A tourist who wants to visit Venezuela must be informed about the standard voltage, electrical outlet, plug, and adapters present in this country. Through this, any tourist could make the most of their trip and use their electronic gadgets and appliances in Venezuela safely and conveniently. In Venezuela, the voltage used is 110-120 V while the primary electrical outlet is Type A NEMA 1-15 North American Non-grounded, Non-polarized (JIS C 8303) and the Type B NEMA 5-15 North American Grounded, Non-Polarized.

Also, there are two important things to consider in using an electronic gadget or appliance in Venezuela. The voltage of the electronic gadget or appliance must be compatible with the voltage of the electrical outlet in Venezuela. If not, there are voltage converters like the transformer and the combination voltage converter that could be used. If a tourist would insist on using an electronic gadget or appliance in Venezuela with an electrical outlet of a  different voltage, this could lead to fires or cause damage to the electronic gadget or appliance.

Another concern is the shape of the plug and the shape of electrical outlet used in Venezuela. There are various types of plugs and electrical outlet and some of them might not be physically compatible. If this is the case, the solution to this are adapters that would alter the shape of the plug so that it could be used together with the electrical outlet in Venezuela. When a tourist would want to use an electronic gadget or appliance that has a 220-240 V in Venezuela, he or she would need a plug adapter and a step-up transformer.

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

Type A plug and outlet

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 Venezuela 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 Venezuela. The NEMA 1-15 is mostly found in North America and in the east coast of South America  like Venezuela. This is used used for smaller devices that do not really need a ground connection. 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.    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 Venezuela is the stricter dimensional requirements for the plug housing, marking, and mandatory testing and approval.

Type A adapter

The blades of this adapter that is usually needed by tourists when they are spending some time in Venezuela 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. With the NEMA 1-15 adapter, the receptacle end will accept any standard household plug in Venezuela, 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 Venezuela. 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 Venezuela and there is also no adapter present, that person might not be able to use his or her electronic gadgets and appliances.

Type B NEMA 5-15 North American Grounded, Non-Polarized Plug, Adapter, and Electrical Outlet

Type B plug

The Type B NEMA 5-15 is also compatible with any standard household plug, except the Type M South African SABS1661 (Old British BS-546 Large) plug. 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. 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 Venezuela. Also, the Type B NEMA 5-15 is a class I plug that has two flat parallel prongs and a grounding pin, rated at 15 amps. Similar to Type A NEMA 1-15 plugs, the NEMA 5-15 is also one of the most dangerous plugs in Venezuela and even 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 or a minor electrical shock.  Although the Type B NEMA 5-15 is grounded, it is not polarized. This kind of plug and electrical outlet is common in households of Venezuela.

Type B outlet

Type B adapter

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