Bringing a dehumidifier from Miami to Ezeiza as checked baggage?
 

I am traveling to Villa Gesell, Argentina in November and staying until March, but I have difficulty breathing sometimes during the summer due to the high humidity. I was wondering what the problem would be, if any if I was to bring a small-medium sized dehumidifier as checked baggage with me.
It weighs 70lbs, and it does have a small compressor which contains R-410a, (or Puron) gas inside, just as a refrigerator does and the box size would be the same as a large suitcase.
I hold an american passport and I am not an Argentinian citizen, although I will start the process once I finish moving to this beautiful country.
(Also, I have two 2500 watt transformers and a voltage regulator there already and this unit consumes 950, so any issues regarding electricity are already taken care of)

Thanks in advance for any info

Hello Mr. Villa Gessell !!!! Nice handle.... :D Welcome to the Argentina boards.

I think that you will be fine..... the guys at customs are looking for traditional electronics (laptops, phones, tvs, video games).... so something like a dehumidifier will not usually attract attention.

I suggest you not worry about this and go through customs... if you get stopped and questions arise, I suggest you smile a lot, keep your cool and explain (in English, dont try to speak spanish even if you are fluent), that you will be living in Villa Gessel for a few months and that explain your breathing issues and the related need to have this device..... my guess is that the customs guys will smile back and send you on your way.

Also, will you be bringing in a new unit or is it used...? If the latter, then this is also something that if you can make evident will help you in your cause.

BTW.... its just occured to me that maybe you were not worried about customs but rather about the airlines and Puron gas..... if so, I suggest you call your carrier and just tell them you will be shipping a dehumidifier and see what they say, I would not dwell into the details of what gas it contains..... and aside from any potential excess baggage fees me thinks that you should be fine.

Once again, welcome to these Forums and I look forward to seeing you here on a regular basis... we need a Costa Atlantica expert and it seems like you could very well fit into this role.... ;)

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K

You probably want to check with the airline on weight. You will likely get hit with extra baggage charges. And at 70 pounds you are right on the 32kg weight limit for any individual piece of checked luggage. Airlines won't accept a piece of luggage that weighs more than that.

We brought a dehumidifier with us when I moved here.

To be honest (unless I am doing something wrong) whilst it does take some moisture out of the air I have found it doesn't make much of a difference to the air quality whenever I have tried using it during any humid weather. Would you not be better off with some decent air con?

Hiddy, it all depends on the capacity of the dehumid unit, the size of the room, and how you handle the incoming & outcoming traffic... its a little like maintaining a refrigerator operating... the more you open the door, the better insulation you need and the more powerful motor you need to keep the food fresh.... hence my reference to the size or capacity of the dehumid unit.

I've always found that running my AC brings down the summer humidity to comfortable levels.

In our apartment, cooling to about 25C during the day brings the interior humidity to about 50%. To sleep, I cool to about 22C, and the humidity drops to about 40%.

John

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/22.2.110; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) BrowserNG/7.1.4)

I guess a combo of AC and the dehumidifier would work best.... of course, you dont want to bring down the humidity much below 30% as I think that may start to have other health implications.

Hiddy, you shouldn't be using a single, small desktop dehumidifier to reduce the humidity in your large mansion. :eek:

Yes a combo is what you need and maybe what the OP meant to say.
I decided to read up a little on the subject and found out that a dehumidifier on it's own will take excess moisture out of the air. However as a result of this the temperature in the room will climb.

Oh it's a big one you know.....the dehumidifier not the house. :p

Hi there, and thanks for all the replies...
My main concern is the airline pulling my box off when scanned before entering the plane and end up losing $400 worth of equipment because I won't have no one there to take it back for me. Another concern is having it travel in one position, if I put "up" signs on it and arrows pointing up, do you think they will keep it upright or will they just throw it around? In any case, I wouldnt run it once I got there for at least a full week...
The unit would be new in the box.
As far as a dehumidifier vs an A/C I found that a dehumidifier is more effective for my needs because while it will raise the room temperature by a couple of degrees because it doesnt have a way to vent the hot air outside as does an A/C unit, it will make it more comfortable. A room thats 28c and 40% humidity is far more comfortable that a room thats 24c and 80% humidity. The power usage is less on the dehumidifier vs an A/C.
Thank you all for the replies.

I can't wait to leave this place. I have been all over the world, but Argentina does something to me, cant tell what it is, but I love it!

Indeed.... you nailed the spot me thinks... its incredible how big a house you can buy when your booze budget is only Reserva San Juan..... :eek:

(ducking) :D :p

GessellMan-- what airline are you flying.... I assume its AA...? Do you know if they do air cargo down here to EZE...? I know LAN does... maybe this is cheaper than regular excess baggage, and also they will be able to properly handle this kind of cargo... just a thought.

I wouldn't for a moment assume that they will keep your box right-side up. Since it's going to be new, can you just buy a dehumidifier in Buenos Aires and bring it home when you're done? At least you're only shipping it one-way then.

We don't have a mansion as my wife and I have simple tastes......which probably explains my liking for the RSJ. ;)

By the way Gaucho100K.....which house are you talking about? Our town house, country house, or the Bs As house? :p

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/22.2.110; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) BrowserNG/7.1.4)

Yes Hiddy... you are right.... congrats on the purchase of the Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires...... :D