Electrical Outlet and Voltage Information for Oman
Oman is a country located in the southwest coast of the Arabian Peninsula. If a tourist would want to visit Oman, it is important to know the standard voltage used by the electronic gadgets as well as the appliances, including the primary type of plug and electrical outlet.
Commonly used in Oman is the Type G British BS-1363 type of electrical outlet and plug. For the standard voltage, it is 220-240 volts with a frequency of 50Hz. These days, appliances and electronic gadgets are already a necessity even when travelling and when the batteries of these electronic gadgets run out, an electrical outlet to charge the batteries are important. Some of the commonly brought electronic gadgets while travelling in Oman and other countries are laptop computers, mp3 players, radios, hair curlers, hair irons, cameras, and mobile phones. In order to make full use of his or her electronic gadgets and appliances in Oman, a tourist must also have adapters and voltage converters at hand.
Type G British BS-1363 Plug, Electrical Outlet, and Adapter
The Type G electrical outlet and plug is a Type G British BS-1363 rectangular blade used widely in Oman that has a protective fuse inside to protect cords from high-current circuits and, most of the time, the Type G British BS-1363 electrical outlet includes a safety switch. The Type G British BS-1363 plug also has a receptacle end that is compatible with most household plug types, except the Type M South African SABS1661 (Old British BS-546 Large) plug. The plug end is a British BS-1363 13-amp type. For the adapter, the live and neutral pins are 4 x 6 x 18 mm apart, with the grounding pin measuring 4 x 8 x 23mm.
Also, through the Type G British BS-1363 adapter, a tourist could use his or her appliance or electronic gadget in Oman. The plug of this Type G British BS-1363 is polarized and grounded but not fused. Another name for the Type G British BS-1363 plug is the 13-amp plug and for safety reasons the Oman requires electrical outlets in households that use the Type G British BS-1363 to have shutters over the live and neutral connections of the electrical outlet. In the insertion of the longer earth pin from the plug, the safety shutters of the Type G British BS-1363 are opened. The shutters are also present to prevent the use of incompatible plugs made to other standards in Oman.
However, there are cases wherein the safety shutters of this electrical outlet could be opened through a screwdriver in order to insert Type C plugs. The usage of the Type G British BS-1363 outlet along with another kind of plug is not recommended because these plugs do not have a fuse. The regulation about the safety shutters and fuse is then followed in Oman and all the other countries that use the Type G British BS-1363 electrical outlet and plug like the United Kingdom, Oman, Ghana, Grenada, Macau, Malta, Malaysia, Qatar, Saint Vincent, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Maldives and Kuwait. In terms of compatibility, the Type G British 3-pin electrical outlet will work together with the Type G British BS-1363 plug and adapter in Oman.
With all the safety measures and features of this plug and outlet, it is considered as one of the safest in Oman, even the world. However, with all its features, this type of plug is bulky and cumbersome. Some people claim that the Type G British BS-1363 plug is mostly bigger than the appliances they are connected to but if tourists would want to use their electronic gadget or appliance in Kuwait, then they must have a Type G British BS-1363 adapter. Although the adapter would not change the voltage used, it will enable the plug of the appliance or electronic gadget to be inserted to the electrical outlet used in Oman. For the electrical outlet, the Type G British BS-1363 sockets are not compatible with other types of electrical outlet in Oman.
Voltage Converters and Adapters
Most appliances and electronic gadgets made in the United States of America (USA) have a voltage of 110-120 and using it directly on a 220-240 electrical outlet in Oman would cause damage to the appliance or electronic gadget, to the extent that it might be totally fried out or might even cause a fire. If a tourist wants to use his or her gadget in Oman, the best way is by using voltage converters such as resistor-network converters, transformers, and in some cases the combination of both. The resistor-network converters to be used in Oman are usually advertised to support as much as 50-1600 Watts and are just ideal to use for short periods of time. The resistor-network converter is also not recommended for digital devices like laptop computers however it is great for lightweight electronics like hair dryers and irons.
If a tourist would want to use a laptop computer or charge batteries for camera, mp3 players, camcorders, and radios in Oman, the ideal voltage converter is a transformer which lowers maximum watt rating. It could be used for long periods of time but is a little bit heavy because of the large iron rods and copper wires. The last kind of voltage converter in order to use electronics in Oman that are not compatible with the electrical outlet present in Oman is the combination of resistor-network converters and transformer. Most of the time, there is a switch that enables the changing of modes from resistor-network converter to transformer, depending on the tourist’s needs in Oman.