Im trying to get used to no A/con any tips

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, owenm said:

Five years ago and staying in a small boutique hotel off Sukhumvit in Bangkok and I contracted pheumonia and legionella, which only became evident 10 days later after returning to Australia.. 5 days in ICU, 10 days in hospital and 3 mths off work.. Later was told that I was very lucky to survive.. 

 

Very stuffy aircond that probably hadn't been cleaned and serviced in years with airborne mould spores most likely causing my condition.. 

  

Now every condo or hotel I stay in I check the aircond filters, and in most cases have to clean them with the bum gun.. Two minutes of the let them dry, taking photos of before and after to show to management to have them aware of regular cleaning.. 

 

Anywhere in SE Asia have the same issues, and particularly so with the high humidity.. Aircond can be very dangerous to your health if not regularly cleaned.. 

You didn't get legionnaires from the A/C if it was a normal small compressor type AC unit.

 

It came from the shower like nearly all the other cases of Legionnaires. Legionella grows in stagnant water, it's not a mould and without water (like in a compressor based A/C unit) it can't grow or live.

 

Central cooling tower A/C units are a different thing altogether though as they use water.

 

By far the number one place to catch Legionnaires is the shower due to stagnant water in the tanks.

[Mac98]

Get a place with a fan, a pool, a balcony, and sea breezes. Shirts are for girls .. or maybe not.

[xtrnuno41]

Cleaning the airco is very important, wich in hotels they dont care for that.

Of course you can get used to no ac, matter of mind over body. But its the moist which is 

bothering you. Your body sweats (get rid off body heat) but cant evaporate, so you still be hot and sweat more. A fan helps to evaporate the sweat and therefor cools you down, a continuous flow of air, though highly saturated with moist (Thailand is tropic, so high) takes the sweat away and cools you down. A slow running fan above your bed would do it and also keeps mosquitoes away as they dont like draft. Im Always happy when i feel a draft of wind, it cools down.

[ozmeldo]

Bangkok is hot.

 

I run the AC when I return from work until 10. 830-900 in cool season. Weekends more.

 

Biggest tip - just use it because it's going to take years to acclimatize. Don't be miserable it's only 5b per hour.

 

Next tip - lose weight

 

Next - live somewhere cooler and green

 

Final tip - go to the mall like all the Thai do.

 

I can definitely live without it, but when it's hot, sticky...why?

 

[Pdavies99]

11 hours ago, Antonymous said:

It is stupid to argue one way or the other. It is really a personal decision, and your decision is to try to do without a/c. Respect.

 

I also choose not to use a/c and for the same reasons as you. I get sniffles and coughs in a/c rooms. Another very good reason to try to acclimatise to the weather here is to save a considerable amount of money.

 

Can it be done? Of course. I've lived in Thailand for almost 30 years and I can't remember when I last turned on an aircon in my house or hotel room. I always use a fan instead (ceiling fans are best) and when conditions allow I open windows and doors (with mozzy screen) and let the air flow through the room/ building. I sleep naked and wear light cotton clothing during the day.

 

 

 

 

I tend to agree with you, many friends of mine took a tip I felt worthile and that is keep the fan on a slow speed and not directly blowing on your body, if you have the fan on high speed you are just encouraging your body to sweat even more.

 

I think if you set your air con if you have one, say one hour before you sleep this will cool the walls enabling you to sleep easier without the air con being on.

 

Finally I'm sorry to say, there are other reasons for sweating, ie Overweight, no exercise, too much beer!!, too much food at the wrong time of day...they don't help you.

 

Of course the humidity does not help, but to be honest places like Hong Kong have far higher humidity all year round.

 

Good luck!!

Edited November 3, 2018 by Pdavies99

[4MyEgo]

If it's really hot, will switch the A/C on at 26 for about 20 minutes with a fan circulating at the same time, then I will switch the A/C off and the room remains cool for the evening, also don't wake up with a dry throat.

 

I know you are looking at buying an apartment, but for those who live in their own houses, if you do not have your roof area insulated with batts and insulation/sisalation under your roof tiles, the air will be heading north through your ceilings, as the insulation batts stop the air from escaping through your ceilings, and the sisalation slows the heat entering through your roof tiles. Vents are also important so that the hot air in your roof line can dissipate which keeps the house cooler, whirly birds also help extract the heat.

