A lot of plugs

WhatPlug.info

Guide for the traveller with plugs

How to use plugs from France in Costa Rica

Plugs, sockets, adapters and other information needed for travelling from France to Costa Rica in this page. If you want a report for other countries, re-start the wizard to find to electric adapters for your trip here.

Quick Chart at-a-glance

  France Costa Rica  
Voltage: 230V. 120V. icons/exclamation2.gif  
Plugs Type: E. A, B. icons/exclamation2.gif  
Hertz: 50Hz. 60Hz. icons/note.gif  

If you are electrical savvy, perhaps the previous chart is all you need. If this is not the case, you can continue reading and discover what the chart is saying!

Plugs and Sockets at each country

In France the following plugs are used: (includes Paris, French Rivera, Provence, Loire Valley, Marseille, Lyon, Nice, Tahiti Nui, Tahiti Iti.)

France' Plug Type E
Plug Type E
France' Outlet Type E
Outlet Type E

... and in Costa Rica you will use: (includes Cocos Island, Arenal, Tortuguero, San José, Puerto Limón, La Fortuna, Playa Tamarindo.)

Costa Rica' Plug Type A Costa Rica' Plug Type B
Plug Type A Plug Type B
Costa Rica' Outlet Type A Costa Rica' Outlet Type B
Outlet Type A Outlet Type B

Sunset

Sunset

Voltage

Take care: Costa Rica uses lower voltage than France

Your electric devices from France will be expecting 230 Volts, but Costa Rica grid is of 120 Volts, this is a substantial difference that requires you to take some extra steps in preparation to your trip:

On the positive side, nowadays many devices will switch automatically to the network voltage and they will work just fine, i.e. mobile phone chargers are typically multi-voltage (but please, do actually check your own). It is important that you pay attention to your device's voltage. Connecting electronics to the wrong voltage, in the luckiest of the cases, the device will break or stop working temporarily; but please don't take this lightly, in the worst of the cases electrocution and fire hazards are a real possibility.

An automatic power supply suitable from 100 Volts to 240 Volts. An automatic power supply suitable from 100 Volts to 240 Volts.

High-power devices don't usually handle different voltages due to the high-currents involved i.e. anything that its main purpose involves generating heat (or cold) like hair driers, baby bottle warmers, kettles, etc. On the contrary, modern low-power devices are likely to auto-detect and auto-adapt to different voltages i.e. usb chargers, laptop chargers, etc.

A hair-dryer showing its consumption of 2000 Watts at 220 Volts A hair-dryer can consume up to 2000 Watts, like the one in the picture above, due to the high power they usually work in one voltage system; this one is suitable for 220-240 Volts systems.

You will need a step down voltage converter a device that can be plugged to 120 volts and it provides an outlet with 230 volts for your France' device. You will need to pay attention to the maximum power output of the converter and the maximum power consumption of the device.

Plugs Type

Different plug systems

Different plug systems

Sorry, none of the plugs used in both countries are common. You will definitelly need plug adapters, please continue reading for more information.

Adapters

Lists of adapters you can use in your travel:

Adapter: generic

front view of generic adapter to use plugs type A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N from France in outlets type B from Costa Rica back view of generic adapter to use plugs type A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N from France in outlets type B from Costa Rica
Front Back

This adapter allows you to use plugs type: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N into outlets type: B.

Adapter: generic

front view of generic adapter to use plugs type C, D, E, F, G, M from France in outlets type A, B from Costa Rica back view of generic adapter to use plugs type C, D, E, F, G, M from France in outlets type A, B from Costa Rica
Front Back

This adapter allows you to use plugs type: C, D, E, F, G, M into outlets type: A, B.

This adapter is probably illegal in some countries, we put it here for educational purposes; it does not have earth connection but it allows earthed plugs to be connected to it. It has no finger-terminal protection. Try to go for a more expensive and safer alternative.

Adapter: generic

front view of generic adapter to use plugs type C, E, F from France in outlets type A, B from Costa Rica back view of generic adapter to use plugs type C, E, F from France in outlets type A, B from Costa Rica
Front Back

This adapter allows you to use plugs type: C, E, F into outlets type: A, B.

Simple, small and cheap. You can buy half a dozen of them for almost no money and they will not occupy space in your travel bag. its drawback, it does not have earth-connection but it might not be required for some devices.

Adapter: generic

front view of generic adapter to use plugs type E from France in outlets type B from Costa Rica back view of generic adapter to use plugs type E from France in outlets type B from Costa Rica
Front Back

This adapter allows you to use plugs type: E into outlets type: B.

Solid and safe plug with all the required protections, it does one job right. The only comment is that the rounded terminals are usually used with 220v but flat ones tend to be 110v, So please double check your device can handle the voltage difference.

Adapters you can buy

You can buy the following multi-purpose adapters from Amazon. Please also take a look at the recommended gadgets for your trip.

Hertz

No equal Hertz

This is not a big issue. Unless you are using an electric alarm clock or some motors when speed is an issue. Explanation: Some alarm clocks uses the frequency of electricity network to measure time. So, time shifts could be experimented. Almost every home electronic device works perfectly with different Hertz.

Finally, by the way ...

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