gerard 6 Posted November 6, 2009 Author Share Posted November 6, 2009 Nice, Biffa. We bought a lot and we've got things pretty much together with our contractor but it will still be a few months probably before we actually start building. Still don't know exactly where the money will come from. I don't know much about geothermal heating but it must be pretty doable in your situation.... Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Lot of geothermal heating here in my local area - and we have no hot springs! Our kids school heats its pool with it, as does the local public pool. Don't know much about contractors in Japan though. Good luck - it is an awesome source of energy that is often overlooked! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 you moving Ger? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Originally Posted By: Biffa First timer.... I have bought a house in Hakuba and have been looking into ground source heat pump systems (geothermal heat pump)for heating. My house is near a natural hot spring and I assume that the ground temp at 20 meters or more below the earth must be pretty toasty! Most reports say that the earth has a constant temp of 15 degrees or higher at about 15 - 20 meters deep. In a hot spring area is must be a lot higher. Does anyone know of an experienced contractor for geothermal systems or knows of anyone that has installed one in the Nagano area? I love the idea of 100% renewable. Maybe they're wrong, but people have told me that the sources of the onsens at town level in Hakuba are deep underground. I suspect the ground may not be any warmer than anywhere else as a result. That said, geothermal is perfectly doable. I would guess a shallow long trench around your plot would be much cheaper than a vertical borehole, but look into both anyway. The other question is the cost of ripping up the floors in your house, insulating them much more than normal, laying pipes for underfloor heating, and then refinishing them. I guess that's how you'd heat a house geothermally. You could use radiators, but they're not cheap in Japan and are a bit crap compared to underfloor heating. To green an existing house, I would recommend having someone photograph it with a thermal camera, insulate and weatherize the hell out of the bad bits, and maybe fit a woodstove or a masonry type heater if your floor can take the weight of the latter. If you don't mind burning softwood, you can get fuel pretty easily for nothing. Ground source heat pumps still run on electricity, so in that sense a woodstove used properly could be a greener solution even. Good luck to you sir! Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Simple solutions can be cost effective and every little savings adds up - this is not a bad strategy for energy. Solar hot water systems are very good and one can certainly make a solar panel from soldering a copper pipe on a copper sheet and paint it black. My friend and I sold a Canadian solar hot water patent to an Australian company in "81. You don't have to live in the desert or sub tropics to utilize solar hot water,( it works in Canada, why not Japan ), and raising the base temperature of water to be heated by other means saves energy. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Originally Posted By: Jynxx Simple solutions can be cost effective and every little savings adds up - this is not a bad strategy for energy. Solar hot water systems are very good and one can certainly make a solar panel from soldering a copper pipe on a copper sheet and paint it black. My friend and I sold a Canadian solar hot water patent to an Australian company in "81. You don't have to live in the desert or sub tropics to utilize solar hot water,( it works in Canada, why not Japan ), and raising the base temperature of water to be heated by other means saves energy. but Jynxx, as you well know, that maxim is not always (ever??) adhered to here in Japan. Its the same for proper insulation and double glazing in the houses. Its definitely cold enough to warrant them but Japanese builders just don't seem to do it!! Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver you moving Ger? Yep. We've lived in a staff dormitory for the last 4-5 years. It's not very nice. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Who's building your house ger? What kind of house are you going for? Link to post Share on other sites
Biffa 0 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Thanks for everyone's responses. I will keep searching for a Geothermal contractor and when I get more info I will be sure to post it. My place already has underfloor heating (yuka danbo) so the retro fit should be easier. For those in Hakuba, I was told that the local council is giving rebates on Pellet Stoves at the moment. I think it is JPY 100,000 yen back. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 >Who's building your house ger? What kind of house are you going for? We're going with a local contractor. The guy has a company called Japan Homes which caters to the high end with expensive import houses. He also recently started a new company called Mom House which builds two by four houses that are a little more affordable but are still quality so we're going with a "Mom House" which we've customized a lot. The guy seems to really know his stuff and when we ask about something like natural plaster for the walls, he's ready to show us samples (like actual walls in their office and other houses that they've built), quote prices and so on. The one guy does pretty much everything - ie. he and his wife do all the sales, he's also the architect and I think he's spent a lot of time actually building too. Link to post Share on other sites
shadowtec 0 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 This is one of the most interesting threads on the board Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Originally Posted By: Biffa Thanks for everyone's responses. I will keep searching for a Geothermal contractor and when I get more info I will be sure to post it. My place already has underfloor heating (yuka danbo) so the retro fit should be easier. For those in Hakuba, I was told that the local council is giving rebates on Pellet Stoves at the moment. I think it is JPY 100,000 yen back. Yeah, if its just changing a boiler, go for it! Deffo think about the thermal camera thing though. I would guess you could rent a top grade one for 50,000 or so. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Originally Posted By: ger >Who's building your house ger? What kind of house are you going for? We're going with a local contractor. The guy has a company called Japan Homes which caters to the high end with expensive import houses. He also recently started a new company called Mom House which builds two by four houses that are a little more affordable but are still quality so we're going with a "Mom House" which we've customized a lot. The guy seems to really know his stuff and when we ask about something like natural plaster for the walls, he's ready to show us samples (like actual walls in their office and other houses that they've built), quote prices and so on. The one guy does pretty much everything - ie. he and his wife do all the sales, he's also the architect and I think he's spent a lot of time actually building too. That sounds good and its a cost-effective way to build a house. If the trust angle bothers you, as the Japan Times says, you can hire someone to check the guy's work during various stages of the build. The local authorities won't do it for you. Link to post Share on other sites
Biffa 0 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Thermal Camera is a really interesting idea. I will look into it in Tokyo. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
Biffa 0 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 BTW, the Japan Home and Building show is on this week at Tokyo Big Sight. Has anyone been in the past? Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Originally Posted By: Biffa BTW, the Japan Home and Building show is on this week at Tokyo Big Sight. Has anyone been in the past? Yes, very nice, great place to pick up a lot of info and maybe even to find a company to build a house for you. It was several years ago when I went, so forgot exactly what was there, but lots of trade stands displaying everything for houses, as well as companies dealing with building houses, both foreign and domestic. There were some companies also dealing with log built houses, something my wife and I were thinking of doing. For anyone interested in building a log house there is a company in Murakami, northern Niigata that specialises in log built homes, quite famous amoung log building companies in Japan, sorry can't think of the name of the company at the moment! Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Bess, the log house company mentioned earlier in this thread, have a new model and its called... the BOLLOX! On purpose too, by the looks. http://www.bess.jp/campaign/bollox/ Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 That's a pretty cool site. Are there any ideas of how much a little house like the one in that site would cost in a medium area of land value in Hokkaido? Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Pertaining to this, does anyone own real estate in 2 different countries?? How easy is this and what is Japan like in terms of house ownership...high taxes?...high maintenance?...easy to rent out? Eventually I may like to own a house in Japan. I would inherit a house in the states here so I wouldn't mind owning a house in Japan. I realize these are not investments and I would like to keep it as long as I could. Any suggestions? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 consult your american tax law. Any money made by you in any country in the world will be taxed by the feds. Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Originally Posted By: thursday consult your american tax law. Any money made by you in any country in the world will be taxed by the feds. Right, but what about loans? Would a Yen loan be sufficient for buying a house, anyone know? Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 What do you mean by 'yen loan'? If you can get a housing loan from a Japanese bank you can get an asskickingly low interest rate but you wouldn't qualify for that being a non-resident. Link to post Share on other sites
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