This photo provided by LG Electronics Inc. on Jan. 26, 2021, shows the company’s new Whisen Tower air conditioner.
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Air conditioners, once regarded as home appliance items only for the summer season, are evolving towards use in all four seasons thanks to the application of various functions, including not only air-conditioning but also air purifying and a variety of heating options.
LG Electronics Inc. analyzed the data of 129,311 stand-type air conditioners registered on its ThinQ app. The analysis showed that the monthly usage hours for January, in the middle of winter, averaged 6.4 hours.
Of the total, 2,937 units were operated during the month of January. Among them, 1,837 units were used for air purifying and 669 units for heating.
The most used function was air purification at 58.6 percent. During days when the density of fine dust was high, the use of this function increased sharply.
Thanks to the significant improvement in air conditioners’ air purification functions in recent years, many consumers opt to use air conditioners, instead of air purifiers, for the purpose of air purification.
The annual size of the air conditioner market shot up to 2.5 million units in 2017 from 2 million units in 2016, and has remained around the 2.5 million units mark since then.
With sales of air conditioners remaining stagnant for several years, the industry is promoting air conditioners as four-season home appliances while engaging in fierce new product competition.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
