One of the many aspects of the modern world that we take for granted is the very technology that keeps accommodations at a habitable temperature. Examples of this include central heating systems with hot water circulation, or blast air blown from a central furnace to several rooms. Certainly in Europe, before the Romans set sail and the industrial revolution happened, we were pretty cold unless someone set the room on fire. But not in Korea.of Principle of ondol heating It has been in constant use from around 5000 BC to just a few decades ago, keeping the average Korean compatriot in good spirits.
That said, the sophistication has improved a bit. Originally, the idea was to simply heat a bundle of stones in a fire and bring them indoors. Ondol soon became part of the buildingAs you can see from the video embedded below, the house sits on top of an elaborate double-stack winding channel that circulates the hot combustion products from the furnace as completely as possible, keeping the gas velocities at bay. to allow its heat to be transferred to the furnace. The structure of the floor, and radiates into the space above. that is, Roman hypocaust system, ruined examples can be found all over the UK and Europe. The skills demonstrated in the video are considerable, but an expensive build reserved for the most culturally sensitive Koreans who want to live in a simpler (and less busy) part of their country There is no doubt that
Perhaps for the majority of us, this sort of thing is not viable and would likely benefit from a more centralized approach, perhaps using waste heat from data centers or geothermal activity. (look: Iceland)
thanks to [Keith] for tips!
