Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HarryMorgan]

Hey, I recently moved into a ground floor apartment and it gets freezing inside. The big metal door compounds the problem and it's constantly wet on the inside. This also makes me weary about turning on the heat.

Anyway, I read the winter proofing your apartment thread and bought the 3M scotch stuff, sealed it up everywhere to where it's difficult to even close the door, but the door is still soaked. Just condensation, I guess. It is less ball-numbing freezing, but still really damn cold. It takes the floor heater at least an hour or two before you notice a real difference. The windows right beside the door are air tight, it's just this damn door I can't figure out.

I assume my best bet is to buy a couple heat fans, and this is mostly just a shot in the dark, but thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone had any other ideas. I would also prefer not to tape aluminum foil to my door . I'm mostly alright with colder indoor temps, but when the ladies come over I get the "it's so cold!" so I have to crank that thing up all night . Starting to worry me, anticipating this first bill.

But I digress, any helpful suggestions?

[aphase]

The moisture on the door has nothing to do with cold air getting in. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. When the warm air touches the cold door the air can no longer hold moisture and condenses onto the door as water. The bright side to this is that your door is essentially acting as a big de-humidifier.

One problem with basement places in the winter is that the moisture condenses onto the concrete walls making the wall paper moist, thus promoting mold growth. Your metal door might actually save you from this .

But if you really want to prevent moisture, I suggest opening the windows of your place for a bit every day to get the moist air out (briefly, yes I know it's cold out). Another alternative is to actually buy a dehumidifier, and then there will be nothing to condense onto the door anymore.

Oh yeah, and since it IS probably similar to a basement place, DO watch out for mold, especially if your walls aren't insulated, like most places here. I would suggest not putting furniture and other objects plush against the wall.

[eamo]

[HarryMorgan]

Thanks for the great insight, aphase. I neglected to mention the mold potential, a small area on the wallpaper to the bottom right of the door. Isolated to that one area as far as I can tell, so far. I will also start opening the windows a bit more. Almost bought a dehumidifier the other day as well, definitely going to follow through with that.

And Eamo, I'm right with you, I know how much Koreans push intense heat on you indoors. But another WTF issue is that my thermostat won't go below 40 C. No 39, no 24. I still don't know what the hell is with that. I had a Korean girl look at it and she said she couldn't change it. Cranking 40 C for minimal results is not a worthwhile financial decision. I plan to investigate that a bit further this weekend.

Allow me to add the disclaimer of relative ignorance from having never actually resided in a place with such low temperatures. I really liked the apartment, newly renovated and furnished. I'd like it a lot more if I could find a way to seal more of the cold out. Thanks for the responses. Let me know if you have any other ideas.

[eamo]

Your thermostat is showing water temperature. Not room temperature. Some of them do that. A bit pointless, I know. Just find the temp that suits you then keep it on for best results.

[HarryMorgan]

[eamo]

[HarryMorgan]