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As an American I find it difficult to buy power adaptors for travel to Italy. You can buy them in the US but once you're in Italy you discover they don't fit ab

As an American I find it difficult to buy power adaptors for travel to Italy. You can buy them in the US but once you're in Italy you discover they don't fit about half the outlets. The best solution is to visit a hardware store in Italy and buy some adapters and power strips. These usually work.

graton 2y ago
From what I have read Italy uses a mixture of Type C, Type F, and Type L. Ouch! And when I went to Italy I also stopped in a store to buy an adapter when my Europe adapter didn't work.
- bonzini 2y ago
  Type C plugs are compatible with both Type F and Type L sockets, it's just a more compact plug for when you have no need for ground. There are no Type C sockets. So it's a mix of type F and Type L. Modern homes typically use combo sockets that accept both, or two sockets (one of each type) side by side in at least some of the fixtures. Italy uses a very cool modular system for electrical fixtures[1] which makes it easy to combine multiple plugs, or plugs and switches as well. For those appliances that need to move a lot around the home (e.g., vacuum cleaners) to places where there could be no type F socket installed, you keep an F->L adaptor on the plug and basically never use it elsewhere. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=frutto+bticino+living+now https://www.google.com/search?q=frutto+bticino+living+now
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- N19PEDL2 2y ago
  Basically you can find 3 types of outlet in Italy: - Type L 10A-only: can fit Type L 10A and Type C [0] - Bipasso: can fit Type L (both 10A and 16A) and Type C [1, left] - Bipasso + Schuko: can fit Type L (both 10A and 16A), Type C and Type F (and even type E, but without earthing) [1, right]. Edit: added pictures. [0] https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity-type-L-socket-single-199x300.jpg https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity... [1] https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity-type-L-bipasso-socket-300x223.jpg https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity...
  - bonzini 2y ago
    It's almost impossible these days to have type E plugs with only the hole for ground and no springy pins on the side. So type E plugs are totally interoperable with both type E and type F sockets.
ifwinterco 2y ago
For stuff like phone chargers you just need the 2 pin europlug, a proper 3 pin adapter is only needed for anything over 2.5A
- YakBizzarro 2y ago
  the ground pin is not about power, is about the isolation type of the appliance. Appliances class II don't require ground, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes
N19PEDL2 2y ago
Something like this should fit in any outlet in Italy: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qT+YyuhBL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qT+YyuhBL.jpg
- Bene592 2y ago
  That has the center earth pin. Doesn't fit in to Schuko
  - GaggiX 2y ago
    If you find a schuko in Italy, it will have the center earth pin.

graton 2y ago

From what I have read Italy uses a mixture of Type C, Type F, and Type L. Ouch! And when I went to Italy I also stopped in a store to buy an adapter when my Europe adapter didn't work.

bonzini 2y ago
Type C plugs are compatible with both Type F and Type L sockets, it's just a more compact plug for when you have no need for ground. There are no Type C sockets. So it's a mix of type F and Type L. Modern homes typically use combo sockets that accept both, or two sockets (one of each type) side by side in at least some of the fixtures. Italy uses a very cool modular system for electrical fixtures[1] which makes it easy to combine multiple plugs, or plugs and switches as well. For those appliances that need to move a lot around the home (e.g., vacuum cleaners) to places where there could be no type F socket installed, you keep an F->L adaptor on the plug and basically never use it elsewhere. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=frutto+bticino+living+now https://www.google.com/search?q=frutto+bticino+living+now
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
N19PEDL2 2y ago
Basically you can find 3 types of outlet in Italy: - Type L 10A-only: can fit Type L 10A and Type C [0] - Bipasso: can fit Type L (both 10A and 16A) and Type C [1, left] - Bipasso + Schuko: can fit Type L (both 10A and 16A), Type C and Type F (and even type E, but without earthing) [1, right]. Edit: added pictures. [0] https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity-type-L-socket-single-199x300.jpg https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity... [1] https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity-type-L-bipasso-socket-300x223.jpg https://www.worldstandards.eu/wp-content/uploads/electricity...
- bonzini 2y ago
  It's almost impossible these days to have type E plugs with only the hole for ground and no springy pins on the side. So type E plugs are totally interoperable with both type E and type F sockets.

ifwinterco 2y ago

For stuff like phone chargers you just need the 2 pin europlug, a proper 3 pin adapter is only needed for anything over 2.5A

YakBizzarro 2y ago
the ground pin is not about power, is about the isolation type of the appliance. Appliances class II don't require ground, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes

N19PEDL2 2y ago

Something like this should fit in any outlet in Italy: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qT+YyuhBL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qT+YyuhBL.jpg

Bene592 2y ago
That has the center earth pin. Doesn't fit in to Schuko
- GaggiX 2y ago
  If you find a schuko in Italy, it will have the center earth pin.