I’m sure this has been covered, but can’t find the threads.
Looking to deal with the same old issues of Taiwanese apartments in the winter: drafty windows, concrete walls and floor radiating cold. In the past, I’ve merely bundled up and cranked up the electric radiators, but that’s not an attractive solution for keeping lil’ Sprout cozy and healthy.
Would that I could, I’d punch anchor bolts into the corners, up high, and hang large, heavy tapestries, and put down layers of carpets on the floor. Worked just fine for the Berbers. But I’m not allowed to ‘break the walls’, the Pixie seems to believe that foam and plastic slippers are the way to deal with a cold concrete floor, and I’m yet to find proper plastic to seal the windows.
Not such a big deal for me, but Sprout tends to kick off her blankets, and already she’s cooler to the touch than I’d like while sleeping.
I can go to work on the Pixie, but I’m not going to win the argument on wall hangings. Suggestions?
We had reverse-cycle air conditioners installed in our new place before we moved in at the end of February, and they’ve proved to be the best form of heating I’ve ever used in Taiwan. They warm up a room very quickly, keep it steadily at the chosen temperature, simultaneously dehumidify, and are remarkably economical to run (much, much cheaper than running the air-conditioning in the summer). Our baby’s been as snug as a bug in a rug day and night during the chilliest weather so far (and up here in Linkou, temperatures are usually 4 or 5 degrees lower than in Taipei or Xindian).
I bought a heap of foam mats 10 months ago for Bubs to have a safe environment. Most of them got put away 5 months ago when he was eating them more than he was falling on them.
They’re about to make a reappearance for insulation, especially under his cot.
We’ve got the same problem - Bubs kicks off blankets and pulls off socks, and is getting too cold. The dehumidifier acts as a heater, but it’s not enough.
The floor needs better insulation, and so do the windows. Heavier curtains? Stick foam pads onto wood and cover the glass at night? I’m renting, so I don’t want to pay for double glazing.
Eh, guys, don’t go to overenthusiastuc closing all drafts. I’d rather be cold than not wake up teh next morning because of carbon monoxide poisoning from a neighbors’ flat.
Here’s a clear and simple intro to the benefits of reverse-cycle air con, from Victoria’s Sustainable Energy Authority (they’re a very green means of heating).
As they mention, you can get portable ones if you’re renting, though they’re more expensive than the fixed units.
[quote=“Omniloquacious”]Here’s a clear and simple intro to the benefits of reverse-cycle air con, from Victoria’s Sustainable Energy Authority (they’re a very green means of heating).
As they mention, you can get portable ones if you’re renting, though they’re more expensive than the fixed units.[/quote]
Omni, This is very interesting. Can you tell us what “reverse-cycle air con” is called in Chinese here in Taiwan, and who’s selling the units and a rough idea of market price? (say for a 20 to 40 ping apartment?)
The wife did a lot of research online, seeing which brands people recommended, comparing energy efficiency, and so on. A lot of users were raving about how economical they were to use. I was rather sceptical, but I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. We bought ours from a seller in Xinzhuang who was recommended by several posters on a forum my wife frequents. We had six units installed in rooms with a total area of about 60 pings. Four of those units are reverse-cycle ones. Five of them are Fujitsu and the other is a Hitachi. The Hitachi was the most expensive, because it also pumps in air from outside, which I especially need for my study when I seal it off for sound insulation. The total cost was something over NT$230,000.
We have 3 “Daikin” inverter-type units. They are the ones with the pump units outside. We chose Daikin after staying in a house that had them installed. They are almost silent when working. So far we have only used the large one for heating, and even in our open-plan unit of about 30 ping, it has been enough. It was 160,000 for the three units (two smaller, one large).
My summer electricity bills are double my winter ones, which are around NT$3,000~3,500 (for two months).
We’ve a big 5-floor place, my wife and I both work from home, and we run a lot of electric appliances, including a dishwasher that’s put on nearly every night, an English oven, a large bread-maker, an I-Robot floor sweeper, a clothes-dryer, and liberal use of all the usual kitchen and other household appliances, as well as having at least two computers running during most of our waking hours, and a lot of lights on a lot of the time. So the air-conditioners can’t be using very much power for heating, or the bills would have to be a lot higher.
I always call them heat pumps and they kick ass off other heating/cooling systems. When I was in Tokyo that was the only atmospheric control they had, and tokyo gets bother colder and hotter than TP
The other major advantage is they can also dehumidfy
Struggled more than a decade with different heaters in TW during winter time. The best solution are those “reverse-cycle air cons”. -Instant, comfortable & economical (well. . . the most economical) way to make your place really liveable wintertime.
Now we have (2nd winter) Panasonic CU-B32HA2 inverter split unit in master bedroom. Quiet, fast , 3-year guarantee & reasonable price. ~30.000ntd .
To living room I bought cheaper window unit from Sanyo . . . SA-L507H ~20.000ntd. Expectations were not so high but I was gladly surprised. Powerfull, fast but rather noisy (compare for split unit). - Somehow unreal to be able to watch TV, surf internet, play with kids in living room just T-shirt on during coldest days & nights of the whole year. :discodance:
This model is also avail. as smaller / cheaper unit. Shoud be OK for bedroom if the noise is not an issue. As an window unit is relatively easy to install & transfer to other apertment as well.
We still have some old air con units tranferred from our old apartment and when the time comes to buy new ones I definetely replace the old ones with those reverse-cycle units.
Power bills??? Haven’t really followed closely but lesser than during summer time.
Actually those oil-filled radiator heaters are not bad either but in bigger room they’ll suck (110V)/1500W practically non-stop and they don’t actually circulate warm air. The heat effect is too local. . . I’m bit worried about these TWnese electric wireworks & their capability to carry such currents. :no-no: -Any case we used those & ceramic heaters earlier when we stayed at rental units.
we used one of the oil filled radiators, good to quickly boost the temperature in a small room pre shower, the other advantage is they also warm the conrete up that then reemits the heat through the night so they can be switched off
