"Ondol", a portrait of the evolution of solar energy utilization in Korea

Korea people have unique traditions in coping with winter coming on November-January period.

As the weather in Korea generally fluctuating, in winter the temperatures decrease so drastically the plural is found so it requires an extra effort to make the body or the situation around the daily activities that keep the people of Korea.

According to interviews a colleague who is also an expert landscape architectural, traditions cope with this winter only exists in South Korea (and probably also in neighboring North Korea's neighbors). The tradition is that the House is equipped with heated floors called ondol.

Considering the activities and culture of Korea in General that people eat, sleep, study, chat and spent most of his time on the floor of the House or room without sitting his splendid.

Sleeping is one of the most practical options form to keep warm during the freezing winter.

Ondol, formerly and now

Ondol still exists used thousands of years ago by Koreans. Many Koreans believe that Ondol was first discovered in the Three Kingdoms (The Three Kingdoms, Koguryo) in 37 BC when excess heat from the stove began to be used to warm the house during the winter.

Although in the early period of economic development in South Korea the West heating system had plagued and kept the use of underfloor in Korean homes and buildings, but since the 1990s, housing developers began to glance again and implement heating systems that inherited their ancestral heritage on an innovative basis in homes and other modern buildings in Korea.

In principle, the Ondol heating system is a rather than the form of the fiery furnace and the chimney or heating (heater) commonly affixed near the wall, he thus is part integral from the House itself, rather an integrated system with floor heating.

At the traditional House of ancient Korea, Ondol has a main component in the form of a furnace to burn as heat source placed right under the House, and a chimney for smoke heat.

The consequences of the application of the technique of heating systems are the floor houses a relatively better wait good Korea above ground level.

So that the floor can absorb and distribute the heat throughout the room, the floor was composed of Foundation rock surface is coated with clay and carpet of thick heat-resistant paper as paper oil on the top layer.

It is this carpet that distributes the heat evenly from the stone floor throughout the room.

Distribution of heat from the Ondol room to follow the principles of physics-thermodynamics; i.e., the hot air will rise to the top while the cold air will tend to go down to the bottom. Ondol floor warms the room by way of convection.

Cold air molecules in the room that is in contact with the floor will be warm due to the transfer of heat energy from the air molecules to the ondol floor.

This warm air molecule will rise and come into contact with other cold air molecules on top to re-transfer heat energy and so on to other air molecules so that at the peak temperature equilibrium is proportional to time.

By regulating the temperature of the heating furnace and the old, the temperature in the room can also be customized so that it remains comfortable and certainly not cold.

Along with the changing times and technologies, ondol experience evolution.

If ancient heat source can be obtained by burning wood in furnaces, along with the use of oil, the role of the wood any replaceable.

If the ancient smoke heat used as fluid cooled floor, currently used is the hot water that is circulated through a network of pipes under the floor.

One consideration is to avoid carbon monoxide gas from combustion is not potentially leak into the House via a small cracks-cracks of the floor.

Although current use of oil is still commonly found in homes in the interior or in the countryside of Korea, gas heaters (gas boilers) are far more practical and inexpensive to replace the role of oil to heat water. 

The physical form of the floor foundation on which Ondol is also adjusted

the use of cement or concrete castings of a single layer without applying layers of rock or soil as found in traditional houses of ancient Korea.

The only one who retained up to now is the existence of a functioning oil like carpet tiles in Indonesia.

Considering the function as a distributor of hot vitally, presumably, the carpet may not be replaceable. Only, its color varies, if the first yellow, then carpet modern oil has a variety of patterns and colors; from the Brown, yellow or dark brown as part of the architecture of the room.

Solar-powered

With the strengthening of the policy of the South Korean government in intensifying the use of renewable and environmentally friendly energy, the use of ondol as a heating system continues to be adjusted.

Starting from the increasing use of solar heaters in homes to provide hot water, the idea of ​​utilizing solar heaters as a source of heat for ondol also surfaced. Solar heaters are projected to replace the role of gas as a boiler gas heater.

In this sunlight-powered ondol, there is no noticeable change in the heating system or its working principle. Changes only touch the heat source used.

Solar heaters capture heat carried by the Sun through sheets of the aluminum surface that are coated with a special coating in order to streamline the absorption of heat. Right behind the aluminum sheet, there are pipes that fluid – typically oil-which serves to draw heat from the aluminum sheets.

Fluid pipes are connected to a hot water storage tank where the water temperature in the tank will increase the hot fluid began flowing Katka. The storage tank is designed so that it can keep the water simmering in a given period e.g. night-until the morning.

The experience of the author who has lived in a House with a prototype solar energy (Yeungnam University Solar House) for a little over 12 months any benefit of this solar-powered ondol in winter.

In contrast to using gas or oil, we are not confused about the price of gas and oil that is used to warm the house because solar heaters continue to work automatically during sunlight.

There is no difference between the levels ondol room warmth using conventional (gas or oil) and use solar-powered ondol.

It is believed that with the use of solar heating, the cost comes out to subscribe for gas or oil can be much reduced in addition to fossil energy-saving bandwagon. Solar heaters used pun is relatively cheap and that was long enough.

Just need special attention to heat storage tank and treatment of it. In addition, solar heating and hot water from it can also be used for other purposes such as bathing or washing dishes.

A long evolution of a blend of ancestral techniques with a new concept of technology that uses renewable energy.

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