Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tenchu77491]

My gas bill is 52,000 won this month. I do cook every day just about, so I was wondering if this is normal in Seoul?

[The Gipkik]

Is your floor heated? Make sure that it is shut off if it is. Gas here is expensive, but 52 is on the high side. How big is your pad?

[cruisemonkey]

I'll venture a 'wild guess' -

I think it's directly co-related to how much gas you use and the price/cubic meter (assuming by "gas" you mean LPG).

Take a 50/50 mix of dish soap and water... trace the line back from the appliances (stove, ondol etc.) in your apartment to the cylinder/tank. If you find any bubbles forming - there's your answer!

Hint - the bubbles are most likely to be forming at fittings.

Edit: I see by your 'join date' you are new to K-land... as the above poster wisely points out -
#1 Make sure you are not heating your apartment unnecessarily. Is there something on your 'balcony' that sounds like its burning?

[Tobias]

I could be wrong here, and someone please correct me if I am, but I think I read on a bill once that the more gas we use per month, the more we pay per unit.

[tenchu77491]

I do have heated floors but I don't use very often. I keep all hot water and floors off unless I shower. A few weeks ago the gas woman checked the apartment for fumes around the hose and there was none and she gave a sticker up above the stove (I guess meaning it's safe). So I don't assume there is any leak.

I lived in Incheon for 6 months and Seoul about 2 months. I have never seen a gas bill this high.

Any more ideas? I will check the hose again for leaks....and I will make sure the heated floors is turned off of my heating wall unit and make sure it's water only.

PS,

what are your average gas bills for those that cook at least once a day?

[cruisemonkey]

[Robot_Teacher]

My gas bill was 79,000 this past month and I'm cooking every day or night, but eat school lunch. I boil a liter of water for coffee and cook dinner every night. It's not cheap to buy groceries and cook for yourself in K-land. I spend like 600,000 to 700,000 on food, but didn't gain any weight and don't want to.

Some things such as food and energy are very expensive, but yet restaurants and taxis are not nearly as expensive as cooking and driving for yourself. I can see why most Koreans go out to eat as a group. Being a foreigner in a small town where you don't mesh well with locals and don't have friends, you're not going to a restaurant by yourself, but it's nice to cook food I actually enjoy so I don't mind paying for the gas. You can go out by yourself in the city though you'll probably blow even more money. I do see Korea as being way over priced, but know Japan is lunacy when it comes to costs so this aint the worse. Not even close.

It costs about half my income for necessities like food, energy, health insurance, internet, other utilities, and public transportation, not counting if I buy import beer and special purchases like clothes and electronics. If I had to pay rent and keep a car, I would be barely getting by paycheck to paycheck and probably reducing my food and energy costs by forcing myself to consume less as to stay in a 1.8 million won a month budget.

[cruisemonkey]

I cook three meals/day (refuse to eat the K-rap they serve in my PS caf.) but my oven does not use 'gas'... my stove does, but I dont turn it on 'full blast' like a K would. Every morning, I luxuriate in a long, hot shower and last month my gas bill was W19,000. However...

...your question will not elicit a meaningful answer without knowing all the variables. What works on what? How big is your apartment; are there people living above, below or to the sides of you; how weather-proof is your apartment; what was your gas bill in Feb.; how long are your showers; what do you have the water temperature set at?

Can't you read the meter and multiply? I will ask you this - does your gas bill come directly to you... or pass through a K's hand before you are asked to 'buckup'?

[tenchu77491]

I have no idea where the meter is.

The bills come directly to my mail box. I have done everything on my own here and my school touches nothing.

My apartment is small, I guess a small studio about 20 feet by 20 feet (those are horrible measurements but you get the picture).

I do have the water temp set to max (and it's not even that hot).

I have no oven, only 2 stove top burners, and I do nearly full blast it for boiling water then turn it down.

This is the first gas bill I got and it's from April-May. This is a new apartment in Seoul~

I live in the basement of a 'villa' that is 4 floors. I have one person on my side and we are the only people in the entire basement level of the buidling (basement is level with garage and the back entrance (pretty much equal to the first floor... hard to explain unless you see it). Anyway, it was kind of cold in April since I feel like I am surrounded by cement on 3 sides. I do got someone above me.

I cook 2 times a day typically. Not big meals, usually pasta or boil water for tea. Or, ramen and fry mandu.

I shower for about 30 min on average, and twice a day.

[PeteJB]

My average bill costs are about 20,000 per month for Gas and 10,000 for Electric. And I use them BOTH a lot. Winter gas sets me back about 35,000.

[madoka]

[losing_touch]

My bill is around 15,000 per month. I cook daily. I shower daily. Your bill is high!

[The Gipkik]

My Gas bill for the past month: 10,280
Electricity: 7,600
You must have a really big place!
Apparently, to shut off the floor, you need to turn off a couple of levers. Turning the water off alone won't shut it off. The previous month, my gas bill was 35,000.

[Adjumas Cheekbones]

[PeteJB]

30 minutes twice a day? Your neighbours must think you run a sauna.