Need advice from people knowledgeable in HVAC/building ventilation/apartment living.
I currently live in an 18sqm apartment with a window-type AC (1 HP inverter) exhausting into a very narrow shared vertical shaft. It performs badly — at night when many tenants use their AC, the shaft gets extremely hot (>40°C), my AC becomes loud, and even at a 28°C setting it still consumes around 700–900W constantly (even after reaching 28C). According to my smart plug, my AC alone consumes 10 pesos per hour. I can physically feel the heat from my window, so I suspect poor heat rejection due to narrow shaft design.
I’m considering moving to a new apartment in another building. It also uses a vertical shaft for window AC exhaust, but:
- the shaft is visibly much larger,
- each floor has 2 apartment units sharing one shaft,
- there are laundry areas beside the shaft separated by grills,
- the shaft goes up 5 floors and ends in a chimney-like roof cap,
- available units are on the 2nd and 5th floors.
Questions:
- Is this new setup likely to perform significantly better than my current one?
- Will my inverter actually be able to breathe and save electricity here?
- Which floor would you choose for better AC efficiency: 2nd or 5th?
- Is a chimney-capped shared shaft generally okay for window-type ACs, or should I avoid this building too?
Trying to avoid making the same mistake twice. Most of the apartments I visited have the same layout. Any insights are appreciated!