 

Had I done the above earlier when I built the house, I wouldn't have needed 6 A/C's which we hardly uses, except for that 20 minutes as stated above when we go to bed. 

[Lacessit]

7 hours ago, Dick Crank said:

Grow a set of balls and use a powerful floor fan. Move it around so it's always blowing on you, or get one that rotates.

 

let me know if you need help plugging it in.

How much vinegar did you drink with lunch?

[KittenKong]

8 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I clean our A/C every month. Wash the filters as suggested above and I use a cleaner spray, available from Big C, to cleanse and disinfect the coil. You'll find it in the same aisle as insect sprays and similar household products. (See photo below)

Is that all three of the BigCs here? I've looked for something like that several times in supermarkets and HomePro type stores, with no success. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong aisle.

What I did find in HomePro was a pressurised can of anti-mould spray which works but seems quite toxic. I have to apply it whilst holding my breath and then quickly leave the room to ventilate for an hour or two, so I would rather not use that.

[murraynz]

i get the same problems as the op, from aircond...

i solved the problem by buying a high level corner condo, near the sea....

85% of the time -i get a good sea breeze..

sometimes use fan/s..  power bill is always under 320thb per month...

i mostly stay in condo by myself,but

even my thai lady visitors are impressed by the cool breeze....

[Lacessit]

16 minutes ago, murraynz said:

even my thai lady visitors are impressed by the cool breeze....

Bloody hell, another poster who tantalises with a snippet of information.

[Nyezhov]

when I see folks whinge about the weather in "winter'' here, I ask them to picture realizing you have to take an unexpected dump 40 miles from the nearest toilet in -40F, on a snowmachine, on 6 feet of powder snow, wearing 4 layers of clothes. Want the details? I think not. 

 

I realize that summer here sucks but you can always cool down, even without AC. Fan and cool showers.

 

I do agree that the heat does screw up your sleep patterns. I like it cold myself.

[l4ml4m]

The main reason why I wouldn't like to be jailed here is the lack of aircon ????

 

 

[smotherb]

Well, I too sleep naked and wear only shorts or underwear in the house, but I love a/c and I don't suffer any ill effects from it; although, you do need to keep them clean. I am from Florida and have spent most of my life in the tropics, but I have usually had a/c. There have been times when I did not have a/c. However, those were short durations of a year or so here and there and I sough a/c bars and restaurants when I could.  I have three a/cs in my house here. I use one of them all day long--the bill runs about B3k/mo. I consider that worth it.

[MyFriend You]

Fist - lose the cold drinks, cold water is nothing more than a training tool for your body to "need Cold Water"    I only drink warm water, set your A/C to about 24-28, after awhile you wont; even notice the heat.  I walk around Bangkok, in the daytime and don't even sweat (unless I drank a lot of beer the night before) took a year to get used to the heat/humidty -  I come home and turn on the A/C in my bedroom, when I actually go to bed, I turn in off.

[Naam]

3 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

I only drink warm water

warm beer too?

[lvr181]

20 hours ago, Surasak said:

leaving you with a very fry mouth in the mornings.

fry = fly? Or

fry = dry?

 

Just joking 

[lvr181]

21 minutes ago, Naam said:

warm beer too?

Ugh.........

 

I do remember many many years ago having a beer with some local Thai (which, of course, this 'farang' purchased, as was expected ) and when the beer was poured into a glass ICE CUBES were added! Yuk! I then had to find some acceptable way of explaining to them that the bottles are put in/on ice to cool NOT ice in the beer. That first glass of beer certainly didn't taste like what I had expected. 

[attrayant]

38 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Fist - lose the cold drinks, cold water is nothing more than a training tool for your body to "need Cold Water"    I only drink warm water, set your A/C to about 24-28, after awhile you wont; even notice the heat.

 

No, don't do that.  A/C is nothing more than a training tool for your body to "need Cold Air".

[Moonlover]

11 hours ago, KittenKong said:

20 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I clean our A/C every month. Wash the filters as suggested above and I use a cleaner spray, available from Big C, to cleanse and disinfect the coil. You'll find it in the same aisle as insect sprays and similar household products. (See photo below)

 

11 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Is that all three of the BigCs here? I've looked for something like that several times in supermarkets and HomePro type stores, with no success. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong aisle.

What I did find in HomePro was a pressurised can of anti-mould spray which works but seems quite toxic. I have to apply it whilst holding my breath and then quickly leave the room to ventilate for an hour or two, so I would rather not use that.

