Friday, January 16, 2009

"Central Heating" in traditional Korean House


I have always wondered how the people of ancient Korea keep warm during their cold winters. The people have a tradition of sleeping and sitting on the floor, and that apparently includes even their ancient Emperors. In the course of my travel I experienced the central heating in some Korean hotels through hot water pipes buried on their cement floor.

I visited the Korean Cultural Village in Seoul in December 08 to find out more about their culture, and was shown an exhibit of a more primitive version of their innovative "central heating" system. Apparently the traditional wooden Korean houses are built on low stilts
with a hold dug in the ground and lined by cement walls to create a "fire place" to generate the heating for the building. The floors are lined with cement slabs to prevent the house from catching fire.

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