English guide to Korean air conditioner remote controls

Here's a simple guide to using the remote control for your Korean air conditioner.

Many new English teachers arrive in Korea and find an air conditioner in their apartment, but have no clue how to use the remote control (에어컨 리모콘) that came with it. All the buttons are in Korean, and the functions and settings may be confusing. So I've taken a few different sample remote controls and labeled the buttons for you. Plus I've translated some of the usual buttons/features with a bit of explanation so hopefully you can get your aircon up and running and not die in Korea's humid summers.

Sample air conditioner remote controls with English translations


Here is a representative sample of some of the more common types of A/C remotes I've seen here. Click the images for a better view.

A/C remote 1 - Carrier



A/C remote 2 - Century


A/C remote 3 - Samsung


A/C remote 4 - Samsung


A/C remote 5 - Toshiba


A/C remote 6 - Unknown brand

A/C remote 7 - LG Whisen

A/C remote 8 - LG Whisen
 

Common functions and buttons on Korean air conditioner units

Here I'll explain what the buttons and modes do. If you're totally lost, try to match the Korean symbols on your remote unit with what you see here. I've tried to group them the way they often appear on the remotes.

Basic functions - Mode setting


  • 운전 선택 = Mode setting

Aside from the power button, this is the most important button on your remote. Every remote will have some version of this button. By pressing this multiple times, you can cycle through the main modes of operation of the A/C unit. The majority of air conditioners in Korea will have 4 main the button will cycle through. You'll see which mode you're in listed on the LCD panel of the remote.

Those 4 modes are:

  • 냉방 = Cooling / normal A.C. mode
  • 제습 = Dehumidifying
  • 송풍 = Fan / vent (sometimes appears as 환기)
  • 자동 = Automatic


Like I said, there probably won't be buttons for these functions. They'll appear on the screen of the remote and/or the main A/C unit. Only one of these at a time will appear. Press the button again to cycle through the modes.

Normal cooling (냉방) is what most people want.

But since the summers are so hot here due to high humidity, it's often more pleasant (and feels cooler, and apparently can save energy too) to use the dehumidifying mode (제습). I prefer this. It will still cool the air but air naturally loses moisture going through the cooling process anyway which is a bonus for summertime.

The fan/vent option (송풍) will just blow air. Treat it like just having a fan in the room. Good for getting air moving but not much else. You can use this in winter too if you feel a little stuffy. I read that it only blows using the indoor unit, so no energy is going to the outdoor unit. This is also useful for helping to dry out the indoor unit after you've been using normal A/C for a long time.

In fact some newer units will automatically go into this mode for 10 minutes or so after shutting off. It will appear off, but the fan will remain on and blowing. It's not broken. Just let it dry itself out a bit.

Automatic (자동) means the unit itself will decide which mode to be in, how strongly to blow, what temperature to strive for, etc. You may get no settings/options in this mode in some models, others you can at least specify a desired temp. You can try it out for yourself, but I personally don't like this mode. It never seems to feel as cool as I want to feel.

Air strength


Another important button is the one to control the strength and/or speed of the air coming out. That's the button called "wind strength": 

  • 바람 세기= Wind/blower
Again, usually you will press it multiple times to cycle through the strengths. These are the 4 most common:

  • 자동 = Automatic
  • 터보 = Turbo
  • 강 = High
  • 중 = Medium
  • 약 = Low 

This is how powerfully the air conditioner will blow. You might have separate buttons for each of these. Or you might have up-and-down arrows for controlling the strength and may have just icons on the LCD screen to suggest higher and lower rather than giving them names. But most will just be that one single button, pressed repeatedly.

I usually let it start in turbo mode until I'm cool, then switch to Automatic. If you have patience, just use Automatic only, forever.

The button may be labelled differently, such as:

  • 바람 = Wind (strength)
  • 풍량선택 = Air strength setting
  • 풍량 = Air strength


Air flow direction 


If your unit has this feature, you can control the direction that the air blows. It's fins will move back and forth in the appropriate direction.

  • 바람방향 = Blower direction
  • 풍향좌우 = Set blowing direction left-to-right
  • 좌우 = Left to right

  • 풍향상하 = Set blowing direction to up-and-down
  • 상하 = Up and down

  • 풍향고정 = Fixed direction (stop moving the fins)
  • 건접바람 = Indirect blowing (usually makes it point to the ceiling)
 

Temperature setting functions


Usually the remote will always display the desired/set temperature. The unit itself will either display the current room temp, or the desired room temp. It seems to depend on the brand/model. How do you know? Check the screen for these symbols. There may also be buttons on your remote with these labels that will let you switch between them.

