It can be done for a price
We wrote a guide to staying cool in the summer a while back, and given how cold it has been this year thought a winter version might be timely.
I wasn’t shocked per se when winter arrived in my first year in Japan (mainly because I had already survived a winter in a freezing student dorm with no heating in Qingdao) but it wasn’t pleasant.
Sendai is apparently the furthest north you can get without decent house construction -go any further north and the homes are built for warmth. Sadly the ones here largely aren’t.
It’s a common situation in Japan, particularly in the rental market. Newer homes tend to be insulated and some of them are even airtight. Rental apartments and manshon, not so much.
Dealing with the cold seems to be a pressing concern too, as there seem to be hundreds of articles on the subject online. I’m not going to link to any as I couldn’t find any outstanding ones, but if you search for ‘winter in Japan’ or ‘staying warm in Japan’ you’ll get a lot of hits.
So here is the RetireJapan Guide to Staying Warm in Japan in the Winter. Hopefully some of the suggestions will be helpful. We’re going to focus on keeping your home warm, as I’m hoping most people are familiar with the concepts of warm clothes, layers, hokkairo, heat tech, etc.
1. Live in a warm home
If you buy a house, pay a bit more for decent insulation and air-tightness. Don’t forget ventilation, preferably heat-exchange mechanical. You’ll probably save money over the long-term.
If you are renting, look for a newer place. Recently I’ve been seeing new apartment buildings in Sendai going up with double- or triple-glazing, insulated front doors, and other fanciness.
2. Make your home warmer
If you failed to achieve 1. above, or it isn’t an option, you can try to make your current home warmer. If you own your place you could try something like the project we did last year. If not, these are some temporary fixes we’ve found good in the past:
- Bubble wrap (or similar) over all windows
This looks horrible but works quite well, and is cheap - Heavy curtains over windows
Combined with the bubble wrap, makes a big difference - Plastic sheeting or curtains over the front door
Hang two or three sheets (like a supermarket meat locker) to make it easier to get in and out - Close all interior doors at all times
Only heat the spaces you use - Window heaters
You can buy specialized electric window heaters (they are long and thin) which counteract the cold windows somewhat
3. Heat your home
Once you have insulated your home you can then try to heat it. Remember that the insulation will make a huge difference, so it is worth spending some time and money on getting it as good as you can.
The cheapest/quickest way to heat your home is probably with a kerosene heater. You can get electric fan ones or the stove type. The latter is great during earthquakes, as they work even when the power is out (we discovered this on 3/11). However, you have to be careful with fumes and I hate buying, storing, and refilling kerosene.
The best kerosene heaters are the ones that are fixed in place and run off an exterior tank, venting most of the fumes, but even those produce some fumes and you need the kerosene truck guy to come round every so often and fill you up.
You can use your A/C unit to heat a room, but it tends to dry the air. Unless you also humidify it will not feel very warm. Make sure it is clean as dust and dirt will reduce the efficiency and make it use more power for less effect.
My favorite way to heat is electric oil heaters like the one in the picture above. No smell, no dry air, but can be expensive and aren’t as powerful as other options. If you are able to insulate the room somewhat though, they are probably the most comfortable option. Anything other than basic models also come with timers.
4. Heat yourself
If you can’t heat your home effectively or economically, you can focus on heating yourself.
I don’t own a kotatsu, but I used to and they are a relatively effective way to heat a small part of your home and can be very cost-effective.
Hot water bottles and similar devices (my wife has hot water slippers!) are also cheap and effective. There is possibly nothing nicer than a hot water bottle in a freezing bed.
Electric blankets and carpets, futon dryers, and microwaveable pillows can all make life more pleasant too.
Having a hot bath is great, particularly if there are several of you to share the water Japanese style (less wasteful that way).
Personally I think food and comfort are two areas where it is okay to spend a bit more to improve your quality of life, so I don’t mind paying more to have a warm home. Makes a huge difference when you get home after a long day.
