Boiler/Heater (Gas) Control 101

[tokkibunni]

You only need to leave the water running, preferably warm/hot, at a speed that'll register with the ondol (that water is in use). Don't heat the space unnecessarily, it'll be a bill you don't need to pay and will greatly outweigh leaving the water running.

A lot of people in the mid-west US that lack basements do the same thing to avoid pipes freezing, so I trust its validity.

Well, the thing is I can't turn on vacation mode just for water. The ondol needs to be on for vacation mode to work

[lotte world]

My ondol is set to 18 degrees.  The thermostat turns the boiler on and off to maintain this temperature.  It's not too cold, and not too stuffy.

If I turn on the hot water tap then hot water takes priority over the ondol.  The boiler turns on and heats the water for the hot tap.

When I go on vacation I will turn the thermostat down to 10 or 12 degrees.  This is much warmer than it needs to be to prevent freezing, but it's much easier than figuring out what all of the other buttons on the controller do, and I know it will work.  Plus, when I come back, it won't take so long to heat up the fabric of the apartment again.

You definitely should do something to prevent your pipes from freezing and bursting while you are away.

[bestoked]

quick question: If I accidentally left that green button engaged for the whole evening, does that mean my heater has been pumping heat to the water source all night?     

[lotte world]

quick question: If I accidentally left that green button engaged for the whole evening, does that mean my heater has been pumping heat to the water source all night?     

No.

Hot water is heated on demand.  If the water isn't running, the boiler isn't running.

The ondol runs either on a timer (20 minutes every 1 2 or 4 hours) or a thermostat.  When the ondol isn't running the boiler isn't.  You would have noticed if the room was getting hotter.

[Frozencat99]

You only need to leave the water running, preferably warm/hot, at a speed that'll register with the ondol (that water is in use). Don't heat the space unnecessarily, it'll be a bill you don't need to pay and will greatly outweigh leaving the water running.

A lot of people in the mid-west US that lack basements do the same thing to avoid pipes freezing, so I trust its validity.

Well, the thing is I can't turn on vacation mode just for water. The ondol needs to be on for vacation mode to work

Oh, mine works like that, too. Vacation mode uses very little gas (at least for me) and my highest bill has been under 40k won. You don't need to use timers or anything like that, just keep vacation mode on. The third floor of my building has its pipes closest to the surface and earlier this month their pipes froze despite leaving the heat on at night. Now they're running their water (and making me slowly lose my mind when I bathe) and there hasn't been another incident.

[Squire]

I set my heating to 10 degrees or something a couple of days ago when I left, but it probably isn't necessary since I'm on the south coast. Time will tell.

[Chalkie]

Anyone got the dirt on the Lotte heating control panel?

It looks new.

I want to be able to swich off the floor heating in my kitchen to save power.

It has a grey power button on bottom right corner.

C.

[Rothy]

I would absolutely advise people to leave their heating panel on a low setting when leaving to go on vacation during Winter. I went back to South Africa for a month- having turned off the heating in my apartment- and returned to a burst boiler, frozen water pipes, a freezing flooded apartment, and a 700,000 won bill two days later  Northern Hemisphere Problems!

[KuduPower]

Anyone got the dirt on the Lotte heating control panel?

It looks new.

I want to be able to swich off the floor heating in my kitchen to save power.

It has a grey power button on bottom right corner.

C.

I think I have the same one. Temperature's in red numbers in the upper right with a set of 4 buttons on a curve corresponding to 4 lights?

Did you get around to figuring it out?
I've had two native relatives try and help me, but even they don't really get it. I'll talk to my building manager about it with my coteacher, and will gladly pass on the knowledge once I have it.

[Chalkie]

Nope,

My last gas bill was 160 000. Ouch!

I just try to use it as little as possible..

Apparently, on some heater control functions you can switch off the floor-heating for the
kitchen and just have the livingroom heated, thus halving gas consumption.

How to do that on my heater controls remains a mystery..

Oh well, Winter is almost over.

I won't be here next Winter, ha ha, hooray!

[msjet85]

I am trying to view the attachment, sounds like this common heater is opposite of the one I have.

[twisleder]

Thanks for this extremely useful post!  I think I have a slight correction about the timer function, however, at least as it relates to my apartment.

I believe that the boiler comes on for just a few minutes at a time every hour or two hours or what have you.  For instance, I have my timer set to four hours, and the boiler comes on for several minutes once every 4 hours.  This seems like a pretty efficient way to make sure that the apartment is reasonably warm when I get home at the end of the day (or when I wake up in the morning) without using too much gas.  Then again, I haven't gotten my first gas bill yet, so I can't swear to it!

[Joltz]

  I'm pretty new here, but I can't seem to figure out how to look at the attachments, can anyone help me out?

[ac3824a]

I also have the Lotte heater, and I'm having trouble figuring it out.   Any luck?

[KuduPower]

I also have the Lotte heater, and I'm having trouble figuring it out.   Any luck?

Hey Joey/Chalkie,

I've more or less figured it out, but it may change based on your boiler...

First of all, to create any sort of heat, water or floor, the boiler needs to be on. For me, it's a little red button that corresponds with a little green light when turned on.

The top two buttons, temp setting and heating/hot (google translation), let you change the minimum temperature you want your floor at. This is indicated by the second light going green.
When the third light is on, orange, that means you're adjusting the temperature of hot water only (how hot you want your shower/sink water to be, 70-75 is good enough for me).
When the top, first light is on [combustion/spread of fire] it means your boiler is actively working to build up/spread heat. Your main temp number will often shoot past your set temp in order to create enough heat to spread it out.

As for the timer, I keep it at the lowest, 01. This is because I could care less how cold my place is when I come home. This is also why I turn off the thermostat and boiler when I leave my place.

Hope this saves someone from nights similar to my first few, which I spent freezing in my room.

[wesman1988]

Thanks for this!  It's quite helpful.

[Emer]

This is such a help! Thank you so much, I've been having lukewarm showers since arriving!

[yeahchristine!]

I've been taking lukewarm showers these past few days, even after getting help (quasi-)figuring out the boiler system in my one room...considering going to 찜질방 soon so I can absorb more warmth

[kookie]

This was a big help to me because unlike my most recent experience in Korea, I found myself unable to control the heat in my apartment. Thanks to a very friendly landlady and the help of her daughter, things have become much better for me and I am very pleased to be comfortable in my new home. Thanks so much for posting this!

[amos.rodriguez]

Thank you for all the information. I have had trouble with my boiler/heater control just like many others first arriving in Korea!  This has helped a great deal and I can now take hot showers! Lol thanks again and I will direct anyone else here who is having similar problems/issues!!