Heating

One of the most common heating systems in the Western World is the HVAC. There are also other systems, such as geothermal heating, furnaces, and radiators. While the Korean system, ondol, strictly heats the floor from below, HVAC units can be placed in the ceiling or basement with a series of ducts running through the space to heat individual rooms.

The Ancient Roman heating system, hypocausts, was a two-foot deep area beneath the main floor which allowed fire to travel, heating the floor from below. The Korean heating system, ondol, moved the heat and smoke from the kitchen area to other areas of the space through underground flues. One main similarity between the hypocaust and the ondol heating systems is the use of an underground space to heat the living area floors above.

Ondol

HVAC

Hypocaust