Electricity

Russian standard voltage in the houses (and any public buildings) is 220 Volts, 50 Hertz, single-phase. The plug is the two-pin thin European standard.

Actually there are two types of outlets (and plugs) in use in Russia. For a long period of time we were using thin pin plugs. But for last several years they are ousted by european standard thick pin plugs and outlets.

Old standard plug (thin pin)	New standard plug (thick pin)	New standard outlet

Thick pin plugs and outlets are equipped with grounding contact, but outlets are not always connected to the real ground.

You can easily use thin plug with new outlet for thick plug. It will fit. But new thick pin plugs will not fit some of the old outlets, designed for using thin pin plugs. But adapters for using thick pin plugs with old outlets are available at any shop.

If you are going to use in Russia any electrical equipment, designed for operation with different form Russian standard voltage/frequency, you will need and adaptor to convert voltage/frequency. Such adaptors are usually sold in travelers/tourist stores. They are not easy to find in Saint Petersburg, so you should better bring one with you.

There is an example of such adaptor below.

110-220 AC Adaptor (front)	110-220 AC Adaptor (back)

This adaptor came with plug adaptor suitable for US, European thick pin and thin pin plugs. Also this particular AC adaptor has a switch to choose the type of power conversion: from 110V to 220V, or from 220V to 110V. So it can be used as in Europe/Russia as in US. It has a fuse and overheat protection.

Note that most adaptors, like one shown above, convert only voltage (from 220V to 110V, for example) but not frequency. This may be dangerous for your equipment to work with such adaptor, if the equipment is designed to operate with frequency more than 50Hz.

Adaptors converting frequency are complicated devices and very rare and expensive. Also they are relatively big and heavy if compared to only voltage converters.

Do not exceed maximum load for AC adaptor

For example, if you have a digital camera charger designed to operate voltage 110V 60Hz and you only have simple voltage converter, it is better to consult with your vendor is it safe for this device to operate with 110V 50Hz. Remember: if the frequency is lower then needed, overheat of equipment may occur.