Dehumidifier - To buy or not to buy?

Ever since we shifted in to Park Central, we have been in this dilemma of whether to get a dehumidifier or not. As the master bedroom toilet and the wardrobe share a common wall, the humidity level in the wardrobe is rather high =< I really hate the musty smell that our clothing tends to get after a while. 

The same goes for other areas in the unit, like the storeroom etc. Have heard various theories that humidity in Ang Mo Kio is rather high as we are near to various water catchment areas like Lower Pierce Reservoir etc.   

Source: gothere.sg

However, I suspect it has more to do with the layout of the unit. There are so many openings to the unit. The amount of dust that accumulate in the unit per day is amazing especially with my 'open door' policy. I love having fresh air and lots of sunlight in my living environment.

Unit layout

Have previously tried dehumidifiers from Daiso which filled up in less than a month (capacity was around 300 ml at S$1 each - 2 pcs in a pack). 

Dehumidifier from Daiso

Currently using Fairprice Water Jumbo Dehumidifier (600 ml capacity at around S$1.50 each). Similarly, the container is around 25% filled in around 2 weeks.

Fairprice Water Jumbo Dehumidifier

The operating costs of dehumidifying the master bedroom and other areas in the unit is getting rather high. We went to various electronic stores to take a look at the dehumidifier models available in the market and were quite shocked at the prices (cheapest model was Novita ND290I at S$469). Decided to take my search online and happened to come across these 4 dehumidifiers listed on Qoo10:

Source: Qoo10.sg

Option 1. ETD-250
- Smallest sized model out of the 4
- Suitable for 10 sq m space
- 1 button to operate
- Most likely made in China
- Size: 21.8 cm (height) x 14.6 cm (width) x 13 cm (depth)
- Capacity: 500 ml
- Price: $79.90 + $9 (shipping)

2. Dehumidifier + Fan
- Like the dual function option 
- Made in Korea
- Size: 41.3 cm (height) x 28.8 cm (width) x 21.6 cm (depth)
- Capacity: Not listed (but should not be more than 500 ml) 
- Price: $120.00 + $23 (shipping - too expensive)

3. Morning Up MU-898 Mini Dehumidifier
- Made in China
- Size: 22.3 cm (height) x 14.6 cm (width) x 13.5 cm (depth)
- Capacity: 600 ml
- Price: $79.00 (free shipping)

4. Olee Petite EF 881
- Most pocket friendly and functional option
- Suitable for 20 sq m space.
- Made in China
- Size: 30.9 cm (height) x 19.4 cm (width) x 13.5 cm (depth)
- Price: $109.00 + $5 (shipping)

Did not manage to find much user reviews though. Do let me know if you have any recommendations =>

Installation of lights

Have installed our lightings on 10 Sept.

Makes our painting/cleaning up job much easier especially when the weather is gloomy/dark.

Spent less than $1k on simple lightings.

Luckily within budget.

Location: Entrance of master bedroom

Location: Studyroom

Currently in the midst of painting the unit.

Super tiring from mask-taping/painting/cleaning.

Will be installing wooden planks on the planter box as well as expecting all deliveries this week.

Hopefully things goes smoothly.

We are now left with 1 main defect which is the laminated flooring.

Have been waiting for rectifications since 6 Sept.

If they still fail to settle by tomorrow, I am going to just give up.

Trying hard to juggle between work/interviews/house-related matters all at the same time =<

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover? Part III

Called the Bangladeshi supervisor who is supposed to be in charge of rectifying our unit's defects this afternoon.

And got the reply which I had already anticipated....

The defects on our laminated flooring is still yet to be rectified.

From 9 Sept to 10 Sept to 13 Sept and still nothing was done.

When we handed over the keys on Sat, he promised 3-4 days is all he need to clear the remaining defects.

Thus, we decided that Friday would be the deadline.

Perhaps this is why he said laminated flooring will only be rectified on Friday.

As for the rest of the defects, he mentioned that they are currently cleaning up the unit.

*Faint*

Am I supposed to call him up every single day just to check on the defect status?

Starting to feel like a loanshark...

Anyway I guess I have no choice but to do so since HE will only be back on Fri and it is up to me to ensure that things do progress smoothly for us to start painting on Saturday.

*Gambate*

Hope things are progressing more smoothly for the rest of my neighbours.

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover? Part II

Not sleeping well for the past 1 week.

Kept worrying about the house whether can the defects be rectified by this week so that we can finally start painting.

Was really irritated at the supervisors.

Imagine taking leave to come down to the unit early for defect inspection but they take their own sweet time to turn up.

No sight of them at all from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs despite numerous calls and smses.

