Korean Aircons

In the southeast United States, almost all homes and offices have central air conditioning. The typical Korean home or shop uses a stand-alone aircon (that's Konglish for Air Conditioner). These are usually free-standing or wall mounted, units with the heat exchanger located outside. Here are two examples of the wall mounted style from my apartment:





Here are a couple of free-standing units photos I stole from the web...





On the outside, usually the buildings have a small balcony or ledge where you can mount the box. Here is an extreme example:



In the building across the street, I have anways wondered about this unusual arrangement. This fellow has his whole aircon mounted in his home, both units, but with the hot exhaust somehow routed to the outside through this snorkel-looking device:





And just this week, someone installed an American-style window aircon - that brings back memories of my childhood (I guess central air conditioning has not ALWAYS been so prevalent in the southeast)...