|
Turkey
operates on 220 volts, 50
Hz, with round-prong European-style
plugs (see the photo to the right) that
fit into recessed wall sockets/points.
Four-
and five-star hotels often provide
North American-style 120 volts, 60
Hz flush-mounted sockets (points)
for North American flat-prong plugs.
Check
your appliances before leaving
home to see what you'll need to
plug in when you travel in Turkey.
Many
appliances with their own power
adapters (such as laptop computers
and digital cameras)—can be
plugged into either 110-120-volt
or 220-240-volt sockets/points and
will adapt to
the voltage automatically, (but you
will need a plug adaptor that
can fit into the recessed wall socket/point.
Read on.)
Read
the technical stuff on your power
adapter to see (the power adapter
is the little gizmo, usually black
and rectangular, that's in the power
line between your laptop or camera
and the socket/point.) Look for "INPUT:
A.C. 100-240V".
If
it reads that way, it can operate
on either 110-120 or 220-240 voltage.
If it says something like "INPUT:
100-125V", then it can't run
on Turkey's 220-240 volts and you'll
need to bring a transformer (also
called a power or voltage converter).
You'll probably also need
a plug adapter that looks
like one of those in the photo on
the right side of this page.
If
you end up landing in Turkey without
one you can search out a Turkish
electrician's shop (elektrikçi), but
how will you charge your appliance
until you find an elektrikçi?
Many
Turkish
hotels have plug adaptors
that they lend to guests. That
might keep you going until you can find
an elektrikçi.
(You'll want to have your own adaptor
to carry with you.)
In
Istanbul, there are several elektrikçi shops
in Eminönü on the streets
between Sirkeci
Station and the
Main Post Office (Büyük
Postahane).
ELECTRICITY IN YOUR HOTEL ROOM
In
your hotel room there may be an energy-saving
device operated by your room key:
you insert the flat card of the room
key into a slot, and this activates
all the electricity in your room,
including lights, fan and television.
(See the photo to the right.) The
slot is usually on the wall just
inside the door of your hotel room.
The
idea
is that
you
will remove the
card from the slot when you take
your room key with you and leave
your room for the day, shutting
off all the electricity automatically
and thus cutting hotel costs.
But
what if you want to charge
batteries in your computer, iPod,
digital camera or other device while
you're out of your room? The batteries
won't charge if all the electricity
is shut off.
Simple
solution: if the card is simply a
card, slide
a piece of stiff paper into the card
slot (a
business card works well) to turn
on the outlets/points
in the room, then switch off all
the lights and other devices except
the one you want to charge.
However,
some of these devices use cards with computer
chips in them; or thick
rectangular plastic key fobs. For
those, a business card or slip of
stiff paper will not work. You'll
have to charge your batteries at
night, while you're in your room.
A
few clever hotels put all lamps and
most wall outlets on the key-card
switch, but leave one or two outlets
always-on for such things as minibar
refrigerators. By experimentation,
you may find an outlet that will
remain powered on even when the key
card is not in its slot.
Internet
Access in Turkey
Using a Mobile Phone in Turkey
Telecommunications
in Turkey
Travel
Details
Turkey
Travel Planner Homepage
|
