damian 0 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 i dont get it. I was in very cold parts of europe for 3 weeks and did not use a heater once. I come back here (tokyo) and am freezing my bum off inside my house. I even spent 7 days at 2500m where it was always at least -7 during the day. I didn't even use a heater then. Hell, I even slept with the window open an inch for fresh (rather thin) air. I suspect that my place in japan is made of spit, chewing gum and old cardboard. Link to post Share on other sites
TheOrange 0 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Simple. No central heating. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Yeah, I really felt the difference when I went back to England. You can walk from the kitchen to the toilet without your nose going cold and starting to run. Then you can sit on the toilet without having to wear a hat and gloves. I think it's called "civilization". Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Another name for it is "insulation". Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Living in a Japanese house is like camping indoors. You sleep on carry mats, you cook on a camping stove, you can hear the sound of the rain on the roof, and the crapper is a hole in the ground. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Ocean11, for once I think we completely agree... Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 In what we call the Middle Ages, Japanese craftsmen built lots of complex wooden structures with great precision without using nails. They made swords that were tempered and ground to an incredibly high standard. Now they build flimsy houses. Insulation is a big problem, but so is ventilation. The reason you see icicles on so many homes is that the loft is not ventilated. The difference in temp on both sides of the roof causes snow on the roof to melt, flow down the roof, and then refreeze at the eves, creating ice dams and icicles. Poor ventilation for the inside of the house creates condensation which seeps into and nullifies what insulation your home has. My present place is a crappy prefab with some modifications, such as rickety double-glazing and heated water pipes outside. Funnily enough, the parts of the pipes inside the house still freeze on cold days. I used to live in imported slot-together Canadian place and it was ten times warmer. The internal doors and windows were at least twice as heavy as my place now. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 I hear you could also drive your dirty great 4WD v-hickle into the Canadian accomodation without knocking it over... Recently a crane ran into the aerial cable for our telephone, tearing it off the house. The whole structure swayed violently from the tugging before the cable came free. Link to post Share on other sites
zwelgen 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Ive been told that it is easier to heat a house than cool it down so these places are made for hot summers. To be fair my ancient house is actually reasonably cooler in summer than some of my friends but ****** FREEZING in winter. Luckly Ive got a kick ass heater and watched the workmen drill a hole in the wall for the chimney - the walls are made of mud with reeds holding it all together I kid you not. One of the reasons for the icicles is that there is little if no insulation in the roof. I climbed up through the man hole in the cupboard one time out of curiosity (hey it was there) and found about 2cm thick insulation. What a load of bollocks. That doesnt do bugger all! And the loft is ventilated, its just all the heat escaping from through the roof that causes the icicles and whumps of snow sliding off at night. My pipes are insulated and thankfully havent frozen this winter yet, but the shower part that sticks out of the wall often freezes, my toothbrush freezes, the toothpaste freezes, the stuff in my cupboard freezes, if load of people stay and dry ski gear the curtians freeze to the windows, the front door freezes, boots freeze to the genkan floor and the front door and windows freeze shut or open... The truly bizare thing is that it doesnt bother me too much. I guess I spend a lot of time outside and shovelling snow and the coldest time is when Im in my toasty bed. Ive watched the heater and it drops a degree every 3 mins when you turn it off. Brrrrr What I dont get is that in NZ we dont have central heating and sure its not as cold as here but the houses in NZ are toasty warm and stay that way. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 3, 2003 Author Share Posted February 3, 2003 I shouldnt complain, summer was just as bad. My house in summer was always 36C inside when I got home from work. In winter it is a steady 5C when I come home. Last months power bill was Y11000!! Over the medium term insulation is far cheapert than the power bill. However, landlords dont pay the power bill but they pay for insulation should it be installed, so they dont ever install it in houses they dont plan on living in themselves. Japan is so proud of having 4 seasons (big ****** deal!) yet they cant even create houses that are designed to cope for more than a few weeks in spring and autumn. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 5, 2003 Author Share Posted February 5, 2003 i am so cold!!! Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 I live in a mansion sounds impressive aye? but seriously modern apartment buildings are pretty good, my place is cool in summer (4th floor) pretty breezy, and in winter it holds heat well, one touyu(kerosene) heater. In my old company place I and my roomies once hada a 26000yen power bill in summer. yep two six 26 Link to post Share on other sites
danz 0 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 so as I was shivering in one of the corners of my apt wrapped in all my ski clothes and blankets, waiting for my heater to finally kick in, I had an idea! what if you lined the outside walls of your home/apt. with that space blanket stuff...you know, the thin shiny aluminum foil looking stuff...I might give it a go...but be careful not to put any holes in the walls, and tape might be risky, because when its time to remove it, the whole wall could go down as well...I might have to think about this some more... danz Link to post Share on other sites
zwelgen 0 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Hey Danz some people (Nekobi) tape up their windows with bubble wrap to get some home made double glazing going and it actually seems to work. If youre not too worried about creating a fire hazard I know people that have filled their roof cavities with newspapers/PET bottles. People cover the foundation ventilation holes with snow foam, cover windows with thick blankets at night etc. There is even an urban myth of someone in Nagano that covered their walls with a newspaper a few cms thick - instant depression if you ask me! As for me my house is a sieve with so many draughts. Resistance is futile (minus 1 in my bedroom this morning when I got up for a wee, brrr). Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 yeah i first tape up the edges of my windows, then put up bubble wrap and tape the edges again. it really makes a difference! Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 When I got here my room was sooooo cold. I noticed the windows was made of very cheap and very thin plasic. So I nailed a comforter completely covering it. My room is on average 8 degrees warmer now. An added bonus is that it stays nice and dark all morning long. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 One of the few downers of winter here. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 i have really, and i mean really thick curtains over my windows. so it goes mosquito screen, window, shou-ji (sp?), and then really thick curtains. it seems to keep some of the heat in, plus it blocks out all the light. i put my heater on at night and i wake up in a sweat. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Right, I cannot sleep with the heater on. Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 but a kotatsu alright for you to sleep under? and why do you and barok leave your heaters on all night? zwelgen and i find it very strange. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 You folk withe exception of db, danz(Tokyo right) and amandaism are making me jealous! You live in the mountains or close to them and you get to ride more than any of us and now you have the gall to haunt us with your cold problems!!! Please have some respect to Tokyoites db you need to eat more! Fatten up! Change you handle to "love"! Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 7, 2003 Author Share Posted February 7, 2003 I now wish my member handle was "The Love Lobster" or just simply "spud". Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 nekobi - we like the place warm okay. Oh yeah! I totally forgot to go back and write in that long lost thread that I survived a night under a kotatsu. Didn't wake up hungover either! Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by mogski: Please have some respect to Tokyoites im not even a full on "tokyoite"... spend most of my days in singapore which is even cruddier. Link to post Share on other sites
zwelgen 0 Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Yeah mogs you are right. Mountains close but cold house is part of the parcel. We shouldnt complain so much and I have personally berrated myself for being such a winge. To be honest it doesnt bug me too much, just when stuff freezes you go OMG and think I will be laughing about this with my grandkids, when the earth used to be cold. Link to post Share on other sites
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