I have a client who lives in the US and wants to purchase an English (electric) coal-effect fire (from Britain) with 'opti-mist' smoke effect. I know the appliance is 220 or 240, but will it work in the US with an adapter? or transformer? sorry to be so ignorant about this, but...

You can check out the videos on google, and the item is at Dimplex fires (UK site).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bradley

The final answer in in the installation instructions of the appliance. The real question is if there is anything in there that will not work at 60 hz.

The next question is the operating voltage range. You can easily see 250v here.

If it is 50/60 hz rated and has a 210-250v operating range you can hook it right up. You will just need the appropriate 240v branch circuit.

Greg,
Thanks for the quick reply and the info. That is exactly what I needed!

Brad

Don't know how it works in the US but in Canada if the unit is not UL or CSA listed for Canada you will get rejected by the inspector. I know of several people buying product in the USA and bringing it to Canada only to be rejected.

If the product is valuable enough you can always get a special inspection done. At least worth the 150 to XXX dollar fee for the inspection and sticker.

I didn't want to get into listing because I assumed this was cord and plug connected. The most likely listing in Europe would be TUV and that is a recognized lab in the US. You could look for that. "CE" really doesn't mean much here tho.

BTW JD, how can something be CSA listed and not be OK in Canada? Isn't the "C" in CSA the "Canadian" <Standards Association>?

Quote " "CE" really doesn't mean much here tho."

To be honest I don't think it really means too much here either! It is mandatory for marketing, but is not, as often thought, an independant certification. It is merely a manufacturers declaration of compliance with EU standards, the identity and scope of which it is sometimes difficult to ascertain.
Hence for reputable major European based manufacturers it can be taken at face value, and these will often carry additional certifications. For some imports or items of unclear origin however I think it means little.

Basically every European state has at least one national testing lab and even though approvals are recognised throughout the EU, many appliances still carry a whole list of approvals. The TÜV has branches all across Europe so their logo can be found on a lot of stuff, but it's not exactly what I'd look for on electric equipment. There the national electrical approvals such as VDE, IS,... are more interesting. For UK appliances it should be the "Kite mark" I think.

Greg, CSA does testing to Canadian and/or US Standards depending on what the client wants.

Here is what the marks look like if the device is approved for use in just Canada or in both countries.

http://www.csa-international.org/certification_marks/marks_for_canada/

http://www.csa-international.org/certification_marks/marks_for_us/

The same applies with the UL and cUL listing mark where the cUL means approval to Canadian Standards.

http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/corporate/aboutul/ulmarks/mark/#north

Just did a quick internet search and these Dimplex Optimist fireplace units are also made in North America.

The customer may want to see if the fireplace they want to buy is available from the North American catalog.
http://www.dimplex.com/consumer_products/fireplaces/optimyst

The owners manual says the NA manufactured ones have a cULus listing.

This is a Dimplex that my wife couldn't live without in a cabinet I built. The rocks on the sides slide out of the way to get to the DVR, satellite boxes, PC, two UPS and other stuff that is buried there on roll out trays.




This picture was taken before we finished the hearth

There are several listing companies that are allowed to use in the US besides UL (US) and CSA (US) ETL and Farmer's Mutual (FM). As mentioned by others, a foreign listing company has to meet certain requirements.
First, if is a 50 hertz stove I'm sure it does not meet US standards. Appliance cords in the US are sold seperate so even though it has a NEMA config plug, it does not meet US standard.

And I seriously doubt and sensible inspector inspector would ok it although it is not covered by the NEC. the recept is, not the stove. It's up to the user to use it properly and liable for misuse. 50 hertz electronic circuits don't mix and I doubt the burners will put out like they normally would

The problem comes when a product s NOT CSA listed. I heard of hot tubs being rejected that were brought in from USA. We have a lot of cross border shoppers here being so close to the border. Cheaper up front but not if you can't install it without a special one time certification inspection.

Keep in mind that even if it is 50/60 hertz rated, in Britian you are dealing with 230v phase to neutral and ground while hear its 120 to ground. HGH instead of HGN

For an appliance that shouldn't make any difference in most cases. Most exceptions are more code related than real technical issues, e.g. double pole switching might(!) be required in a 230V HGH setup. The only real exception I know of are some boiler controls which use ionisation flame monitors and require a solid ground reference to work properly.