Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) on Tuesday called on all citizens to join a "shorter shower times" campaign as part of the "Today's Energy-Saving National Action" initiative being jointly promoted with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and related energy agencies. The campaign involves a total of 11 affiliated organizations participating in a relay format to spread energy-saving practices in daily life amid continuing resource security crises, including the Middle East conflict.
KOGAS emphasized that "shortening shower times," a practice easily adopted at home, can significantly contribute to national energy savings.
If all 51.6 million Koreans shortened their shower times by one minute a day, the resulting reduction in water usage would save approximately 11 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy daily through electricity savings. This is equivalent to about 1,577 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Based on gas boiler usage, the effect amounts to saving approximately 80 million megajoules (MJ) of natural gas. In monetary terms, this translates to energy cost savings of approximately 1.97 billion won ($1.4 million) per day, or roughly 59 billion won ($42 million) per month.
"Natural gas is an essential energy source for both people's lives and national industries, so we are making every effort to ensure there are no supply disruptions under any crisis situation," a KOGAS official said. "We hope citizens will also help overcome the energy crisis through small everyday practices such as shortening shower times."
Maintain Appropriate Indoor Temperatures
Korea District Heating Corporation (KDHC) recently joined the "Energy-Saving National Action" with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, emphasizing that "raising indoor cooling temperatures by just 1°C can significantly reduce energy consumption." Simply maintaining appropriate indoor temperatures — below 20°C in winter and above 26°C in summer — can save significant amounts of energy.
Of Korea's total energy consumption of 230.1 million tons of oil equivalent (toe), buildings in the residential, commercial and public sectors account for 20.3%, or 46.7 million toe. Within building energy use, cooling accounts for 26.6% and heating 30.5%, representing the largest portions.
Given cooling's substantial share of building energy consumption, temperature adjustments alone can deliver considerable savings. Raising the cooling temperature by 1°C alone can reduce energy used for building cooling by 4.7%. The total savings amount to 582,800 toe, equivalent to 24.5 GWh annually.
As a public enterprise supplying heating and cooling to buildings, KDHC is working to maintain appropriate indoor temperatures at its own facilities. During winter, it maintains heating temperatures below 18°C — stricter than government recommendations — while keeping cooling temperatures above 26°C during summer, practicing energy conservation.
