Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oatmeal]

So winter is here already and it was just October a couple days ago. Damn.

Where I live, for whatever reason, it's SUPER EXPENSIVE to heat my one-room. It's an 'ondol' (the heated water pipes under the floor thing). I have to buy the gas separately where the guy comes to my place and delivers it in a large container and pours it into a boiler and then I pay him directly (not the building or part of my rent).

The problem is, if I turn on the ondol heating system to warm the floors, even after just a couple of hours, I already burn about 20,000-30,000 won.
At 60,000 won supply of the oil (2 containers) would last me 2 months in the winter IF i only use it for hot water when I take showers (15 minutes per day), that's it. I never ever used the ondol.

But now I really have to use it and it burns all the oil in 4 days or less. If I calculate this correctly, that's about 400,000 won per month for heating my one room and it's a very small one (10 pyong i think or 11).

So I was wondering what you guys think is the next best option to heat up a room without using the ondol:

a) a space heater (but i hear it uses a lot of electricity so I'll probably be spending a lot anyways only this time on electricity bills)

b) a radiator

c) those heat fan / dish (really small, not sure if that can heat up even a 10 pyong room unless you sit directly next to it)

d) electric blanket/floor mat (a big ass one that covers 50% or more of the room since it's small).


I'm thinking I will just go with a big ass electric blanket/floor mat as I read that it's the cheapest in terms of electricity costs and you are sitting directly on it so the heat is in direct contact with you. I'm sure that will keep you warm even if the air is still cold, right?

[tophatcat]

The electric radiators are safe and give off a mild warmth. I like to run the ondol for an hour or two, off the ondol, and then turn a radiator on low.

[creeper1]

Just wrap up!

Yes. Run it for an hour or so when you get out of bed and then just spend the rest of the time wearing hats and layers. Buy yourself a pair of longjohns or thermal underwear.

[PRagic]

The electric heating pads are great to sleep on. Turn them on, the heat up quick, get snug, then turn off. A quality blanket or down comforter goes a LONG way.

Electric or gas, utilities here can run amok; heating in the winter or air conditioning in the summer.

That does seem like a lot to pay for a one room, though. Might be better to move to a place that has electric ondol. Not cheap, but cheaper than that, and you can at least shower without watching the won dial spin in your head.

[oatmeal]

Thanks for the replies. I agree. I have tons of long johns, blankets, electric blankets, and usually I just wear 3-4 layers of clothes in the house. The temperature in my place gets as low as 5-6 degrees celsius at night and averages about 8-13 C daytime during winters.

I've decided to go with an mini oil radiator from gmarket (pretty cheap, under 40,000 won for a 9 pin radiator). I'll see how that does this winter and how much my electricity bill comes out to.....I don't need to run it 24/7, but just for a couple of hours each day.

[Lazio]

Those radiators are good to evenly heat up a smallish area. Had one before to supplement the floor heating in my newborn's room in an old house with zero insulation.
Ours had 7 pin and it was rated for 1200W. It had two knobs, one to adjust how hot the radiator would get and the other one is to how often it would reach that temperature. Even with both on max. it was still off about half the time because it stays hot, that is why it's filled with oil. So that way it consumed about 600W/hour. Yours will have higher consumption, maybe 1800-2000W but if you run it only for a few hours/day it's shouldn't result in astronomical electric bills.