- Megavolt

By Avi Goldstein

People often ask if they are better off buying 220 Volt appliances, or can they get by with 110 volt appliances. There are several issues involved.

Cost – is the price of the appliance + a transformer significantly cheaper than the comparable 220 volt appliance?.
Speed – Israel works on 230 volts, 50 cycles, America 110 volts 60 cycles. As a general rule most motors will work about 15 per cent slower, and some times of timer and door lock motors will not work at all.
Many fridges can be used with a transformer, but this is a special transformer designed to compensate for the difference in cycles. Please note that with increases in energy efficiency, slower cycles could mean that there is insufficient defrost cycles in some fridges.
Features – perhaps the features that most interest you in a product are not available in the export models.
Availability of spare parts – You really love that BANZAI fridge, but if it breaks down and you’re the only person in Israel with it, and there are no spare parts available you won’t be so happy living without a fridge while the parts are flown in from America.
Small Appliances – if it’s an inexpensive kitchen type appliance, especially if it’s low wattage and you already have a suitable transformer, so it can be worthwhile to buy. It’s not a big loss if it doesn’t work properly.
Many ovens and dryers work quite well with full or partial transformations. Since even in America heating elements are often 220 volts electric, dryers and ovens often require relatively small transformers (but they do require a knowledgeable technician to split the 110 volts from the 220 volts).

Avi Goldstein is the manager of Goldstein & Berger Ltd, American Appliance Specialist
http://gb-appliances.com
avi@gb-appliances.com
+972-2-671-6776, +972-54-308-0110
fax: +972-2-671-3198
PO Box 10446, Jerusalem, Israel