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Water boilers

 
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laynamarya



Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Location: Gwangjin-gu

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:33 am    Post subject: Water boilers Reply with quote

So, we have a jeonsae villa, a few decades old, and as the weather gets colder, our old-school boiler gets more aggravating. We have the kind that has hot water for two minutes, cold water for five. Our bathroom is also a drafty converted veranda, which makes showertime a truly dreadful experience. It's almost enough to make me want to move in with the in-laws. Almost.

Since there is zero chance of our landlady doing anything about it, how much do you think a new boiler would run us?
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tardisrider



Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I once had a situation with water temperatures fluctuating as you described. The solution was to run the water at slightly-less-than full pressure--the water would stay hot if I didn't turn it on all the way. Don't know if it will help in your situation, but it's worth a try.
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timhorton



Joined: 07 Dec 2005

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe one of those portable camping showers will work for you. It has a large bladder (for putting the hot water in) and a wand for spraying. Just hang it up on a nail and shower away. It's such a hassle it can save you money since you won't want to take many showers Smile
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newb



Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another solution is to get a membership at a local sauna or health spa. They give you a personal locker to store your shower stuff.
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Lazio



Joined: 15 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The price depends on how big the heated area is. 500,000-ish will get you a new boiler for a typical 3 bedroom+living room place.
http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_category/category.asp?gdmc_cd=200002119&link_type=LIST&search_err=

I suspect it doesn�t include the installation which judging from the A/C set-up prices can run you 100,000 easily but even more wouldn�t surprise me as they are skilled guys.

We also had a crappy, old boiler and nicely asked our landlord to replace it. We got a new one just a few weeks ago on the landlord�s expense. FYI we also live in jeonse.
Koreans usually replace boilers every 8-10 years because it�s already �old�. There are those stickers that some ajumma puts on them each year and we found the earliest one from 1999 making our boiler at least 13 years old. However it�s still up to the landlord because they don�t need to replace it no matter how old it is unless there is some problem with it. Try to approach the landlord nicely about it. Tell him/her that you have kids (or planning to have or anything) and you would love to have a nice warm home and hot water for your family. Maybe you could make up some problems about the boiler like noisy, strange sounds etc.
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JustinC



Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's just the shower - not the heating - you could get an electric shower. I'd go for a 12kw unit to ensure warmer showers.
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laynamarya



Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Location: Gwangjin-gu

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, everyone.

I don't think our landlady will do anything, because we had to buy our own sink for the bathroom ('I lived there for ten years and we never needed a sink!') She's actually a very nice lady, just extremely frugal.

I am pretty sure it's a boiler problem, because the kitchen sink does the same thing. 500,000 might be worth it.

We'll look into the other suggestions, though! I appreciate you guys.
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tardis is correct.

You are not creating sufficient back pressure and the water is not heating. Those old systems have a very small tank and you are using that quickly. Water rushes through the system so fast that it has no chance to heat in the tank. Lower the speed of the water flow. Not having a powerful shower sucks, but it will be hot. Welcome to Korea 1990's style.
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