When we first came to live in Thailand, we rented a place in Udon Thani. It was obvious to me, being an engineering type, that the A/C had never had any attention, so we called in the local supplier.

 

The crud that came out of that unit was horrifying and I vowed to myself never to neglect the A/C when we get our own place.

 

Now that we do have our own nice new unit I carry out the service as I outlined above monthly. When it comes to the choice between putting up with the short term inconvenience of a smelly disinfecting agent in the room and breathing in air that emerges from a neglected unit, I'll choose the former any day.

 

You are, of course, free to make your own choice. If you can't find the spray I recommended in the stores near you, it's available on-line from Lazada.

 

Have a good day.

 

ML

[Nyezhov]

1 hour ago, lvr181 said:

Ugh.........

 

I do remember many many years ago having a beer with some local Thai (which, of course, this 'farang' purchased, as was expected ) and when the beer was poured into a glass ICE CUBES were added! Yuk! I then had to find some acceptable way of explaining to them that the bottles are put in/on ice to cool NOT ice in the beer. That first glass of beer certainly didn't taste like what I had expected. 

I see that ice in beer thing and wanna gag.

 

My grandmother used to put salt in her Falstaff Beer, which, for you younger American drinkers, was some of the worst horsepiss ever to come from a barrel, making even Budweiser look like a fine German Lager.

[georgegeorgia]

On 11/3/2018 at 1:44 PM, owenm said:

Five years ago and staying in a small boutique hotel off Sukhumvit in Bangkok and I contracted pheumonia and legionella, which only became evident 10 days later after returning to Australia.. 5 days in ICU, 10 days in hospital and 3 mths off work.. Later was told that I was very lucky to survive.. 

 

Very stuffy aircond that probably hadn't been cleaned and serviced in years with airborne mould spores most likely causing my condition.. 

 

Now every condo or hotel I stay in I check the aircond filters, and in most cases have to clean them with the bum gun.. Two minutes of the let them dry, taking photos of before and after to show to management to have them aware of regular cleaning.. 

 

Anywhere in SE Asia have the same issues, and particularly so with the high humidity.. Aircond can be very dangerous to your health if not regularly cleaned.. 

Great post , just shows how Acon can be dangerous too.

 

I always use disinfectant spray eg Glen20 ,or pine o cleen and spray it into the Air con, not sure if it does anything but it puts my mind at ease

Edited November 4, 2018 by georgegeorgia

[Surasak]

8 hours ago, lvr181 said:

fry = fly? Or

fry = dry?

 

Just joking 

Well, I have to admit I used to be perfect, but I'm better now.

[DJ54]

In US I had the central air at 22 here it’s on 25/26 and seems cold 

at times. The A/C is only in 1 bedroom. I have on now 24/7.

I’ve not rode the moto much lately. Before I rode moto everyday 

trips around the country side 3-4 hrs a day. We’re in the NE riding in the heat everyday without A/C wasn’t a problem.

 

Our windows don’t have screens on them and if opened mosquitoes are a problem. If I can find a place to get screens 

installed this time of your if the windows were open it wouldn’t 

be a problem.

[MyFriend You]

18 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

No, don't do that.  A/C is nothing more than a training tool for your body to "need Cold Air".

24C = 73F  28C = 82F   but you knew that right??

[Sophon]

3 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

24C = 73F  28C = 82F   but you knew that right??

24C = 75F

 

Sophon

[geronimo]

Yes it is. I have been living here for 35 years and have two grown sons who have never had A/C at home.

 

Fans work, plus a lot of determination.

 

Good luck in your efforts to stay cool bro!

[HAKAPALITA]

I find the No Aircon Bums are first out the Taxi,  Last to the Bar, and say they love Thai Food.

[geronimo]

1 minute ago, HAKAPALITA said:

I find the No Aircon Bums are first out the Taxi,  Last to the Bar, and say they love Thai Food.

perhaps what you find is all in your head bro ......

[geronimo]

2 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

I find the No Aircon Bums are first out the Taxi,  Last to the Bar, and say they love Thai Food.

and if anyone's a bum, it's the guy who can't keep cool without some a/c

[HAKAPALITA]

And they find oppinions not as theirs wrong. and all the other family must suffer because of their financial failing. I have some nice friends who just say it costs too much,not bullshit a reason. There are genuine anti, but not many.