Chile Forum

We are building [planning to build] new house on raw land and will have to bring electric to the property. I was hoping to run both std Chilean 220v/50hrtz and 110v/60hrtz in the house so we can use our american electronics and small appliances.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What is needed, etc.

It will cost more (double wiring) than buying new appliances, plus it is a hassle, I lived with step down transformers for years, now I don’t and am much happy for it. There is nothing you can’t buy in 220V.

nenino wrote:We are building [planning to build] new house on raw land and will have to bring electric to the property. I was hoping to run both std Chilean 220v/50hrtz and 110v/60hrtz in the house so we can use our american electronics and small appliances.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What is needed, etc.

waste of time..... buy a transformer for what you really need one appliance at a time...... your leaving usa for a reason, why bring its baggage with you??????

zer0nz wrote:

nenino wrote:We are building [planning to build] new house on raw land and will have to bring electric to the property. I was hoping to run both std Chilean 220v/50hrtz and 110v/60hrtz in the house so we can use our american electronics and small appliances.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What is needed, etc.

waste of time..... buy a transformer for what you really need one appliance at a time...... your leaving usa for a reason, why bring its baggage with you??????

Sage advice! Never could understand why the US preens on being out of step with the civilized countries.

Almost 90 percent of everything expensive sold these day (eltronics anyway) is sold with a built in 110 /220 switch built in. even most expensive large mchinery comes default 220 in the. States. So you need to replace your chinese apliances for the 220v versions.

The reason 110 is used in homes in the US is that you will probably survive contact with it. You won't be that lucky if you tangle with the 220! One of the few good things about the US,

nwdiver wrote: There is nothing you can’t buy in 220V.

Ha ha. Lots you can't find in Chile on 220 VAC. Chargers for your cordless tools, for example. Don't believe anybody who says you can find it all in Chile and in your voltage.

helitool wrote:The reason 110 is used in homes in the US is that you will probably survive contact with it. You won't be that lucky if you tangle with the 220! One of the few good things about the US,

Rubbish. Chispas around here work on live 240 VAC residential branch lines and even on the mains that feed houses -- all the time -- and I have not lost one yet. Nor have I ever had a bad jolt from 240 VAC in residential work here. 120 VAC is a bad joke. Better that North America would adopt the world standard and cut their copper conductor use by a huge amount at the same time. Drop the amperage, increase the voltage, reduce the resistive losses. Lots to recommend 240 VAC.

admin wrote:Almost 90 percent of everything expensive sold these day (eltronics anyway) is sold with a built in 110 /220 switch built in. even most expensive large mchinery comes default 220 in the. States. So you need to replace your chinese apliances for the 220v versions.

Nope. Much of what you find in machinery in the US that runs on 240 VAC is 3-phase, not the monophase 240 VAC in Chile. Very little Home Depot construction equipment you can find that runs on both 120 and 240 VAC monophase. Spent a month studying and buying building-related electrical equipment in the US last year, to bring to Chile. Almost anything for construction with a decent motor is unavailable in North American big-box stores in a combined 120/240 VC product. Finding any power tool above 200 watts that runs on both voltages was pretty much impossible. But there is just way too much specialty stuff not available in 240 VAC in North America, that is important enough for the work down here, so I put up with the transformers.

Switches? WTF? Manual switching for voltage is so.... 1980. I only have one item that has a 120/240 VAC switch and that is an old desktop I never use here anymore. My lightweight, low-wattage electronic stuff (camera battery chargers, printers, monitors, etc) is autosensing, and those items have no switches. You've been in Chile so long you're getting used to being 20 years behind the hardware times.

So, for OP, if you really really have to use 120 VAC items, at some point you will need to either generate your own, or convert from local mains at 240 VAC 50 Hz and hope that none of your items depend on another AC frequency (i.e., 60 Hz). And running more circuits in a new construction gets expensive. For 120 VAC and the same wattage appliance, the 120 VAC conductors typically need to have double the amount of copper needed for 240 VAC, and that can means lots of pesos. In addition to the high-draw 240 VAC power tools (table saw, sander, etc) I have here in Chile, I use four 240=>120 VAC transformers, for everything from charging the cordless tool batteries, to powering the drywall texturing equipment.

Anyone on the "you can get anything in Chile" float please find me one of these in Chile in 240 VAC. Couldn't find them in Oz or NZ at 240 vac either, nor the equivalent in Chile, because Chile is at least 20 years behind the times:
http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Spray-5200 ... B000I5WAW8

I'll save you some time: the Wagner rep in Chile is Desgade S.A. in Quilicura, and they will probably do the shoulder-shrug and say "no llega."

nenino wrote:We are building [planning to build] new house on raw land and will have to bring electric to the property. I was hoping to run both std Chilean 220v/50hrtz and 110v/60hrtz in the house so we can use our american electronics and small appliances.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What is needed, etc.

This is an important consideration as many people relocating to Chile will have electric stuff to drag along with them. It is far cheaper to get a step down transformer and use your current tools than to firesale your goodies and buy similar in Chile (if you can find them in Chile and it is a big "if". Also even if you do find them their quality may not be up to your standards).

Dont forget to choose your step down transformer properly in terms of wattage. You would normally want to get the biggest you can get or at least twise the rating of your most power hungry device. For example if you have a microwave 1100 Watts you get 2000Watts transformer, no less! They are also quite heavy.

And final note is that since you said you would be building... you may find yourself using a generator (gasoline or diesel) and all of them have 110/220 outlets. Keep that in mind.

zaebis wrote:

nenino wrote:We are building [planning to build] new house on raw land and will have to bring electric to the property. I was hoping to run both std Chilean 220v/50hrtz and 110v/60hrtz in the house so we can use our american electronics and small appliances.

Has anyone done this? Any advice? What is needed, etc.

This is an important consideration as many people relocating to Chile will have electric stuff to drag along with them. It is far cheaper to get a step down transformer and use your current tools than to firesale your goodies and buy similar in Chile (if you can find them in Chile and it is a big "if". Also even if you do find them their quality may not be up to your standards).

Dont forget to choose your step down transformer properly in terms of wattage. You would normally want to get the biggest you can get or at least twise the rating of your most power hungry device. For example if you have a microwave 1100 Watts you get 2000Watts transformer, no less! They are also quite heavy.

And final note is that since you said you would be building... you may find yourself using a generator (gasoline or diesel) and all of them have 110/220 outlets. Keep that in mind.

its all going to depend on the person....

if its tv,s microwaves, and general house hold stuff... sell and buy....

if its specialised tools etc that you are going to use often... then maybe then you consider wiring your house for 110v.... but a transformer per appliance is a much better idea....

Thanks to all for the input. I already know that many of the electronic "goodies" we have can not be found [for reasonable price] in Chile. My Chilean cunada is always asking me to bring things from the States on our visits, and is envious of my gourmet kitchen "toys" [you know, a decent cutting knife or a spatula that won't melt]. I know that I/we [you should see my husband's workshop] could live without things from what many of you call the evil empire, but at this late stage of the game [reitred] why should we? I have looked at the price of ordering good quality items in the proper vac from places like Germany and Italy, but the cost of shipping to Chile is still out of the realm of reason.

I understand that for many Chileans the extra price for durable/quality goods is not worth there while because they usually have cheap labor for repair or housework, but I am a Gringa and have always done for myself, and will continue to do so as long as I am able, so I do want to have my helpmates with me, even if in the form of electronic devices, etc. so it looks like a step down will do the trick. We only need the 110s in the kitchen, workshop and media area, so won't be the whole house. Again, thanks for the input. It helps us make our way in less darkness....