The three rooms you never air-conditioned — and why Daikin makes a unit for each
Most Malaysian homes air-condition the rooms people sit and sleep in, and leave the rest to the weather. Three of the rooms left out — the wardrobe, the kitchen and the bathroom — are the ones where humidity, grease and steam do the most damage. Daikin makes an indoor unit for each of them, and the reasons say a lot about why an ordinary wall unit is the wrong answer there.
The wardrobe
The problem
A closed wardrobe in a Malaysian house is a warm, still, humid box. That is the condition mould likes, and it shows first on the things people care about most: leather bags and shoes, belts, jackets that hang for months, and anything kept as a collection. Silica sachets and a dehumidifier box help a little; they do not change the air in the room.
Why an ordinary unit isn't built for it
A wall unit is made to cool a room that people are in. A walk-in wardrobe usually has no free wall for one, is empty most of the day, and needs its humidity held steady more than it needs cold air.
What Daikin's closet unit is designed to do
Daikin's tagline for it is “Protect Your Precious Collection.” Its page lists an Auto Moisture Control Mode — automatic humidity control, to keep a healthy humidity level and protect what is stored — and a Cool Mode for dressing in a fresh, cool room.
The kitchen
The problem
Malaysian cooking is hot and oily: high heat, a wok, frying, and fumes that drift beyond the hood. Kitchens are often left un-cooled for exactly that reason — and they are the hottest room in the house while someone is cooking.
Why an ordinary unit isn't built for it
Put a standard wall unit near a stove and it draws cooking fumes through its filter and coil along with the air. Grease builds up on the coil and the fan, the filter clogs, and the unit cools less and less while it needs cleaning more and more. That is why so many kitchen air-conditioners end up switched off or removed.
What Daikin's kitchen unit is designed to do
Daikin's tagline is “Cooking Can Be Enjoyable.” Its page lists greaseproof paint, to keep the unit looking right in a kitchen; a special filter for greasy fumes, with an anti-oil treatment; and a mould-proof function that heats the coil automatically to prevent mould growth.
The bathroom
The problem
A bathroom fills with steam every time someone showers, then sits damp. In this climate it rarely dries out completely between uses, which is where the black mould in grout and on ceilings comes from — and why a bathroom is uncomfortable to dress or do make-up in after a hot shower.
Why an ordinary unit isn't built for it
A wall unit above the tiles sits in steam twice a day, takes wall space a bathroom rarely has, and is designed to cool rather than to dry the room out or clear smells.
What Daikin's bathroom unit is designed to do
Daikin's tagline is “More 'Me Time' in the Shower.” Its page lists three modes: Dry Mode, to prevent fungus growth and dry clothes in the rainy season; Cool Mode, for comfort while doing make-up or hair; and Vent Mode, to ventilate smells away.
These rooms are decided before the ceiling closes
None of these units is a gadget you add later. Daikin builds them as part of its Home Central Air Conditioning — one integrated VRV system with independent temperature control for each room — so the wardrobe, kitchen and bathroom units run on the same system as the rest of the house. Where each one goes and how its pipes and drain reach it are decided on the drawings, before the ceiling is boarded.
If you are building or renovating a landed home and want these rooms included, start with Luxury Home Design & Build, where the whole-house design is done.