Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rainism]

I live on the third floor of a tiny villa appt and the AC unit is woefully inadequate. It's been driving me nuts every summer (fortunately I can escape it and Korea for most of each summer).

but my annoyance factor is now super sky high.

I've had the thing on full blast with a fan also on in the room and I still feel icky sitting at the computer..(wearing nothing but shorts, and topless) and have major problems falling asleep.

the ondol temp reading says it's 26 degrees C. That's with everything running on full last for 2 full days now.

I'm willing to spend my own money for an escape from this goddamned torture chamber, if even for for a few weeks.

Do they sell such units at E Mart? It won't have to be big (can't be big actually), but it HAS to be of the "standup" variety (like you see at restaurants, etc but smaller) because I can't put anything into the windows here.

[Swampfox10mm]

First of all, it could be that your aircon just needs a recharge. Does it get very cold? It only costs around 50,000 or less to recharge the coolant in them.

Second, it sounds like your place is a small one. In that case, don't get a stand-up model. You want a wall hanging model. If it's larger, then you could get a stand-up model, but I'd buy used from a local guy if you can.

If your place is an efficiency apartment, then get something around the 6 pyoung range. That will be well enough. A floor model will be serious overkill and suck a lot more energy than you need to.

You can buy used from a dealer and save maybe 100,000 over new. Maybe. E-mart is expensive... maybe 100,000 to 150,000 more than other shops. In any case, if you buy new, here is a dealer and a new model that seemed priced fair. I believe it includes free installation in Seoul and up to 5m of pipe:

http://www.speedair.co.kr/Nicecart4plus/Shop/Cart/showitem.html?itemID=418&item_subidkey=A3B21C88&PHPSESSID=91c0858366cf375e6f189e68707e0563


Have no idea where you live, but here are some used ones. Installation will add maybe another 100,000 for a basic install (if you don't have to add a lot more piping).

http://www.aircon2424.net/bbs/zboard.php?id=secondshop2


If your place is bigger, then go with a used stand-up around the 12 to 16 pyoung range:

http://www.aircon2424.net/bbs/zboard.php?id=secondshop3

Remember, they do suck more energy because they have more cooling area/power.

[rainism]

thanks swampfox.

it's kind of complicated.

first of all I suggested to my coteach 2 years ago that it needed a recharge. A repair guy came out to look at it.. said it's fine.. but it's simply a very small and old unit and doesn't "cool" very well. It was even suggested to me that it doesn't need freon (though I didn't understand this very well)

yes, cool/cold air comes out of it, but it's just not enough at this time of year. This cement building on the top floor sucks up heat like a goddamn toaster oven. It feels cooler/fresher when I actually step outside!

the place is TINY. You'd think even a tiny AC unit would be enough, but it's not. My landlord is absolutely unwilling to make any alterations to his room, (my school offered to change my AC, install a new one), not because he's innately an ahole, actually he's very cool, but the way the place is constructed, it's simply untenable.

I don't think he'll allow any "piping" so I think I"m stuck with a ground floor model. It has to be mini sized though.. a normal one you see in establishments, etc would be almost half the size of the room.

at this point I don't care about energy use or electricity costs. I'm simply sick and goddamn tired of almost effing sweating while the "AC" is running full blast (with the fan blowing on me at the same time)

constant cold showers aren't an option.

Koreans (and my landlord) claim I like it "very cold".

maybe. Certainly colder than them. But if I'm willing to pay the energy costs, that's my problem.

at any rate.. I don't think 26 degrees C in an appt with a running AC is acceptable.

24 is the absolute top though I much prefer it around 22.

[Swampfox10mm]

Well, your place must sit in the sun and soak up heat all day.

Also, stupid question, but you are sure your Ondol isn't still heating the floor? That can happen, depending on the setting. Check the temp. On one older system I used, whenever I used hot water, it would cause the floor to heat. Was probably something wrong with it.

A couple of questions:

1. Any idea how many pyung your apartment is?
2. Can you take a photo of your old aircon and link it here?

You will notice on that used aircon page I sent you, they have some 8 pyong and 10 pyong hanging models. You might want to consider one of those closer to 10 then. They are rated really low compared to the size of the place they are to cool. I'm not sure if there is a formula, but I've found something 6 pyong will cool a place 10 to 12 pyong just fine. It changes somewhat exponentially from there. I had a 10 pyong that worked extremely well in our 15 pyong villa. We had a 16 pyong stand-up unit that would (barely) cool our 32 pyong ramien apartment, but problems arose with rooms and airflow. We had to run fans to those rooms because air wasn't able to circulate to those rooms otherwise. An 18 pyong would have been better, but the airflow thing would have been an issue.

[DaHu]

I think he needs some kind of portable A/C like a fan since he can't hang anything or put pipes to the outside

[denverdeath]

if u r looking for portable...

http://search.danawa.com/dsearch.php?query=%C0%CC%B5%BF%BD%C4%BF%A1%BE%EE%C4%C1

...they look pretty portable, but u have to at least place a hose out ur window with the adapter; however, u dont have to cut any holes in anything that way. u have to think of the set up of ur place and whether it would work. i also dont know how well they work, so u may want to look for them in an electronics market(ask for 이동식에어컨) and ask for a demo if possible.

[Swampfox10mm]

The ones on wheels are very noisy, and very inefficient. Just a warning about that.

I didn't see the note where you couldn't hang anything. Why not trade in your old one and hang it where the old one is now? I doubt the owner would even notice, and you'd be trading up anyway.

If you want a stand-up, there were some older models for sale used on one of those links. Older models are just fine. The newer models have a bunch of needless features that leave more to break, in all honesty. A good, old-fashioned blow-out-the-top aircon is just fine. In fact, I find they are quieter than the side blow models, like what I've got.

[cincynate]

They have them on Gmarket for much cheaper than e-mart.

[Yaya]

[denverdeath]

[DaHu]

[Swampfox10mm]

rainism, I can pretty much promise you one of the water mist machines is not what you're looking for.

If I were you, I'd do what I said -- find a used aircon dealer and see what they can do for you. If you need help finding one in your area, fire me a PM.