It Says Watt?

Some of the electrical things we brought with us from the UK will work here. Others won't. Quite why we brought things that we knew wouldn't work is a complex question. The answer mostly revolves around the amount of effort that would have been required to identify and dispose of things that won't work here, compared to the amount of effort required to ignore the problem and have the shipping company pack everything regardless. A lot of small electronic items run off separate power adaptors, and cheap replacements can be bought here (our ADSL modem/router is running like that right now, for instance). Other items already have dual 110/240 volt power supplies and can be used with just a plug adaptor or a new power cable (the portable disk drive that we brought all our personal data across on is working like that). Other low-power items can use a small, cheap voltage converter (like my electric toothbrush charger). Other things are too much bother to get working, and cheap to replace (hairdryers, for instance). There are a small number of major electrical items that need more care and forethought. Our TV, for instance, can take an NTSC signal (as used in the USA) from a DVD player or set-top box (like our new cable TV box). However, it only runs on the UK's 240V power, so can't be easily plugged in over here. The answer is a big transformer which can be bought at Fry's (is there anything they don't sell?!) which converts between 110v and 240v and can handle enough power for something as significant as a TV (compared to a toothbrush). The secret is to know how much power you need... which is handily printed on the back of most appliances and electrical equipment. The TV said it was 150W (Watts, like a lightbulb), so I thought the 500W transformer should do the job admirably. Quite why the fuse often blew in the transformer when I turned the TV on or off is a mystery (answers on a postcard, please). However, with a "bigger is better" frame of mind, the 1000W version seems to do the job. And it makes a satisfying 'clunk' noise when you turn it on, followed by a faint humming... as if there was some kind of big electromagnet inside or something. Funny, that. So now we get to watch 11-year old episodes of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' (still funny after all this time) on BBC America with our UK TV.