Unless you are in northern Japan (tohoku/hokkaido) an electric heater (usually the air conditioner) will be fine. Otherwise kerosene heating is better.
Wear a hat. Have a bug fluffy blanket ready on the sofa. Eat soups.
Get fat
If you have the space, I get by with kotatsu and space heater at my desk only until around December! (I also was gifted a “Comfy” from family in the US, and wow does that keep you warm).
However, like others said, unless you’re in Moret been Japan, the AC heater isn’t bad in terms of cost. I just love the kotatsu/direct heat blowing in my feet.
Living in a concrete building. I only use heat closer to the middle of January. Place keeps itself warm otherwise. It can be a nightmare in summer though sometimes.
Wear layers. Tough it out. Cheapest way.
Put on more layers of clothing and use a blanket
A reusable electric hot water bottle. Plug it in for 10min, put the (sheep face) cover on it, shove it under my shirt, stays warm and cozy all night.
Hot water bottle in bed.
Electric blankets, a kotatsu, warm clothes for lounging around the house in.
Why doesn’t Japan have real heating options?
I’m planning to purchase a Kotatsu soon, it should be a cozy way to stay warm 🙂 I might end up huddling there all winter though 😅
Won’t help you right now but if you ever move to a new place, heated flooring is a game changer. Super cheap to run, everything is just cozy and warm even if the air temperature is low. We actually like cool air but cold feet is no es bueno.
Hang out at the mall.
Heat pump. Your aircon has it. Most effective use of electricity.
I am only in Tokyo so I defer to the Hokkaido people on this.
BUT… I have a three level house. In my LDK I use a plug in floor heating rug I got from Amazon. On the other two floors I have plug in portable radiators. I use the AC for a fast change but I let the others do the most of the work.
The rug is sensational. Its only 500W but it’s effectiveness seems to be way beyond that. Can a proper cold climate person tell me why? Is it because the rug releases the heat from a low position? Is it because it is so spread out?
Clothes
Continue burning coal for electric generators, thereby eliminating the season of winter entirely.
Good down comforter. Not cheap, but lasts forever and is a game changer.
Comfy knit cap worn indoors.
Wearing layers.
I had terrible sleep when using the air conditioner last winter. Dry eyes, headaches. Is there any remedy/alternative way to keep warm in order to avoid that?
I’d cut back on anything else before straying from the AC and start life hacking how to keep warm at home. Especially with a newborn.
Yutampo.
When you are at home wear lots of fleece. UNIQLO is your friend. Sit on the sofa wearing a fleece top, fleece bottoms fleece socks and put a fleece blanket on top of you. That will help avoid having to use the heater most of the time.
In bed, get a fleece blanket to put on the bedsheets for you to sleep on top of. Then have a nice insulated futon cover on top of you. Having that fleece underneath you really really makes a difference.
If necessary, use an electric blanket or hot water bottle.
Of course the other option, if you don’t want to do all that, is to turn on the air conditioner heater, but other methods are much cheaper.
Man, I was *just* thinking about this. The wall AC units cost more to run heat in winter than the AC in summer. It’s nuts.
Depends on where you live, and what you have access to. A kerosene heater was the best way at our first place, as it’s dirt cheap and we had a service center nearby. The house was old and terrible insulation, so running the AC would have broke the bank.
Now we live in a mansion, so it’s not viable to do that. The concrete walls and double paned windows help alot, so the AC on cool temp and some warm clothes.
Just a note to make sure you have curtains/windows covered and try to close make sure there are no drafty windows. Makes a huge difference.
Share body heat. Do you have a self propelled space heater / SO?
Calisthenics workout.
Multiple layers of warm clothes and a hat (you lose a lot of heat from your head).
Heating a room requires energy and costs money.
electric blanket, and never get out of bed
Merino base layers and hiking socks.
Lived in Tohoku, the most cost-effective was actually gas — just be cautious about CO levels. AC just can’t keep up with the temps. If only insulation were a thing, AC alone wouldn’t be a problem.
