Where I grew up we used to turn the heating off at night and have enough blankets to stay hot. To save money and kill germ… at least that was the idea.
My Japanese radiator heater was the best, turned it on s couple of hours and that was enough to sleep cozy all night. Living room, bedroom, it could handle everything.
If one has a dual function ac, one is set to brave the coldest days of winter.
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I, too, have lived in Chicago. The air there would hurt my face when it was 0 Fahrenheit or lower. I’ve never experienced the air hurting my face in Taiwan. I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel that at 63 F.
What would be the cost to retrofit your mini split (or window) AC to be able to do this?
This would mean not only a valve (which requires you to purge the system, install valve, repurge, and then fill) but also new controller to engage it when heat is called for.
If you can do it yourself, great, but just know that releasing R22 into the air isn’t ecological.
Ah this friggin humidity is a killer. And as stated, in foreign countries hearing systems indoors are not a foreign concept. It is feeling my nose like a pingpang while wrapped up in covers what grinds my gears and makes me recall not do sweet Spring airport breeze.
BTW my first floor neighbor says it is 13 degrees in their home…
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I get that there are challenges to building in Taiwan. We have at various times earthquakes, typhoons, torrential rain, screeching heat, and in many places some bone-chilling cold weather.
My conclusion though is that faced with these challenges, the concrete boxes that pass for “architecture” here are not fully thought through for all these conditions…
Guy
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yea its amazing. Taiwanese are like tropical fish and when it gets down to 10c , its like below zero equivalent.
I remember visiting the USA with my then wife back in the day and my bro came to our motel to pick us up and we had the heat on MAX. So the room was probably around 36c !! And we were just comfortable and my bro thought he entered an oven.
What can i say ? We be tropical fish !
I love summers in Taiwan even though at our wanli apt it does get so hot sweat literally runs down your shirt. But but but in winter its quite cold all winter and when the cold front comes it can get as cold as 4c outside and guess what the temp is inside the house? Even with 2 oil transfer heaters and one kerocene stove going 24/7 inside the apt was 6c !! A whopping 2C warmer then outside. Of course without the wind chill factor of outdoors though.
indoors we had to wear full heavy clothing all day in our living room. Thats why i frickin hate winters in north taiwan.
Give me the sweat running down inside my clothes 24/7 over THAT.
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Well they build the concrete box to remain standing in earthquakes, but I guess there are always compromises.
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Understandable in the city, but when you see a modern farmhouse which is a two-storey concrete box with slab sides, often sitting next to an old tree shaded house situated around a courtyard…
Question to our experts:
Dragged my smaller Whirlpool blade heater out and the last blade is sort of rusted. Can I still plug this in or will I end up on the evening news?
Is it one of those oil filled radiator type heater? I don’t imagine rust will hurt it.
Looks like it.
If I don’t post anymore, send tuna cans to the shelter in my name…
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The old style houses had some smarter designs for the weater. For one, ground level sliding windows for air circulation in summer.
Also wood stoves that were heaters and cooking stoves. Modern taiwan construction is a bit dire, but the margins are great!
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I agree with everything here, except the phrase “a bit.”
Guy
You need to reread Moby Dick. That should be one of the greatest hits in life. 
But why put up with either one? We supposedly live in a modern world where we can live in the comfort of 20-30C (you decide your preferred temperature) year round and not suffer.
I just don’t get the need to suffer in these cases. In Winnipeg (where the cold is the main issue for most of the year), the weather only goes over 30C a week or two a year, but pretty much anyone who isn’t destitute has A/C (and generally central air at that). It isn’t considered a luxury, but moreso a necessity.
I JUST DON’T GET IT .
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That’s what I got here in the bay area
20c year round in the house
But Taiwanese concrete homes
Are hard to cool and hard to heat
I’ve lived here years and you simply do need a heater in the winter (2-3) months to take the chill off a room. It helps if you take a cold shower and go for a walk outside with your shirt off to invigorate yourself, but if the locals did this that would probably up the death rate considerably.
Nice ABCD rhyme scheme you got there! 
