Korea District Heating to deploy AI-powered smart heating controls in rental homes

Korea District Heating announced Wednesday it will partner with the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation to roll out an "AI-powered personalized heating guardian" program aimed at easing heating costs for energy-vulnerable households.

The initiative grew out of an idea submitted to last year's public ideas competition, "Less Burden, More Warmth — Korea District Heating Efficiency+," which drew 105 entries. The winning concept in the energy-savings category — a model for generating Energy Efficiency Resource Standard credits through IoT-based heating controls — has since been developed into a full customer support program. The effort combines public-sector cooperation and AI technology to pursue both energy efficiency and energy welfare at the same time.

Korea District Heating plans to work with the SH Corporation's Eunpyeong Residential Safety Comprehensive Center to replace outdated thermostats with AI-based smart thermostats in 100 rental apartment units in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, and to provide heating-control services to those households.

Residents will be able to set heating temperatures and monitor usage through a mobile app, and will receive personalized energy-saving guides based on analysis of each household's heating patterns, allowing them to manage their heating more conveniently and efficiently.

Korea District Heating plans to use the data gathered to assess the program's potential as a new project under the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, and to develop a support model that can meaningfully reduce heating costs for vulnerable households.

Meanwhile, a public ideas competition held from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30 this year drew 65 submissions.

"This project is a case where we took an idea from the public and used AI to turn it into a real energy welfare initiative," Korea District Heating President Ha Dong-geun said. "We will carefully analyze the heating cost savings through the pilot and develop it into an energy efficiency support model that people can feel in their daily lives."