Now that I’m in Kanto, it’s gonna be AC heating 24/7. I had an oil-heater, it’s clean but expensive, I’d just say fuck it, I didn’t worked all this hard just to gaman the coldnesss.
Insulating your home
I put bubble wrap over all the windows. It doesn’t look nearly as bad as it sounds and still lets in a lot of light. This made a BIG difference in my electricity bill.
I use that “sukima” tape to block every single gap I can find. And there are hundreds in my house.
I wear a lot of layers including long thermal underwear top and bottom.
I use my aircon heater as a heat pump is more efficient.
Electric blanket in my bed.
I work at home and the best thing I do is wear my electric heated Jacket I bought for motorcycle riding. I have a 12V power supply at my desk at home and plug in the heated Jacket while working. It instantly makes me toasty without needing to use the heater at all.
Electric blanket is a gamechanger।
Buy a Hebel Haus
I like down jacket but it seems it is rare to wear it for work in Tokyo. I don’t like heavy and long chester coat.
My computer…lol.
Other than that dress appropriately.
Anything but the AC unless you just use it to heat a room then switch it off
Mind you people suggesting clothes can be right… but not if it means buying more clothes. Just washing and drying more clothes than usual, especially in winter, will cost more than just turning on the electric blanket or carpet to heat a single room.
I personally suggest a low wattage heater you can leave on until the room is warm. Yamazen DC-S097 is 900w at max heat and the price of a KW/H in Tokyo is like 30 yen depending on the provider, so five hours of heat can cost as little a coffee at a conbini.
Of course check your Air Conditioners wattage though, since it can also be just as cheap since you wouldnt have to buy the heater either.
Stay under the kotatsu
Wear a lot of clothing: in Kanto’s high winter if I’m at home working and not moving much, I’m usually wearing a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over that a quilted flannel shirt over that and a calf-length bench coat to top it all off. I’ll sometimes were fingerless gloves, too.
Generally, we don’t use any artificial heating in the downstairs, but we have a kerosene heater for the upstairs living/dining/kitchen room.
Cold shower. Breathwork.
Even in winter I’m still looking for ways to cool down.
44 comments
Unless you are in northern Japan (tohoku/hokkaido) an electric heater (usually the air conditioner) will be fine. Otherwise kerosene heating is better.
Wear a hat. Have a bug fluffy blanket ready on the sofa. Eat soups.
Get fat
If you have the space, I get by with kotatsu and space heater at my desk only until around December! (I also was gifted a “Comfy” from family in the US, and wow does that keep you warm).
However, like others said, unless you’re in Moret been Japan, the AC heater isn’t bad in terms of cost. I just love the kotatsu/direct heat blowing in my feet.
Living in a concrete building. I only use heat closer to the middle of January. Place keeps itself warm otherwise. It can be a nightmare in summer though sometimes.
Wear layers. Tough it out. Cheapest way.
Put on more layers of clothing and use a blanket
A reusable electric hot water bottle. Plug it in for 10min, put the (sheep face) cover on it, shove it under my shirt, stays warm and cozy all night.
Hot water bottle in bed.
Electric blankets, a kotatsu, warm clothes for lounging around the house in.
Why doesn’t Japan have real heating options?
I’m planning to purchase a Kotatsu soon, it should be a cozy way to stay warm 🙂 I might end up huddling there all winter though 😅
Won’t help you right now but if you ever move to a new place, heated flooring is a game changer. Super cheap to run, everything is just cozy and warm even if the air temperature is low. We actually like cool air but cold feet is no es bueno.
Hang out at the mall.
Heat pump. Your aircon has it. Most effective use of electricity.
I am only in Tokyo so I defer to the Hokkaido people on this.
BUT… I have a three level house. In my LDK I use a plug in floor heating rug I got from Amazon. On the other two floors I have plug in portable radiators. I use the AC for a fast change but I let the others do the most of the work.
The rug is sensational. Its only 500W but it’s effectiveness seems to be way beyond that. Can a proper cold climate person tell me why? Is it because the rug releases the heat from a low position? Is it because it is so spread out?
Clothes
Continue burning coal for electric generators, thereby eliminating the season of winter entirely.
