Heating in Korea: Ondol or Electric? Rates, Saving Tips and Aid

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Here are the details behind our Instagram series: how KEPCO bills household electricity, how to save gas with ondol, and which programs exist (gas cashback, gas discount, Energy Voucher 2026). ━━━━━━━━━━ 🏠 Heating in Korea: Ondol or electric? How you heat in Korea depends on your home. The options are a gas boiler on city gas (the ondol floor heating), central heating, or KEPCO electricity, for example with an electric heater. Which one applies to you depends on your home. It also decides which saving tips and programs fit you. With central heating, for example, you sign up for the gas cashback through the building management. 👉 For you: First find out what heats your home. Then you will know which of the following sections matter to you. ━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Electricity: 3 tiers at KEPCO KEPCO bills household electricity (low voltage) in 3 tiers. Outside summer, the rates are: up to 200 kWh per month ₩120.0/kWh, 201 to 400 kWh ₩214.6/kWh, and above 400 kWh ₩307.3/kWh. On top of that comes a monthly base fee that rises with the tier: ₩910 in tier 1, ₩1,600 in tier 2 and ₩7,300 in tier 3. If you go over 400 kWh with an electric heater, you land in tier 3. In winter (December to February), usage above 1,000 kWh per month is charged a surcharge rate of ₩736.2/kWh, the so-called super-user rate. The KEPCO table lists May 16, 2023 and November 9, 2023 as the rate dates. 👉 For you: If you go over 400 kWh with an electric heater, you pay tier 3 and the higher base fee. Check the current rates on the KEPCO site, because the table shows the 2023 status. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🌡️ Use your ondol efficiently The government consumer information recommends a room temperature of 18 to 20 °C and a humidity of 40 to 60%. According to Korea Policy Briefing (as of December 16, 2024), lowering the room temperature by 1 °C cuts city gas use by about 7%. More tips for gas boiler heating: set the boiler to 외출모드 (away mode) when you leave your home. Also adjust the heating valve and clean the boiler regularly. In daily life, you should also turn the faucet to the cold water side. 👉 For you: Even 1 °C lower can show on your gas bill. You can use away mode right away whenever you leave the house. ━━━━━━━━━━ 💸 Gas cashback: money back The program "도시가스 절약 캐시백" is for households on a city gas heating tariff. The winter period runs from December to March. If you use at least 3% less in this period than in the same period last year, you get money back. You sign up on the K-가스 캐시백 site (k-gascashback.or.kr). With central heating, you sign up through the building management. 👉 For you: If you heat with city gas, sign up and aim to use at least 3% less than last year in winter. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🤝 Check discounts and the Energy Voucher Certain groups get discounts on their gas bill, for example people with disabilities, basic livelihood recipients or families with many children. The amounts are listed on the Korea Gas Corporation site. You apply at your local 주민센터 or with your gas supplier. The Energy Voucher 2026 covers electricity, city gas, district heating or kerosene/LPG. It is meant for households on basic livelihood support (기초생활보장) where, in addition, for example someone aged 65+, a child up to 7 years old, a person with a disability, a pregnant woman or a single parent lives. You apply at the 행정복지센터 or via bokjiro.go.kr. The hotline is 1600-3190. You can use the voucher from July 1, 2026. 👉 For you: If you belong to one of these groups, ask at the 주민센터 or your gas supplier. Whether you qualify for the Energy Voucher, you can clarify at the 행정복지센터 or via the hotline 1600-3190. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Sources KEPCO – 주택용 전력(저압) 요금표 (Cyber Branch) https://cyber.kepco.co.kr/ckepco/front/jsp/CY/E/E/CYEEHP00101.jsp Bokjiro – 2026년도 에너지바우처 6월 15일부터 신청 https://www.bokjiro.go.kr/ssis-tbu/cms/pc/news/news/1309922_1114.html Korea Policy Briefing – 나에게 맞는 난방비 절약 방법 https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148937437 ━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 How do you heat in Korea: ondol, central heating or an electric heater? And which saving tip has helped you the most? 📍 More from: KEPCO (한국전력): https://www.instagram.com/iamkepco/ Korea Policy Briefing (korea.kr): https://www.instagram.com/gov_korea/ 📲 On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lebeninkorea_en/ 📸 Photos: Dylan LEE, Guillermo Pérez, Hoyoun Lee, Jeong yunji, tommao wang, Marek Piwnicki, Marissa Lewis (Unsplash); Korea Tourism Organization, Kim Jiho (KOGL Type 1)