Hello and thanks in advance for the help. I am new here and spamming the forum with questions at the moment. Everyone has been helpful and nice, which is much appreciated!
Looking at apartments in Taipei, and like one except for this one thing - it has a wall/ceiling device as opposed to a duct/central AC system. Would not have expected that in this budget (decent expat package).
The concerns are 1. high electricity consumption 2. noise 3. condensation dripping and 4. blasting cold air in only one spot in the room.
It seems like a cheap solution to an otherwise nice/high-end property. Or is this not not such a big deal?
As far as I know that kind of air conditioning is the norm in mid-range places. I guess there are probably apartments with central AC out there, but I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.
They have adjustable vents and we’ve never had problems with them blasting one area of the room. Nor is noise an issue with newer units.
These are common, even in high end buildings. You may find them more efficient and cost effective than central air, ymmv of course. I wouldn’t be put off by it.
Actually, it is considered a fancy model. However, SAMPO is a local and not too good brand, so it may have problems down the road. As said, HITACHI or any other Japanese brand is best.
Many thanks for the info and pointing out a few issues I had not considered (dusty and moody air ducts).
We were also worried about the quality of the brand, but assuming we get this place we hope it should be ok for the few years we are here. If we have problems we should be able to contact our real estate agency to intervene.
It doesn’t (normally) get any colder than 10C here in the winter. I would be more concerned about humidity levels getting too high than the temp getting too low.
In other words, you’ll be fine without heat in the other rooms.
Indeed. In winter, a good, reliable, safe dehumidifier -again, look for Japanese brands- is far more important and useful. Important in the sense that humidity breeds mold, and that is really bad.
Lately winters have not been that cold. A good conforter is more than enough, unless you live in the hills of Xindian, in which case they sell very nice gas heaters.