Anything else? How do you keep warm in the winter? Have we missed anything?
I lived in Sendai and it was awfully cold in winter, but to be honest I cannot say it is much warmer in Kyushu. We recently reformed a 25 year old house that is nestled by the woods and river on the mountainside and has an open ceiling. We don’t really need A/C in the summer – bar August – but it gets chilly in the winter.
The only way we can heat the whole house is with a wood stove (plus those kerosene heaters make me giddy/nauseous). We have a ceiling fan that pushes the warm heat back down. When we go to bed, we stop the fan and let the hot air enter the bedrooms upstairs. About 2000 kg of wood costs us about 80,000 including transportation and it sees us through from November to April. I also pick up kindling wood when I walk the dogs.
Folk can make that considerably cheaper if they split, haul, and store the wood themselves. Having a wood stove heats you twice, splitting and hauling and then the burning. Devices like soot-eaters enable people to clean chimneys from the bottom-up too. We have a Norwegian stove that has a air-wash system, so there is very little smoke; which makes the neighbours happy. For folk out in the countryside or the outer suburbs, I recommend looking into it.
I don’t think we can insulate the existing walls of the house. We really need to replace some of the windows – especially the silly jalousie ones – with double or triple glazing. I figure it is a good investment, but I did not know triple glazing existed in Japan. Any advice on installing triple glazing? Who to ask to do it? Specialists? Regular builders?
I did find this on the Internet. It is double glazing glass that can be installed in an existing window. I haven’t done it yet as I still exploring options as to what will work best in the long run for us. https://www.order-glass.com/slimpair.html
Also, any info on insulating roofs here or under the flooring? I hear there is an expandable foam that can be put it under the floors or under the roof, but a sensible chap here said it might get very mouldy in Kyushu.
Last but not least, I put up a rail to hang insulating curtains from IKEA over the front and back door. I grew up in the South West of the UK, so I often saw this as a child in people’s homes.
I also made twin draft excluders to better insulate the doors and windows. I just cut off the legs of old trousers, measured the width of the door; sewed in two lines; and then filled with cat litter beads. They make a difference. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/406168460118497892/
Hi Lottie
The builders we are talking to told us they would have to rip out the walls and floors completely to insulate them properly -requiring the occupants to move out temporarily and of course costing money 🙂
Additional windows you install inside the current ones are very common in Japan -we used Lixil Inplus for our two flats and are very happy with them. They are cheap and can be installed in a couple of hours (although they cost a bit more than the product you linked to).
We’re probably going to renovate my parents in law’s house this year, so I’ll be posting about prices and the project on the blog. Stay tuned 🙂
Best idea is to not buy a free standing house in Japan, the weather is too extreme (IMO). Instead, get an apartment that is surrounded on all sides except front and back. This year you get some heat from the places on either side and above and below yo. I live in Sendai too and don’t need a heater very much at all. Obviously double glazing etc is a must. These are things to think about before you buy
Hi Roger
Not sure I agree 🙂
Any half-decent modern house will be fairly airtight, have decent insulation and double-/triple-glazing. Not a problem to heat them.
There are lots of good reasons to buy an apartment (I did!) but I don’t think heating is one of them…
Hhhhmmm? I beg to differ, I have lived in Sapporo for a few years and I wouldn’t like to live in anything else
I forgot to mention (above) that having plenty of uninterrupted sunshine is a huge advantage. I come home some nights and it feels like a heater has been left on!
When I moved from Sapporo to Sendai we just didn’t even look at apartments that were ground floor, not surrounded by other apartments and made sure it got pretty much sunshine all day.
This cannot be underestimated (IMO and I have lived about 10 years in Hokkaido)
To give you an idea of what I am talking about, we live in Sendai, in an apartment surrounded by others and our place never goes below about 12 C! Even 1st thing on the coldest morning.
Most of the winter its about 14 C most mornings (we don’t use anything heating at night)