Good down comforter. Not cheap, but lasts forever and is a game changer.
Comfy knit cap worn indoors.
Wearing layers.
I had terrible sleep when using the air conditioner last winter. Dry eyes, headaches. Is there any remedy/alternative way to keep warm in order to avoid that?
I’d cut back on anything else before straying from the AC and start life hacking how to keep warm at home. Especially with a newborn.
Yutampo.
When you are at home wear lots of fleece. UNIQLO is your friend. Sit on the sofa wearing a fleece top, fleece bottoms fleece socks and put a fleece blanket on top of you. That will help avoid having to use the heater most of the time.
In bed, get a fleece blanket to put on the bedsheets for you to sleep on top of. Then have a nice insulated futon cover on top of you. Having that fleece underneath you really really makes a difference.
If necessary, use an electric blanket or hot water bottle.
Of course the other option, if you don’t want to do all that, is to turn on the air conditioner heater, but other methods are much cheaper.
Man, I was *just* thinking about this. The wall AC units cost more to run heat in winter than the AC in summer. It’s nuts.
Depends on where you live, and what you have access to. A kerosene heater was the best way at our first place, as it’s dirt cheap and we had a service center nearby. The house was old and terrible insulation, so running the AC would have broke the bank.
Now we live in a mansion, so it’s not viable to do that. The concrete walls and double paned windows help alot, so the AC on cool temp and some warm clothes.
Just a note to make sure you have curtains/windows covered and try to close make sure there are no drafty windows. Makes a huge difference.
Share body heat. Do you have a self propelled space heater / SO?
Calisthenics workout.
Multiple layers of warm clothes and a hat (you lose a lot of heat from your head).
Heating a room requires energy and costs money.
electric blanket, and never get out of bed
Merino base layers and hiking socks.
Lived in Tohoku, the most cost-effective was actually gas — just be cautious about CO levels. AC just can’t keep up with the temps. If only insulation were a thing, AC alone wouldn’t be a problem.
Now that I’m in Kanto, it’s gonna be AC heating 24/7. I had an oil-heater, it’s clean but expensive, I’d just say fuck it, I didn’t worked all this hard just to gaman the coldnesss.
Insulating your home
I put bubble wrap over all the windows. It doesn’t look nearly as bad as it sounds and still lets in a lot of light. This made a BIG difference in my electricity bill.
I use that “sukima” tape to block every single gap I can find. And there are hundreds in my house.
I wear a lot of layers including long thermal underwear top and bottom.
I use my aircon heater as a heat pump is more efficient.
Electric blanket in my bed.
I work at home and the best thing I do is wear my electric heated Jacket I bought for motorcycle riding. I have a 12V power supply at my desk at home and plug in the heated Jacket while working. It instantly makes me toasty without needing to use the heater at all.
Electric blanket is a gamechanger।
Buy a Hebel Haus
I like down jacket but it seems it is rare to wear it for work in Tokyo. I don’t like heavy and long chester coat.
My computer…lol.
Other than that dress appropriately.
Anything but the AC unless you just use it to heat a room then switch it off
Mind you people suggesting clothes can be right… but not if it means buying more clothes. Just washing and drying more clothes than usual, especially in winter, will cost more than just turning on the electric blanket or carpet to heat a single room.
I personally suggest a low wattage heater you can leave on until the room is warm. Yamazen DC-S097 is 900w at max heat and the price of a KW/H in Tokyo is like 30 yen depending on the provider, so five hours of heat can cost as little a coffee at a conbini.
Of course check your Air Conditioners wattage though, since it can also be just as cheap since you wouldnt have to buy the heater either.
Stay under the kotatsu
Wear a lot of clothing: in Kanto’s high winter if I’m at home working and not moving much, I’m usually wearing a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over that a quilted flannel shirt over that and a calf-length bench coat to top it all off. I’ll sometimes were fingerless gloves, too.
Generally, we don’t use any artificial heating in the downstairs, but we have a kerosene heater for the upstairs living/dining/kitchen room.
Cold shower. Breathwork.
Even in winter I’m still looking for ways to cool down.