Some of the things that a person who wants to visit Barbados must know are the type of electrical outlet and plug used in that country, the standard voltage used by the appliances and electronic gadgets, and the kinds of adapters and voltage converters that could be used. In Barbados, the standard voltage is 110-120 volts while the primary electrical outlet types are Type A NEMA 1-15 / JIS C 8303 North American Non-Grounded, Non-Polarized and the Type B NEMA 5-15 North American Grounded and Polarized.

In a person’s trip to Barbados, which is an island country located around the area of the Caribbean Sea, adapters and voltage converters might be needed. Adapters are used to alter the shape of the plug so that it could be compatible with the shape of the electrical outlet present in Barbados.

Another consideration is that if the plug is not compatible with the electrical outlet, it would be physically impossible to use them together, hence a person traveling to Barbados may not be able to make full use of his or her appliances and electronic gadgets. To solve this, there are different kinds of adapters a person in Barbados could use. There is even a universal adapter that is compatible with almost all type of electrical plugs and outlets. In terms of voltage, there are different kinds of voltage converters like the network-resistor converter, step-up and step-down transformer, and combination travel converter. If a person in Barbados would want to use an electronic gadget or appliance that uses 220-240 volts, he or she would need a plug adapter and a step-up transformer. For electronic gadgets and appliances made in Japan that has 100 volts, a Japan to U.S. reducer transformer would be needed in Barbados.

Type A NEMA 1-15 / JIS C 8303 (North American Non-grounded, Non-polarized) Plug, Adapter, and Electrical Outlet

Type A plug and outlet

The NEMA 1-15 is also known as the Type A North American/Japanese 2-blade electrical adapter plug and electrical outlet. It also has the technical name North American 15 A/125 V ungrounded. The NEMA 1-15 is a flat blade attachment plug that uses two flat parallel pins or blades. Older designs allow the blades to be inserted either way; however, contemporary  NEMA 1-15 plugs in Barbados are designed with the neutral blade wider than the live blade allowing just one way of plugging and ensuring that the polarized plug is inserted appropriately into the electrical outlet. The new design of NEMA 1-15 changed so much that it will not fit in the old type of NEMA 1-15 electrical outlet in Barbados. The NEMA 1-15 is mostly found in North America and in the east coast of South America  like Barbados. This is used used for smaller devices that do not really need a ground connection.  There is also another socket that is commonly used in Japan, the JIS X 8303 Class II (Japanese 15 A/100 V ungrounded) which is similar to the NEMA 1-15, the only difference from Barbados is the stricter dimensional requirements for the plug housing, marking, and mandatory testing and approval.

Type A adapter

With the NEMA 1-15 adapter, the receptacle end will accept any standard household plug in Barbados, aside from the Type M South African SABS1661 plug, which is also known as the Old British BS-546 Large plug.  Although the NEMA 1-15 looks similar to the plugs of the U.S. and Canada and the appliance and electronic gadgets might be manufactured in the said countries, an adapter might still be needed because of the grounding and polarization requirements in Barbados. In the NEMA 1-15 plug and electrical outlet, grounding is done by the third, round pin located beneath the two vertical blades on the plug. On the other hand, polarization is done by the left vertical blade being taller than the right one. If the plug does have grounding or polarization and the electrical socket does not have one, it would be physically impossible to insert the plug into the electrical socket. If this happens to a tourist in Barbados and there is also no adapter present, that person might not be able to use his or her electronic gadgets and appliances. The blades of this adapter that is usually needed by tourists when they are spending some time in Barbados are 6.4mm long, 1.5mm thick, and are spaced 12.7mm apart. The NEMA 1-15 plug is also non-polarized and non-grounded which is very important.

Type B NEMA 5-15 (North American Grounded)

Type B plug and outlet

The Type B NEMA 5-15 is also compatible with any standard household plug in Barbados, except the Type M South African SABS1661 (Old British BS-546 Large) plug. For the specifications, the Type B NEMA 5-15 has blade contacts 6.4mm tall, 15mm thick, and are spaced 12.7mm apart. The grounding pin, on the other hand, is 4.8mm in diameter. Although the Type B NEMA 5-15 is grounded, it is not polarized and must be used with care. Moreover, the Type B NEMA 5-15 is often used in North and Central America as well as Japan, and it is also what is used in Barbados.

Type B adapter

It is a class I plug that has two flat parallel prongs and a grounding pin, rated at 15 amps. In Japan, this kind of plug and electrical outlet is the standard. Similar to Type A NEMA 1-15 plugs, the NEMA 5-15 in Barbados is also one of the most dangerous plugs in the world because the prongs are not insulated. The black covering that is supposed to cover the plug body is lacking hence if the plug is pulled halfway and the prongs are still inserted in the electrical outlet, there might be some accidents like electrocution.

Voltage Converters

Voltage Converter

In Barbados, if the the wrong plug is inserted in the wrong electrical outlet or the voltage does not match, there could be some real damage to the appliance or electronic gadget. In worse cases, this might even cause electrocution. It is important to know the proper voltage, electrical outlet, plugs, and adapters to use when visiting Barbados and other countries because sometimes these electric requirements vary depending on the location. If the voltage of the appliance or electronic gadget to be used in Barbados does not match its 110-120 volts requirement, a tourist in Barbados would need a voltage converter.

Transformer

There are three kinds of voltage converters available: the transformer, the network-resistor converter, and the combination of these two. For laptop computers, cameras, mp3 players, and charging of batteries in Barbados, the recommended voltage converter to be used is the transformer as it has a lower maximum watt rating of 50 to 100 watts and it could be used continuously although it could be heavy because of the large iron rods and copper wires inside. The resistor-network converter could support 50-1600 watts and are often used for a short period of time and in light-weight electrical appliances like hair dryers and iron. The combination network-resistor converter and transformer device usually comes with a switch so a tourist using it in Barbados to convert voltage could just choose which mode to use.

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