I don’t know what makes you two think he needs to run his 220 appliances on a 110 system
1 Like
Hmmmm have you read what people were actually writing?
Is Taiwan Luthiers two people?
EDIT: Oooops! I googled 110v to 220v, and clicked on that first link. I blame my dyslexia.
1 Like
Try to find a friend with an empty home. Lots of people have extra homes that they don’t rent out.
1 Like
That’s already where my luck ends 
3 Likes
Agree. We had this discussion often I think, both here and in related FB groups.
Basically, transformers work well for low-ish power devices. But everything higher powered (most things that for more than just a few minutes heat/cool/strongly move) is not very suitable. I have several of these simple Taiwanese few-thousand-NT transformers, which actually both ways (110 to 220 / 220 to 110) and use those for 110V stereo in Germany, 220V coffee machine in Taiwan, etc.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I guess unless my new company pays for a shipping container, there might be some stuff popping up on Forumosa for sale soon.
2 Likes
Since I’ll be moving soon, I had the same question. In the end I’ll replace the stuff that’s not worth sending, sending the rest and carrying the most valuable stuff in my luggage.
Whatever stays in Taiwan will be sold either here or on Carousell.
1 Like
Oh, thanks a lot for mentioning this. Wasn’t aware of it so far.
3 Likes
Nono that thing you linked does both directions. Even if the website doesn’t say so. It’s just a big old winded transformer. All good 
1 Like
Actually I looked again at the title of that link, and it is what it should be: it converts from 220v (what you find in EU) to 110v (the crap you bought in Taiwan).
So basically you took advantage of my dyslexia and confused me.
1 Like
Yeah, I’d have preferred that, but that cost difference was crazy. About $1200 for the shipping for our stuff just between the two ports (LA to Keelung). A full shipping container would’ve bumped that price to about 4 grand US? If I remember correctly. Plus the extra cost for shipping to and from each port. At the price, it just wouldn’t have been worth it to ship everything.
To be fair, the couch could’ve come from the company that trucked our stuff to LA, or it could’ve come the company that shipped our stuff to Keelung.
Well you live and learn. Shit happens.
I’m going to say this again.
Unless your appliance uses very little power, you cannot really run any 220 appliance on a 110v stepped up to 220.
For example a hairdryer is about 1800 watt or so. A 220 hairdryer would probably draw about 10 amps. If you use a step up transformer it is literally impossible to run this on a 110 circuit. You will either melt the wire or trip a breaker. Because it must draw more than double the amperage off of the 110 in order to feed the hairdryer.
So it is always better to find a 220 outlet and run it off of that. Every country that uses 110 has a 220 available to run large appliance.
Step up transformers are a huge waste of money. They are only useful if you wish to run a 110 appliance in a 220 country. That’s because you would only need to draw about half the amp off of a 220 in order to step down to 110.
On the subject of stepping down a 220 outlet to 110, there are low cost converters that works like a dimmer switch, which chops the sine wave so that the appliance only sees 110 volt. This works with hairdryers.
Oh and a 220 hairdryer running on 110 would work, but it would run slower with half the heat… this is also why if they have electrical outlets on an aircraft they are 110, because you wouldn’t blow anything up. If you run a 110 hairdryer on a 220, it would blow up.
1 Like
Has anyone used or explored luggage shipping alternatives to standard post office/UPS/etc? For example:
I’m starting to explore as we have more stuff than our checked bag allowance will cover …
They will let you send Suitcases, Boxes (but only use sturdy double walled cardboard), plus
golf bags, ski bags, and bicycles (with extra fee for oversized items).
At first glance seems these are perhaps cheaper than post office and also deliver within a week vs. 2 months.
1 Like
You can say it many times, but maybe it would be better if you stop one minute to read what people are talking about: moving their 110v appliances from Taiwan to Europe where you typically have 220v grids.
1 Like
Thanks for the link. Yeah, some have, that’s what we are discussing in this thread, different options for moving stuff, including those shipping companies and door to door services.
1 Like
Even if you fly crappy American-based airlines, an overweight suitcase (over 22kg/50lbs) is “only” going to cost you US$200 to check. EVA usually gives you a little more wiggle room than that, especially if you fly premium economy. I think it really depends on who you’re traveling with, but at that point you might as well ask a friend to travel to Taoyuan with you to help carry the extra suitcases. Then again, even in the international arrivals area you’ll pay US$8 to rent a cart for those bags, so if you’re traveling alone and have more than three suitcases, paying extra to ship it might still be the more sensible option.
1 Like
Didn’t used to be this way pre 9/11. Now American airports just want to nickle and dime everyone whichever way they can.
1 Like
So if anyone has tried specifically one of these luggage shipping companies (vs. the other shipping options), can you share your experience?
We already plan to max out the checked bags and overweight suitcases option, and still will have more than we can manage in that fashion – so looking at really only two options that seem fairly convenient:
- post office
- suitcase/bag shippers such as mybaggage.com and sendmybag.com
I know post office is fairly reliable but takes long time, but never tried the suitcase shipment companies…