If a tourist wants to visit New Zealand, some of the things he or she must know are the standard voltage used by the appliances and electronic gadgets as well as the primary type of electrical outlet and plug. In New Zealand, the standard voltage is 220-240 volts with a frequency of 50Hz and the primary type of electrical outlet and plug is the Type I Australian AS-3112. Knowing this information will allow a tourist in New Zealand to use his or her electronic gadget without problems and delays.

There might also be cases when the shape of the plug is not compatible with the shape of the electrical outlet. To solve this, there are different kinds of adapters available in New Zealand. These adapters will alter the shape of the plug so that it would work together with the electrical outlet present in New Zealand. Another consideration is the compatibility of voltages. When the voltage used by the electronic gadget or appliance is not compatible with the voltage used in New Zealand, a voltage converter would be needed. Examples of voltage converters are network-resistor converters, step-up and step-down transformers, and combination voltage converters.

Type I Australian AS-3112 Adapter, Plug, and Electrical Outlet

Type I non-grounded plug

The blade contacts of the Type I Australia AS-3112 are 6.5 x 1.6mm with a phase and neutral blade angled at 30 degrees to vertical at a nominal pitch of 13.7mm. This standard plug of New Zealand is also polarized and grounded. The Type I Australian AS-3112 electrical outlet and plug is commonly used in New Zealand and other countries in the Pacific area. It is the standard in most houses in New Zealand and it is also slightly similar to the Chinese CPCS-CCC and the Argentine IRAM electrical outlet. These three sockets are interchangeable and are classified under the unofficial “Type I” category. This plug in New Zealand features a grounding pin and two flat prongs that form a V-shape.

Type I grounded plug

Moreover, the receptacle end of this Type I Australian AS-3112 can accept any standard household plug type in New Zealand except the Type M South African SABS1661, also known as the Old British BS-546 Large plug. However, there is also an ungrounded version of the Type I plug that only has two flat V-shaped prongs, but theelectrical outlet is always three-pinned. The Type I plug has other variants that include 15 A, 20 A, 25 A, and 32 A. The batteries of electronic gadgets must be charged through an electrical outlet and when the plugs do not match, an adapter that is compatible with the Type I outlet must be used. Aside from New Zealand, other countries that use the Type I Australian AS-3112 are Argentina, China (mainland except Taiwan), Papua New Guinea, Uruguay, Fiji, and Tokelau (the Union Islands).

Type I outlet

Type I adapter

Voltage Converters and Universal Adapters

Combination Voltage Converter

In using an electronic gadget or appliance that has a different voltage requirement than the 110-120 volts used in New Zealand, the best way is by using voltage converters such as resistor-network converters, transformers, and, in some cases, the combination of both. The resistor-network converters to be used in New Zealand are usually advertised to support as much as 50-1600 Watts and are just ideal to use for short periods of time. The resistor-network converter is also not recommended for digital devices like laptop computers however it is great for lightweight electronics like hair dryers and irons.

Type I transformer

If a tourist would want to use a laptop computer or charge batteries for camera, mp3 players, camcorders, and radios in New Zealand, the ideal voltage converter would be a transformer which lowers maximum watt rating. It could be used for long periods of time but is a little bit heavy because of the large iron rods and copper wires. The last kind of voltage converter in order to use electronics in New Zealand that are not compatible with the electrical outlet present in Ireland is the combination of a resistor-network converter and transformer. Most of the time, there is a switch that enables the changing of modes from resistor-network converter to transformer, depending on the tourist’s needs in New Zealand.

Universal Adapter

These voltage converters and adapters will be very handy if a tourist plans a trip to New Zealand and intends to bring along some gadgets that require a particular voltage.  Moreover, there are certain adapters that would fit particular plugs and these could be bought in hardware stores or electronic shops in New Zealand or before heading there. There are also universal adapters that could be used with any type of plug and electrical outlet, may it be in New Zealand or another country.

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