Hi everyone, this might not be a fixable problem but I’m cold and desperate! The aircon in my room works fine and I’ve never had any problems with it breaking or turning off (knock on wood). In summer it’s great and it keeps my room nice and cool. But in the winter, it just seems incapable of heating my room to a decent temp. No matter what I set it to, my room never gets warmer than
16 C, and I can hear the aircon trying its hardest. I have a space heater, but I’m reluctant to let it run overnight while I’m asleep. I keep the door to my room closed, so there’s not much space for it to heat, but I do have a big glass door that leads to the balcony. Is this just an insulation problem? 16 C is cold, but bearable, so should I just plan to stock up on blankets?
5 comments
check the filters, might need to be cleaned
I’m sorry for this IT call question, but are you sure it’s on the heating setting and not the cooling setting?
Check the widows for drafts. If you’re getting cold air in through the frames or losing too much heat through the panes you might try putting up thick curtains or shades over the windows to reduce the draft and the heat loss.
>Aircon not heating well
1. Try cleaning the aircon filters. Especially for winter heating, my aircon’s filters need cleaning every couple weeks of heavy use—Very annoying.
2. Your room may have a round louvered vent that is fully open (meant to prevent mold). You may want to close that vent or close it off with non-damaging painters’ masking tape and plastic.
3. You can use bubble wrap and non-damaging masking tape to insulate your “big glass door that leads to the balcony.” Home centers sell window insulting kits that have non-marring, double-sided tape that work a little better than recycled bubble-wrap. What ever you do, do NOT use duct tape which mars painted surfaces or leave dried gummy residue on widows and window frames.
4. Besides needing professional cleaning, aircons sometime leak out their refrigerant—non-freon R-134a, R407C and R410A refrigerants. You or your landlord may need to get your aircon professionally serviced and its refrigerant topped off.
5. Finally, many aircons just suck at heating, especially older units. You need to either just live with the cold or buy a newer, more efficient aircon. Buy an electric blanket and [*kotatsu*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu).
Try using a fan to circulate the cold air near the floor towards the ceiling.