Hi and welcome to Geneva :)

I'm addicted to nespresso coffee as well. I think it would have been easier to sell your machine in US and buy a new one here. But now you brought it, I think it should work with a transformer. Depending on which machine is it and how old is it, you should check up if buying a new one might not be almost the same price...

Nico

Why not take it to the Nespresso store near Hôtel Metropole and ask them? If nothing else, you'll get a nice coffee and chocolate.  The service is absolutely fantastic.  I went there recently to get some capsules for a friend.  They had her preferences stored and I was able to choose the perfect gift.

Turn over the machine. You will see the number of watts listed on the sticker. You should get a transformer that is approx. 20-25% larger than this number. It is difficult (and costly) to find a tranformer of this size in CH. It will also be relatively large.

You might be better to find someone who is coming over to bring a transformer (110-220 v). You can buy them on-line in the States.

Are you kidding??? You can find a transformer from 220 to 110 in almost any electronics store - i know media markt has it. It costs 40-50 chf but still significantly less than a new machine. The watts have almost no relevance here.

Most Nespresso machines are 1'200 watts.

I don't see a CHF 50 transformer working but who knows. Not sure of the "watts no relevance" comment. Would not be great if she burns out her machine with a too small transformer.

Here is a Swiss link for a 1'000 watt machine.

http://smartshop.ch/kraftsaft/spannungswandler/spannungswandler240120vac1000w.php

You can also find 1'500 and 2'000 watt transformers but the weight and price goes up quickly.

Worse case scenario if the machine would draw too much power from the transformer, the transformer itself would burn, never the machine!

That link is sutable for high power applications that draw those amounts of power continuously. The machine would only use that power over a very short period of time while making 1 coffee.

The transformers you find in the store are made for electrical appliances like that. For Christ's sake, even my hair drier is rated at 2000W!

for 1200 watts (remember ohm's law PxI =E or any variation of this)  you will need a costly and heavy duty transformer. furthermore, you will be consuming more electricity than you would normally need for a 220v machine. maybe, nespresso could change the internal electrics for less than the price of the transformer.

i recently spoke with a nespresso manager, who told me that prices for the coffee machines would be drastically reduced in order to promote the espresso makers and thus sell more capsules.

i just bought a Nestlé Espresso Dolce Gusto maker for 133.- Chf. it's fantastic! so many different kinds of capsules and coffee choices.

http://www.nestle.co.uk/OurBrands/ProductRange/Drinks/Coffee/NESCAFEDolceGusto.htm

This is quite funny...... wanna exchange Expresso machines??  I have an European one and I am going back home to the US after almost 3 yrs here.   The machine is really my boyfriend's, and he is researching the exact same topic here.   I would have to check model and type, but we can switch if you want?? 

Since I am moving back I have an early viewing open house tomorrow night at 8:30PM to 9:30PM, and the final sale Saturday from 10AM to 2PM.

Also, I have 2 transformers that can get rid off.   They are heavy and were a bit expensive.  So only recommended for items you reaaaaally love and are bringing over from the US.  Want them???

Alba 

Actually ohms law is E=IR  (E for voltage)

Thank you everyone for the fast and helpful responses! I think all of the Nespresso lovers heard the fear in my voice, with the prospect of not being able to make a decent coffee!

I will definitely check out 1. the Nespresso store and 2. how much a new machine here will cost. 

Thanks again everybody!

Hi Alba

We are just moving in from the US and have a Nespresso machine we could exchange.

Our stuff is getting here on the Sept 6th?

Are you still going to be around?

Cheers.

Ole

Hi Sarah, 

I also brought my machine from the US - converted the plug (used the converted that steps down the voltage to US voltage) and it still started smoking. 

Been there...unfortunately, you need to breakdown and go get the swiss machine.

As well as different voltage, the US has a different frequency (60Hz compared to 50Hz in Europe), and the converter / transformer won't change that. Simple appliances will work fine but more complex ones (e.g TVs and, it seems, Nespresso machines) won't.

On a technical note, yes, the Watts matter, although as catalin points out it would be the transformer and not the device which suffers. The length of time doesn't matter, it would take just a few seconds to burn the coil in a transformer, and to protect them almost all transformers have a fuse, which burns in about 0.1 seconds if too much current is drawn.

So a big Glocals Nespresso-swap seems like the best option!

Disclaimer: I'm a tea drinker, and am joining the discussion purely out of scientific curiosity.

I don't think you can compare the TV set and the coffee machine ....

The colour standards for TV in Europe and US are different; PAL in most european countries and NTSC in US. Those systems were designed based on the frequency of the power supply, which is 50Hz in Europe and 60Hz in US.

These days most of the manofacturers have models that support both standards but the quality of the electronics (even if we pay quite a lot of money) is usually poor and the result will be far from perfect ...

The rest of the house appliances that don't work with a PAL/NTSC video signal, don't have this issue and should work almost fine with both 50Hz or 60Hz; as usually (real) quality matters as we are changing the conditions for which the appliance was designed ...

my nespresso husband says to call the nespresso ouchy ( by lausanne ) office and simply ask them or the nespresso shop in geneva. sybille