Kotatsu in Europe

Hello,

I have been living in Japan for 5 years and will be moving to Italy next month. I would like to bring my Kotatsu but since the heater is not the best quality i'm worried about using it on the higher voltage even with a transformer. Has anyone else used a kotatsu with transformer on european voltage? Or know where I could find just the heater which is made for the european voltage? (220V-230V 50Hz)?

Is it a heating lamp or a fan type? Check the European or Italian electrical code as the heating lamp type kotatsu is not sold in US.
But of course if you bring or make your own, it is up to you.
If it is a lamp type, any step down transformer would work as long as it is meeting the rated wattage, even a travel high frequency one.
If a fan type, need a proper transformer.
Or go to Akihabara & ask for a kotatsu heating element for China if not available for Europe. China is 220V 50Hz so it should work fine in Italy. You need to change the plug for Italy, though.

If you search this site on 'transformer' you will find a number of threads about this issue.
I do not think you can find heating lamps in Europe nowadays. Transformers are hard to find (remember most transformers are from 220 to 110 (or 240 to 120) and you need 100V). As the heating device is a resistive load you can also use a thryristor adapter (cheaper, lighter). But in Europe you can get small heating devices (with or without blower). Maybe that is an inexpensive sollution but you need to know what you are doing (electric safety). If you are realy technical you might consider to put a normal lamp in series. This is the lowest cost with the least lost of power and realy cheap.
B. Slager