Korean Job Discussion Forums

[steelhead]

Hey all,

In in a "heated" debate with my roomies(no pun intended) about our heating strategy this winter. Last year started with just using the floor heat in our 3 bedroom apartment. But the guys furthest from the heat source got a little chilly at night so they bought those floor heaters. So not only was our gas bill now like 160k a month, but then our electricity bills were now like 150k.

I tried to tell the guys that those little heater boxes are extreemely inefficient. Additionally, some members fo the house have little concept of moderation. If its warm in the summer, on goes the air con. If its chilly on goes the heat.

Our place is extreemely poorly insulated. Heat goes in and out like nothing. Anyone have any good ideas? Id prefer to not have to pay a 100k amonth eatch to stay warm.

Ive considered maybe asking the landlord to have the place checked out... weather stripping? Stuff/tape the windows?

Anyone have any proof of how inefficient those heaters are? I know they are cause I handle the bills. Its not hard ot figure out.

[peppermint]

Weather proof the windows. Cover them with thick plastic and then seal it up with tape, should help somewhat

[VanIslander]

More blankets and less heat after midnight... seriously... lots of heat is wasted while sleeping.

Also, if a space heater is to warm only a small area, then hanging a sheet keeps the heat localized.

[hojucandy]

if i were you i would get a place on my own.

failing that - investigate insulation. some people cover their windows with styrofoam during the winter.

what's wrong with cold bedrooms anyway? i prefer a cold bedroom - better for sleeping.

[steelhead]

well living on my own isnt a consideration.

Also, I like a cool bedroom as well.

I agree, few extra blankets should do it. Ill look into insulation Taping up the windows is a start.

Id prefer to have a little heat on during the day, combined with sweats and hoodies

ohhh and some good slippers

[weatherman]

Hope those are friends you choose to live with and not a hogwon owners idea of space for the waeguks.

Sweaters, and good blankets at night.

[Ekuboko]

So are you saying that the ondol heat doesn't extend to the other bedroom floors, or that it's just weak?

[JongnoGuru]

Gas 160,000
Electricity 150,000
3-bedroom apartment. (Is that 3 tenants or more?)

If those bills are for the coldest months of the year, then that isn't wildly out of line with what a lot of people (3 or more tenants in 3-bedroom homes) are paying. But it seems the OP is having to subsidise his flatmates' space heater usage, which would certainly suck.

Some ideas...

--Wear warm fuzzy slippers. DEFINITELY. (You already do, but this can't be stressed enough.)

--Dress so warmly that you need to turn the heat down. Dress like eskimos. Then when you have guests over for those swanky c0cktail parties, you can strip naked and blast the furnace again. That's what I do, anyway.

--Give me the brand/model # of those space heaters and I may be able to tell you how (in)efficient they are.

--Buy electric blankets or the pads that go between the mattress & sheet.

--Feel around all the windows and front door, seal any obvious leaks with tape and foam rubber. Check out this site on weatherstripping.

--Have the bedroom doors been insulated like this? If not, the landlord probably isn't going to do it out of the goodness of his heart or in the interest of happy international relations. Still, it can't hurt to check and ask. You can try jamming a deep-pile, bathroom-type (non-slip) throw-rug right up against the door crack (on the "out"side of a door opening "in" ) to block the draft.

--Install thick curtains and carpets.

The OP complains that his apartment is badly insulated. My own experience with Korean apartments is that many are almost too well insulated and need constant airing-out, especially if they're new and full of toxins from the building materials. I don't really like them, and that's one of the primary reasons.

If there aren't actual leaks around the windows and front door (btw, is there a "middle door", or do you walk straight from the living room to the outside corridor?) then it could just be a heat-sapping mausoleum of an apartment. Then it's a problem of the building materials and design, about which little can be done. Or a weak ondol system, and that's easy enough to verify. If you can't comfortably run around the apartment in your undies in the dead of winter, then no Korean would live in such an icebox.

[steelhead]

Thanks for the tips Guru.

Tell you what, ill snap off some pics later, show you the terrible windows we have.... you can feel a cool breeze... in our laundry room the window doesnt even shut ... because of pipes goin outside.

The heaters are Sun HakElectric model number ss-950

if that helps any.

Thanks again everyone