Use
Ondol had traditionally been used with a living space for sitting, eating, sleeping and pastimes, in most Korean homes before the 1960s. The furnace burned mainly rice paddy straws, agricultural crop waste, biomass or any kind of dried firewood. For short-term cooking, rice paddy straws or crop waste was preferred, while long hours of cooking and floor heating needed longer-burning firewood. Unlike modern-day water heaters, the fuel burning was either sporadically or regularly done (2 to 5 times a day), dependent on frequency of cooking and seasonal weather conditions.
With the traditional ondol heating, floor spots closer to the furnace were normally warm enough with warmer spots reserved for elders and honored guests. Ondol had problems such as carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from burning coal briquette, and environmental pollution. For these reasons, other technology heats modern Korean homes.
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