  • 희망 / 희망온도 = Desired temperature
  • 실내 / 실내온도 = Current (indoor) temperature

The temperature is usually just controlled with up and down arrow buttons. They might have labels too like:
 
  • 온도조절 = Temperature settings (usually just a label between the two arrows)
  • 올림 = Higher
  • 내림 = Lower


Those are the major basic features. If you only need basic functions, you can stop reading here.

Other misc buttons / labels


  • 운전 = Main power (cycle for on / off)
  • 정지 - Stop/ Off / Cancel
  • 운전정지 / 운전/정지 - Stop / Off or On / Off 

운전 will be the main power button. You may only see 정지 (stop or off) written on the same button, or a separate button but if it's separate, it may be specifically to cancel/end the reservation/timer setting.

  • 설정 - Settings
  • 취소 / 해제 - Cancel
  • 나가기 - Exit (from the current menu)
 

Turbo mode


Many units have a "turbo mode" that will be listed as something like:

  • 쾌속냉방 = Rapid cooling mode
  • 강력운전 = High-power mode
  • 파워 냉방 = Power cooling mode
  • 터보모드 = Turbo mode 

These all do the same thing. The unit will go full-blast. This is good for when you just get home and the house is swelteringly hot. Depending on your unit, it may automatically go down to a more normal setting after 15 minutes or so of full-blast cooling. Mine doesn't. If I leave it in turbo mode, it will freeze the house after about 30 minutes so I manually switch back to normal Auto function after awhile.

Sleep mode


Many units will have a "sleep mode" or "overnight mode" that, you guessed it, is a useful button to press as you go to bed. It will be labelled something like:

  • 취침 = Sleep mode
  • 쾌적 취침 = Sleep mode
  • 조용 = Quiet mode
  • 열대야 = Tropical nights mode 

In each of these, the A/C unit will be on and pumping out cold air for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Then once you've presumably fallen asleep, it will automatically go into lower power mode.

The idea is to not be blasting all night and wasting energy keeping your room ice cold when you're already out cold asleep and wouldn't notice it anyway. Not a bad feature for helping you to fall asleep and usually runs just cool enough to keep you asleep. I saw a unit once that would then crank back up the A/C 7 or 8 hours later to wake you up refreshed and chilled, but that seems uncommon.

You could also use the timer/schedule settings to achieve a somewhat similar effect if you prefer.

Low power mode


You guessed it. This uses less energy.

  • 절전 = Low energy mode
  • 절약운전 = Low-power mode
  • 경제운전 = Economical mode 

All of these do the same thing. I personally find it useful to switch to this mode only after establishing my cool comfort zone. In some units, activating this mode will prohibit you from turning the temp down below 26 degrees or so. If you're trying to run two indoor A/C units that share one main outdoor compressor unit, you may want to disable this mode if you're running both at the same time. In my experience, this results in output that is too weak to properly cool two rooms.

Timers and Reservation mode


Most units have a feature to schedule the A/C to automatically turn on or off at a desired time. Look for these labels on the remote buttons:  

  • 예약 = Schedule (or if you prefer, "Timer" or "Reservation")
  • 타이머 = Timer
  • 예약켜짐 / 켜짐예약 = Scheduled "on"
  • 예약꺼짐 / 꺼짐예약 = Scheduled "off"
  • 예약 해제 = Schedule clear/reset
 
Depending on your unit, there's usually one of two ways to manage this:
  1. The remote has a clock setting. In this case, you can usually use the "scheduled on" button and it will ask for a time to turn the unit on. For example, you can set "turn on at 8am". The arrows let you scroll through the hours.
  2. No clock, so instead you choose chunks of hours for when you want it to turn on/off. For example, "turn off in 4 hours."
You can usually set both a turn on and a turn off time for a nice amount of automation. Have it turn on 30 minutes before you get home and bask in the coolness after work.

It can take some trial and error to figure it out, and many units handle this a little differently. A good rule of thumb for simpler units is that setting the schedule (예약) if the unit is a very simple model that doesn't have different on/off settings for the schedule is that it will just do the opposite of whatever it's doing now, when you set it. So if your air is blowing at 24 degrees right now, and you set the 예약 for 3 hours, then in 3 hours the unit will shut off, and vice versa.

