We brought our refrigerator, washer, dryer, television and all our small appliances with us from the US. I would say our experience has been mixed.
I love my American washing machine. It is huge by Indian standards. I can do one load in my machine that would take 3-4 loads in a typical Indian machine. However, I think my machine uses more water, more electricity and does not do as good a job at spinning out all the water at the end. I have a great washing machine repair man and I have had to use him quite a few times. I think operating on the Indian power grid (even through a transformer) is really damaging the major appliances. The machine is not grounded and I have been shocked on a few occasions. Finally, most utility rooms will NOT have a provision for hot water. Your American machine is used to pulling in hot water from one tap and cold water from another and self-regulating the mix. In your house in Bangalore you will most likely only have a cold water tap. You will have to add in buckets of hot water by hand! Indian washing machines heat the water internally so it makes things quite a bit easier. In the end – we should have left this one at home.
The clothes dryer has not been used since moving to Bangalore. It has been sitting outside in the garage for over two years now. At first it was because there was no room in the first house we lived in. Now it is because we have to have some re-wiring done in the utility room to place a 30 AMP plug in order to run the dryer. It would be nice to have because during the monsoon it can take DAYS to dry out clothes – and then it rains on them again! In the end - we should have left this one at home.
Television – all your appliances will most likely require a transformer so they can be plugged into the Indian plugs. In addition, your TV will need a “converter box.” We did not hook up our tv for the first two years we were here. Now however we wanted to get a flat screen tv so we purchased one at Costco and had friends bring it in their shipment. We made sure to buy one that would work on the Indian power grid. (I am going to have my husband post on all the technical topics!)
