Electric bills

[Tokyo]

Another effective way to reduce utility costs - downsize.

Last August we lived in a big house with 3 air cons and a fridge and a separate freezer (all 10~20 years old) with electricity and gas costing ¥18,000. This August in a much smaller manshon with 3 new air cons and new fridge, total utility costs were ¥5000. Much easier on our retirement budget.

[JapaneseMike]

Maybe this doesn’t quite fit in with the topic, but I used to be really frugal with my cooling and heating. I tried not to use my AC at all, I kept blankets on during winter, etc. But my friend pointed out to me that saving an extra 1000-2000 yen a month on the bill just isn’t worth the cost of discomfort. I’m so much happier now that I can just turn my AC in when it’s hot, and keep a heater going in the winter. My happiness is worth more than 2000 yen a month.

So much this!

I used to use fans / windows for cooling in the summer, and only put the AC on when needed, it so wasn't worth it for the 'savings'. In fact, my attempt at 'saving' backfired when the humidity got high enough to put mold in pretty much everything we owned in the rooms we didn't turn the AC on.

Pay the money, it's worth it

[TJKansai]

I suspect this is because in summer I have the AC on at all times in my bedroom and living room at a constant temp of 22 with the dehumidifier running at all times.

22C sounds downright cold to me. We never go below 26C in the house in summer.

[KCLenny]

I suspect this is because in summer I have the AC on at all times in my bedroom and living room at a constant temp of 22 with the dehumidifier running at all times.

22C sounds downright cold to me. We never go below 26C in the house in summer.

I was going to say the same thing, 22° sounds way too low. Usually you can just stick it on 26° on low fan power and it keeps the room nice a comfortable. Occasionally switching over to dehumidify.

[Yossarian]

This is a really important point. My wife and I agreed a long time ago that we would never scrimp on food, and we've used oil heaters for years now (they use a lot of electricity but are by far the most pleasant form of heating we've had here).

Same here - scrimping on food is a step too far for me. Pretty much the only thing we really spend money on - frugal with most other things nowadays.

[seb]

Until this month, the winter and summer this year have been really mild. All my electricity bills have been at an all time low (about 25% lower than last year) with mostly the same appliances. Most of our appliances are 4 years old (big family fridge, all air conditioners, etc...) from when we moved in our current house.

As for the best temperature, I personally can't work or sleep above 27 degrees with the humidity, so that's my aim usually.

[bryanc]

glad i found this thread-on another thread about savings reqd for retirement,captainspoke mentioned as below

"The totals do not show winter heating bills, which may add about ¥1000/day for the peak months (Dec-Jan-Feb, a guesstimate), a little less for now-Nov, and March+."

i know this is my experience and thought it was just our family wasting electricity,but my wife claims its normal.dont believe a word of it though.
Wass interested if others had same experience,or much lower bills?

as ref here is my monthly electricity bill for last yr(m is man yen )

2020 aug 1.8m sept 1.6 oct 1.4m nov 1.9m dec 2.8m
2021 jan 4.9m feb 4.1m mar 3.2m april 2.1m may 1.6m june 1.3m july 1.4m aug 1.9m sept 1.4m

[Roger Van Zant]

glad i found this thread-on another thread about savings reqd for retirement,captainspoke mentioned as below

"The totals do not show winter heating bills, which may add about ¥1000/day for the peak months (Dec-Jan-Feb, a guesstimate), a little less for now-Nov, and March+."

i know this is my experience and thought it was just our family wasting electricity,but my wife claims its normal.dont believe a word of it though.
Wass interested if others had same experience,or much lower bills?

as ref here is my monthly electricity bill for last yr(m is man yen )

2020 aug 1.8m sept 1.6 oct 1.4m nov 1.9m dec 2.8m
2021 jan 4.9m feb 4.1m mar 3.2m april 2.1m may 1.6m june 1.3m july 1.4m aug 1.9m sept 1.4m

You spent 49,000 yen in a single month on electricity?! What the hell?! That's crazy.

[RetireJapan]

These are my bills for this year (with Greena):



We use oil heaters in the winter, which use a lot of electricity (but are extremely pleasant).

[bryanc]

wouldnt disagree-is absolutely brass monkey in winter in yamagata without heating though..(dont have any gas)
also electricty prices in japan did spike end dec-jan