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Electricity in Sweden and England


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Hi everyone, so I have a potential DP gig in Sweden and in England next year. I wanted to know for lights and camera batteries what is the protocol? I'll probably rent from places overseas and they probably already have fixtures already rated for their current form of electricity.

 

I've researched a bit and from what I'm reading the voltage is 230, would it differ only in terms of amperage? Do they they have the same maximum amperage like the US? Like 15-20Amp circuits? Will the lights used here in the states have the same effect and output over there? Or will the frequency of the units cause some sort of effect?

 

Would be nice if people can recommend me a few places for rentals. Not too sure where I'll be specifically, but anything just so I can research their websites.

 

Thanks!

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In the UK, household sockets have 13 amp sockets. You would need to check at the fuse box, but 30 Amp circuits are not unusual

 

You need to change the lamps, but the first thing you;''ll notice is that you can run 3k from each power point.

 

The 50hz mains frequency may cause flicker problems with discharge and fluorescent lights unless you have factored in the shutter speed with US video frame rates and 24fps film.

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All modern battery chargers will be multi voltage .. bring travel adaptor for the plugs of course.. UK and Sweden are not the same plug.. check lithium battery airline rules.. basically under 100 WH as many as the weight limit for carry on.. 100-160 WH.. one on camera and 2 spares.. over 160WH no cigar..these are the basic IATA rules but worth checking with your airline as some have their own rules too.. if so .. change airline..

 

Any LED/Florrie light will be fine.. any lights with 110v bulbs you will need to change to 230v.. if you are shooting 30 /24p.. use 1/50th shutter..instead of 1/48th or 1/60th... this will cover flicker on 99% of lights.. you may still get it on some weird sodium /neop lights..

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10-13amps in both countries. UK has a different plug than Sweden (Euro plug) does, but you can jam a Euro plug into a UK one as long as you first jam the ground and open the covers up. But it doesn't work the other way around.

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I believe the Swedes use mainly 10A and 16A fuses like here in Finland?

you will want to check the locations, it depends on the place and the age of the wiring how large fuses a house is allowed to use.

10A is safe to assume unless knowing for sure. Here some old houses may still have even 6A fuses...

 

for chargers using separate detachable power cord (like v-lock chargers) you could just take the UK plug and Euro plug cords with you or buy them on location. could be more practical than using travel adapters if you have lots of gear with you.

 

Dagsljus is one of the rental houses in Sweden. they can source gear from their partners as well (for example from Angel Films in Helsinki) if you need more gear or specialised gear not available in the country.

 

A local gaffer could be very handy in both UK and Sweden. You will hire the G&E locally anyway so would probably be the most practical solution and they will help with the location electric issues as well... and help you get good rates from rental houses

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10-13amps in both countries. UK has a different plug than Sweden (Euro plug) does, but you can jam a Euro plug into a UK one as long as you first jam the ground and open the covers up. But it doesn't work the other way around.

Is this the sort of thing we should be recommending? Anyway, not any more you can't. Modern sockets (that means under 30 years old) have a sort of "butterfly" cover that prevents the old "screwdriver in the earth socket" trick from working. The contact is very poor anyway because the pins are a different shape. Additionally the appliance would not be earthed.

If you're renting here, you don't need to worry about adapters anyway.

Houses rewired in the last 30 years in the UK usually have 32A breakers on each floor. So as Brian says you can usually run 3K from any individual socket (they're usually twinned) and 6K from the floor as a whole. You may be able to do the same on another floor at the same time, as the house main fuse will be at least 60A and probably 100A. But don't blow that, as only the utility company can replace it.

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10-13amps in both countries. UK has a different plug than Sweden (Euro plug) does, but you can jam a Euro plug into a UK one as long as you first jam the ground and open the covers up. But it doesn't work the other way around.

 

 

Please dont do that in a hotel Im staying in .. :)

Edited by Robin R Probyn
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standard voltage in the UK is 240v, and lamps are readily available for most tungsten fixtures.(beware lamp base difference if using an Arri 150/LTM Pepper/Mole Inky) But if coming to the UK, there are MANY companies to rent gear from, so no need to worry. Where do you intend to be shooting in the UK?

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  • 2 weeks later...

As an addition, you'll find that lights will be fitted with 16a sockets quite a lot of the time, which is a c form plug. If you're running off of house mains you'll use a jumper to go 13a<16a.

 

Also, a 2.5k will run on a 13a socket, they're widly used, so are very cheap.

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