How to use plugs from United Kingdom in Costa Rica
Plugs, sockets, adapters and other information needed for travelling from United Kingdom 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
| United Kingdom | Costa Rica | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Voltage: | 230V. | 120V. |
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| Plugs Type: | G, D, M. | A, B. |
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| Hertz: | 50Hz. | 60Hz. |
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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 United Kingdom the following plugs are used: (includes London, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton.)
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| Plug Type G | Plug Type D | Plug Type M |
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| Outlet Type G | Outlet Type D | Outlet Type M |
Considerations for the United Kingdom
It is likely you will only find plugs-type "G" in the UK. Plugs type "D" and "M" are considered "old" and not common. They are are still used nowadays to differentiate low-power lighting circuits. So please don't try to use an adapter on them for high-power equipments like hair-dryer or even battery chargers.
We keep "D" and "M" plugs in our database as we don't know your exact destination and you might find one next to a bed table. As a rule of thumb, you will probably be fine with the type "G" in hotels and big cities.
... and in Costa Rica you will use: (includes Cocos Island, Arenal, Tortuguero, San José, Puerto Limón, La Fortuna, Playa Tamarindo.)
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| Plug Type A | Plug Type B |
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| Outlet Type A | Outlet Type B |
Sunset
Voltage
Take care: Costa Rica uses lower voltage than United Kingdom
Your electric devices from United Kingdom 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.
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.
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 United Kingdom' 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
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
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| 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
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| 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.
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.
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