They seemed to think that they are the only busy persons in the whole wide world and the rest of us are just shaking legs *Argh*

The workers who are actually the ones rectifying the defects are so much better in comparison.

So far we are super happy with the workmanship of the rectified defects.

The Chinese worker 'trimmed' numerous tiles for us just to get a perfect piece to replace our chipped tile.

Another Chinese worker who was repairing the chipped/dented/ wall was also very professional.

We thought he would only 'putty' the affected areas but we were wrong.

He even sandpapered the region after the putty had dried, resulting in super smooth surfaces.

Hopefully the rest of the defects will be rectified by Fri as promised by the Bangladeshi supervisor.

If not, he is definitely going to get it from me since he is the one who promised to finish in 3-4 days and we have given him close to a week.

Are you sure the unit is really ready for handover?

Pretty stunned at the state that the unit is in and keys were still handed over to us.

I don't think that we are very picky but look at this....

Are we supposed to install this ourselves?

And this is just the drain hole under the kitchen sink.

Imagine the same for all drain holes in the unit.

Who is going to be held responsible if someone gets injured?

The cement unfinished surfaces are super rough lo...

As for the bomb shelter, there are missing ventilation covers.

Starting we are quite noob at all these defects checking but I seriously think that we are now quite expert at spotting defects...

Other things like dents/holes on the walls and cement/paint stains, we can still close 1 eye and omit it from the defect list.

Just hope they fix the defects asap *sigh

GSS Loots - Bedsheets & Down Duvet

Super happy that I have completely furnished my master bedroom as of 4 July 2011.

Have already decided on a queen sized bed due to space constraints.

Most likely will be settling on Serta Aberdeen as it is much cheaper compared to Sophistication.

Glad that we already made a down payment on the mattress earlier this year as the prices had already increased.

For the Sophistication model, the increase is around $200 ~ $300.

Will be going down to Serta this weekend to 'revise' our options again so as to confirm on the chosen model.

Already bought 1 Cozy bedsheet set back in 2010.

Decided to buy 2 more sets of bedsheets as well as a blanket and hopefully can last us for like 5 years?

Dropped by Robinsons a few weeks back but prices seemed to be rather high even with the GSS discounts.

Decided to look around Tangs on Monday since it was quite a while till my next appointment.

Was circling the bed-sheets section like a shark, trying to figure out the material, whether duvet cover was included and the pricing.

After much consultation with the SA, I bought 2 sets of bedsheets (complete with duvet cover) and a down duvet for $560.

http://www.followsales.com

One set was Egyptian cotton and the other was Sateen cotton (ard $169 for each set)

According to the SA, Egyptian cotton is better than Sateen Cotton as it has a plusher feel.

I could not really feel the different though... No 'magic' touch...

HE was not very happy about it though.

Almost fainted when he saw my SMS =>

No choice, sleep is really important to me!

Cant wait to setup the new bed with the new bedsheets and new blanket.

Hopefully it will be as comfortable as I envisioned it to be !

The Art of Mattress Buying - Mastered!

Finally settled our mattress + bed frame.

Wasn't thinking of making a purchase that day when we happened to drop by Serta (IMM).

Rather, we were trying to figure out whether to go for Aberdeen (cheaper) or Sophistication.

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The conversation was something along these lines:

Us: Eh, cant really feel the different between the 2 mattresses lei... But the prices got such a big difference

Salesman: If you really cant feel the difference, just go for the cheaper 1.

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Ended up, the salesman sort of solve this issue for us =)

He also gave us the option to upgrade to Sophistication in future @ the current prices.

I do admit that Sophistication does feel a tiny whiny bit plusher and has a super nice feel due to its pillow top material (memory foam or something).

But my mind was like telling me: it does not matter at all since the mattress will be covered up by the mattress protector & bedsheets.

Just buy bedsheets with higher thread count or nicer feel will do =)

Furthermore, Sophistication is much 'thicker' than Aberdeen and I do not want to overshoot our budget when it comes to buying bedsheets.

Although the prices might not be exactly cheaper but we are glad that one more item is settled on the To Do List.

There wasn't much bed frames to choose from and we decided on something which is slightly inclined (only 2 designs to choose from) as we both love to read in bed & an inclined bedframe would be something more comfortable.

Choosing of bed frame colour was also hassle free as there was only 2 colours to choose from.

Either a babyshit-like yellow (his preference) or plum shade (my preference) as shown below.

Guess which shade we ended up with?

Source: http://serta.com.sg

Total cost: $1519 (mattress) + $799 (bedframe)

Freebies:

- 4 pillows (exchange the sheep soft-toy for 2 pillows instead as it serves no purpose)

- 1 mattress protector

- bedside bench (option to exchange it for 2 sets of bedsheets)