total 700 watts. It means that you will need at least a 1000 watts capacity voltage transformer to ensure safety.