Weehoooo. We had our air conditioning (AC) installed at our home last night. Alhamdulillah we bought 3 sets of second hand aircond units from one of our fellow Malaysian who is about to go back to Malaysia for good (final exit). Bought the AC at 250 Riyal each. Alhamdulillah that price is considered the cheepest in town. Normally price for a new AC unit is 1500 Riyall ++ or the single typed AC. Whilst second hand AC units bought from second hand shop ranges around 700 Riyal onwards per unit.
We were lucky that we managed to grab the AC from our friends. Went to their house to view items that they wanted to letgo which is quite a lot but my husband had already bought some of them before we came to Saudi. Dangggg not our rezq to get cheeper priced item.
Some of the good bargain items are a king sized bed with matress complete with matching wardrobe, 2 Single beds with mattresses, vacuum cleaner, full room U-shaped sofa set which is super nice, fridge and also dining table. Well, basically all basic amenities needed for a new comer. We only grabbed 3 out of 6 AC units, Electric stove + electric oven, water dispenser unit as the above good bargain items has been bought earlier at new price. Dangg... Imagine how much money could be saved for saving purposes or a brand new handbag (perhaps - haha I vowed not to be spendtrift anymore since 2 years back, so no new handbag certainly).
Tips - for new expatriates coming to saudi, try not to buy new items as it is very expensive. We will be staying away for a while anyway - not forever. If you are looking for furnitures, household appliances - buy from seniors on final exit or at second hand shops which is widely availble throughout your locality. Or if you fancy online shopping, you can browse http://www.expatriates.com/classifieds/riy/appliances. But of course buy at your own risk lorrr as those are second hand items.
Ok, coming back to the AC story, the electrical shop picked the AC sets from our friend's house and did some servicing before delivering the AC sets to our home. All in we were charged 300 Riyal for the servicing, installation and delivery.
Total cost 750 Riyal + 300 Riyal + 20 Riyal generous tips by hubby for the AC set.
Owh owh.. if you haven't noticed, the AC set that we bought is a single AC set. Hubby said that single AC sets is more widely used here in saudi. No need piping and the installation is pretty simple. Just plug them in the ready made holes/ allocated area for the AC and wallah... it is ready to use. **Note - most Saudi houses already has allocated holes on the walls.
There are several types of AC that are widely used at homes in Saudi
- (i) Window Airconditioner - which is what we had i.e 1 lumpsum set will all the components enclosed in a single box.
- (ii) Split Airconditioner - the normal aircond that we normally have in Malaysia whereby it comproses of 2 parts - indoor and outdoor
- (iii) Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) - whereby both Air conditioner and Heater set embeded on a same unit
Yeay... We are now ready to face summer time. I am not normally an aircond type of person. I prefer natural air or the most a fan. But, my hubby as well as neighbours said that it could go up to 50 Degree heat in summer. Yikesss.. It will be burning if it is really that hot. Here are some photos about my aircond.
The aircond already being placed in its casket.
This is how the cage to place the single unit aircond looks like. Without the cage, that is an empty- see through space on the wall.
My hubby placed a plank box to cover up the hole on the wall. In Saudi, most houses has been drilled with holes to fix the AC unit.
Without the AC attached, we would hear the wind whistles every time it blows. haha scaryyyyy.
We bought the aircond set from this family - Kak Norma's family. Thank you so much for letting go the many many items to us (fress items too..muahsss). Attached on the wall is the original unit from its original origin. haha.
Notice the glowy item on the floor? That's a heater. We get that for free. Will blog about heater sets after this later. Heaters are essential for us at the moment as the temperature is still cold here in Saudi.
We are sorry dear pigeon. Had to close the hole to insert our aircond unit as summer is approaching. Do find other place to build your nest, ok.
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