October 21 photo assignment: electricity

Anyone who has been following this blog has seen quite a few posts where I'm whining about power outages (they have been happening on average 1-2 times per week for several hours at a time, definitely worse for others).  But today I wanted to talk about the electrical system when it works!

Tanzanian electricity runs on 220 volts (vs 110 U.S.), which means that most U.S. appliances would be fried here.  One of the few exceptions is laptop computers, which are designed to handle a wide spectrum of voltage.

There seem to be three main types of plugs here: a 2-pronged, a 3-pronged wide, and a 3-pronged standard.  Below is a picture of the 2-pronged and 3-pronged wide version.

The 3-pronged wide plug doesn't fit into the wall socket, so you need to buy an adapter, pictured at left.

The 2-pronged version fits into the wall socket, but in order to make it work, you need to push down the top "gate" with something around the size of a pencil to release the bottom 2 openings.  I'm finally getting the hang of this, although it's tricky.

The 3-pronged standard version can simply be plugged into the wall socket.

Another difference from U.S. plugs is that the socket itself can be turned "off" when not in use.  This is actually a great idea that the U.S. should adapt - it cuts down on wasted electric use, or "vampire power."

One of our first purchases in Tanzania was a power regulator.  Electronic devices don't like fluctuations in current.  When the voltage is higher or lower than 220 volts, this box regulates it to maintain a constant stream of power.  We can usually tell when a power outage is coming, because this device starts going crazy with clicking noises.  It's also the first sign when the power is back on, since it comes back with an ear-splitting tone.