Celsius conversion guide

Celsius	Farenheit
18 and 20	64.4 and 68
22 and 24	71.6 and 75.2
26 and 28	78.8 and 82.4
30 and 32	86 and 89.6
34 and 36	93.2 and 96.8
38 and 40	100.4 and 104

If your bedroom has an air conditioner, it will be a horizontal unit mounted on the wall. Just as in the living room, make sure the hole the insulated pipe goes through has been filled with silicon.

Standing air conditioners have buttons on the front and can largely be operated independently of remotes. Usually bedroom sized units don’t have any buttons and need their matching remote control in order to function or do more than turn on and off. Replacement remotes can be purchased but can be a hassle. Despite different makes and models having different designs and different remote controls, you will see common buttons. This includes the remotes for motels which sometimes combine buttons for the air conditioner, TV, and lights all into one very long remote control. If you want a closer look at the image below, click it to see a larger size.

운전/정지 - (運轉/停止, unjeon/jeongji) On and off

온도조절 - (溫度調節, ondojojeol) Temperature up or down. Degrees are in Celsius and the lowest is normally 18.

풍량선택 - (風量選擇, pungnyang seontaek) Strength of wind.

강…약 – (强...弱, gang...yak) Strength of wind from strong (강, gang) to light (약, yak)

풍향선택 - (風向選擇, punghyang seontaek) Direction of wind.

공기정화 - (空氣淨化, gonggi jeonghwa) Air purifier function.

운전선택 - (運轉선택, unjeon seontaek) Select other options.

Different makes and models will have different controls. If yours is radically different from the thermostat controls shown here, please send us some pictures and we’ll add them to the site.

Beds and Mattresses

As mattresses in Korea were traditionally thick pads which could be folded and placed to the side of a room along with the bedding in order to reclaim floor space, when Western style mattresses entered the vernacular the term mattress entered as a loanword – 매트리스 and the same is true for sheets - 시트. Blankets are nothing new here so the term 이불 (ibul) is not a loanword. The names of all mattress sizes are also loanwords, but their sizes might not be what you expect. Before you bring over bed sheets or blankets from your home country, make sure they will fit as different countries have different standards for mattress sizes. A good global overview of standardizations is available on Wikipedia. Also double check before getting sheets at stores which might import them, for example Ikea, whose mattress and sheet sizes are not the same as Korean standards.

Mattress and sheet sizes in Korea

Koreans traditionally slept on thick floor mats called 요 (yo). They are placed directly on the floor which is great for conducting heat when an ondol is turned on. As rooms used to be more multipurpose, it made sense for bedding to be laid down when needed, and then folded up and set to the side during daylight hours. While their usage has greatly diminished as generations change, they still are used for when guests spend a night and are also in use in some hotel rooms. While they are on the floor, and people walk on the floor, be careful not to walk on one of these sleeping mats, even with socked feet, as it can be seen as a sign of disrespect or an uncultured person. When not in use, reclaim floor space by folding it and all other bedding up into squares or rectangles and store in a wardrobe or at the side of a room.

Standard pillows (베개, begae) are easy to find but there are some more unique pillows you may occasionally see. If you want more neck or head support you can get ones filled with red beans (팥베개, patbegae) and lesser common are ones with uncooked rice (쌀베개, ssalbegae). Some pillows have bamboo placed on the outside (대나무 베개, daenamu begae) which help cool the user in summer months.

A bamboo wife (죽부인, 竹夫人, jukbuin) sometimes called Dutch wife is also used in summer months. It is constructed of bamboo weaved into a long pill shape which is big enough to hug much like a sleeping companion. The bamboo is cool and the opening help to aid in air flow all in efforts to cool the user. They are available in large supermarkets when the temperature starts going up.

The most expensive beds sold in Korea are physically the hardest as they are made of a solid piece of stone. Called 돌침대 (돌寢臺, dolchimdae), they are quite pricy and are preferred by older generations. Sometimes a heating element is included to warm the stone.

You don’t need to sleep on granite to have a heater in your bed. Called 전기요 (電氣요, jeongiyo) or 전기장판 (電氣壯版, jeongijangpan) for use in beds or on floors, these heated underblankets are sold in several sizes with larger ones having several controls; one for each user. Place it between your mattress and your sheet to get nice and warm in winter.

Wardrobes

Closets are very uncommon in Korea, instead you’ll have access to wardrobes. Wooden wardrobes as they are heavier, more prone to get damaged in moves, and are mainly sold online. Easier to purchase offline are plastic units which extend their height and width as necessary. They stretch to the ceiling and use the ceiling as support. Simple units will have one horizontal pole while more expensive units will have several sections. They commonly have a curtain built-in so the clothes can quickly be hidden and the room has a cleaner look before guests come over. The picture below is a larger model displayed in a store towards the ceiling.

Much more rare to see are traditional wardrobes. Composed of two or three individual sections, they are placed together to show intricate images designed out of mother of pearl. Purchased new these are very expensive and were frequently bought in time for a wedding. As times and tastes have changed they are less common and can sometimes be found for free from families trying to get rid of them. Black and white are the most common colors.

Regardless of which style you get, make sure you grab some hangers (옷걸이, otgeori, literally "clothing + hang") so you can hang up your clothes.

If you open the right wardrobe in someone’s home, you’ll find a pile of blankets, sheets, and pillows. These can be used for the bed with mattress or can be stacked on top of each other on the floor for when a guest visits.

If you slept on these while staying at someone’s home, make sure you fold and stack them in the room you slept in as a courtesy before you leave.

A good method to remove moisture from your sock drawer or other small enclosed areas is with moisture absorbing products. A popular brand is 물먹는 하마 (물먹는 河馬, mulmeongneun hama), but other brands exist as well. Known generically as 제습제 (除濕製, jeseupje) these products are frequently sold in a plastic tub shaped container and come sealed with a thin plastic layer that must be removed before they can suck the moisture out of the air. Be careful to only remove that thin, typically gray layer, and not the white layer under it. That underlying white layer helps to keep the moisture in the container. After some time has gone by, water will collect inside which you can hear when you shake the container. To dispose of the collected water, cut one or two holes in the white layer as two holes help to drain it faster, empty the water into a sink, throw away the white layer and recycle the plastic tub.

Now that we've seen the bedroom, let's take a look at a bathroom.