Personally, when I first arrived in Korea, I had remote #4 in the images above. Pressing down the 예약 button multiple times let me cycle through setting the timer (using the temp up/down arrows) and additionally if I held the button down for a couple of seconds, it would change to setting the clock. Tapping the button would turn the timer on/off (the screen would indicate whether the timer was active by a little clock icon).

Heating mode


  • 난방 = Heating mode
  • 냉난방 = Heating/cooling switch

Some newer units include a setting for heating the room. This is often the case with units installed in the apartment itself, i.e. not standalone units that can be moved to a new place. This mode will function similarly to the cooling mode. Just use the arrows to set the desired temp (희망). 

WARNING: Notice how similar 난방 (heating) looks to 냉방 (cooling). So if you have this feature, double check you haven't turned on the heat by mistake.

Other settings


Some A/C units have some other interesting features that are not going to be present on every unit.

  • 부가운전 = Additional features menu
  • 공기청정 = Air purifying (yes, some A/C have an air filter)
  • 솔로 / 패밀리 운전 = Solo / Family mode (cycle through them for gentler / stronger output. Solo mode can save ~60% energy use).
  • 실외기 = Outdoor A/C unit (seems to show up on the screen to indicate a problem that will require a call to the service center)

LCD screen examples


Just to help you see what's going on, here are some sample LCD screens that show a very common look at what your panel (either on the unit or on the remote control) will look like.

Air Conditioner guide page via LG휘센 에어컨 무선리모컨 사용방법과 예약 방법 : 네이버 블로그 

Panel 1: 

Cooling mode (냉방)
Desired Temp (희망): 18 degrees
Fan speed: high

Panel 2:

Heating mode (난방)
Desired Temp (희망): 30 degrees

Panel 3:

Dehumidifying mode (제습)
Fan speed: Medium

Panel 4:

Fan only (송풍)
(No A/C cooling)
Fan speed: High


Stay cool out there


Hope this helped. I always feel bad when I see posts like this from guys asking how to use their own A/C. I definitely remember being in their shoes.

By the way, I'm assuming here total unfamiliarity with Korean A/C units. So apologies if I sound like I'm treating you like a moron. I figure if you can't read Korean, hopefully you can just match the symbols on your buttons with what I've shown/explained. My goal is just to get it working for you. I know how disgustingly hot and sweaty it can get here.

And for winter time, check out my post on using your ondol control panel for heating your room.

Finally, an oldie-but-goodie reminder not to confuse 에어컨 ("air con") with 콘에어 ("Con Air") though I gotta say both are amazing in summertime.


Stay cool out their folks.

Comments

Zedsonata said…
I've had my aircon on econo mode for the last year... Thank you!
Sam Nordberg said…
Haha well just think of all the money you've saved.
Bonne Vivante said…
Thank you! Your explanation was very helpful.
Sam Nordberg said…
Glad it helped.
Unknown said…
Which is more energy efficient, econ mode or automatic?
IGustiAyu said…
Hai. I have the #4 remote. Could you teach me how to set the timer?
Sam Nordberg said…
Probably just keep pushing the timer button. It will scroll through time options.
Unknown said…
hi.. can u help me.. i just turned on my aircon but after 2mins the 실외기 turned off then the air is not cold.. then after 2mins again the air is cold again.. how can i steady the cold air?? ty
Sam Nordberg said…
Could be a problem with the unit. Might need to be cleaned or serviced. Is it a divided unit, where one outside compressor serves 2 internal outlets? I had a similar problem once, and realized that somehow the "smaller" indoor unit in the bedroom would only function well if the "larger" unit in the main room was turned on first. Once the bedroom unit was working well and nice and cold, I could then turn off the main larger unit and it would continue to work well. But if I kept the main unit off at all times, the smaller unit would sputter out just slightly cool air and the outdoor compressor would shut off quickly or not even turn on. Weird situation.
Unknown said…
Can u help me about my 2 in 1 lg aircon... floor stand with split type whizen model... if i want to use the split aircon it does'nt work. There is no cold and the condenser is not working. But if i turn on the floor stand, the split type is working.. what if i just want to used only the split type only. Why should i need to do? Thank you
Sam Nordberg said…
Sorry, I'm not familiar with the kind of machine you're describing. LG air conditioners are pretty popular and many of the same models sold here are sold abroad. I'm sure you could find an online manual in a different language.