I have received several emails over the last few weeks about this subject, and I want to nip it in the bud right now. Several people have bought beds and were ‘told’ that they can just use a buckboost transformer to change a 120V circuit to a 230V circuit, or vice versa. This is used as a premise on how ‘easy’ it will be to install if they just buy this used bed.

First, let me clearly state that you can’t do this for a tanning bed. Yes, you can buy a transformer that will convert 120V to 230V (or 220V, 240V, etc.) or one that does the exact opposite and convert the higher 230V down to 120V, but this will not work for a tanning bed.

Short answer: Hire an electrician, wire a dedicated circuit. A transformer won’t work for this and can cause a fire, electrocution and/or death. I am not overstating this, you can’t do this with a transformer, no matter who told you this, and no matter how “smart” he thought he was.

Long answer: Now, for those who want to know WHY you can’t use a tranformer like this for a tanning bed, let me explain in more detail. Warning, this is technical so if you eyes glaze over while reading it, don’t worry as your electrician’s eyes shouldn’t. Understand that all electrical devices use power measured in WATTS. Watts = Volts x Amps. A tanning bed that uses 24 lamps at 100W each = 2400 watts. (yes, it has fans and other electronics that draw a little, but we will keep the math simple for this example). So 2400W is the total power used. Now, how many amps it will draw depends on the voltage, here is quick table:

2400W at 120V (volts) = 20 amps
2400W at 240V = 10 amps
2400W at 2400V = 1 amp

So the higher the voltage is, the lower the amp draw is to get the total wattage needed to power the bed. This is all Electricity 101 stuff, and there is no escaping it. The problem is that most beds need more than 100W per lamp, so the above numbers don’t apply to a read world situation. This is because most beds use MORE than 100W per lamp to get the lamp started, and then just 100W to keep it lit. Instead, you need to look at the rated amp draw.

For an example (see image as well), lets look at an Alpha Sun Sunny 24, which is a typical ‘choke ballast’ 24 x 100w lamp system. At 230V, it requires a 20 amp breaker. If you take 120V at the wall, then double it to 240V to power the system, you have to DOUBLE the amp draw. This means you need about 40 amps of power. This would be 8 gauge wire. All homes use 14 gauge wire (15 amp) or 12 gauge wire (20 amp), which is considerably smaller and carries a much lower load. In short, the breaker will trip as soon as you power on the bed, every time. That or if the breaker fails, the electrical load is so high it will melt the wires, which can (and likely will) cause a fire.

There is another example where someone wants to take a 230V circuit, and use it to power a 120V tanning bed using a transformer. In this situation, you will take the two 120V hot legs (which combined = 240V) and cut the power in half. Now you have two 60V legs that equal 120V, but you have NO neutral wire. Not only will this create a dangerous situation, but you will likely burn out some of the electronics inside that are expecting a neutral wire. Besides, if you have a dedicated 240V/20A circuit, an electrician can change this into a dedicated 120V/20A circuit by simply swapping out the breaker and outlet. It is a about 30 minutes of work at most.

In conclusion: Buckboost transformers are designed to bump the voltage up or down by a small amount, like 8 to 24 volts. Trying to use one to double the voltage, or cut the voltage in half only works in theory. In practice, it will damage the bed and can cause a fire and you can be seriously injured. Don’t do it, hire an electrician and just wire the bed right the first time.

Dennis