We also used it to heat up our futon before going to bed. We have a wool-like fluffy mat under our sheet, a top sheet, then another futon. As it gets colder, we add a blanket or two to the mix. We would heat up the futon for about 10 minutes, then get in. I rarely suffered from sinus problems and sore throats, last year. So, the couple of yen we spend to heat up the futon every night helps me save on doctor and pharmaceutical bills.

I had a look on Rakuten the other day and the cheapest ones go for around 4.500 yen. There might be other bargains out there. Well worth the investment.

Recommended by GB on the Frugal Japan mailing list.

I found the following website talking about Yutanpo :
http://nihonhacks.com/in-the-home/keep-yourself-warm-with-yutampo/

By the way, the Nihon Hacks website has a lot of frugal ideas that i like.

Recommended by H on the Frugal Japan mailing list.

Probably one of the hardest things to deal with is being cold in bed. I really hate it when I wake up in the middle of the night because I am too cold. I am too lazy/unfocused to do anything about it when it happens, but I am also not able to go back to sleep properly until the situation has been remedied. Do I get out of bed and find an extra blanket — freezing myself even more in the interim — or do I just try to think warm thoughts and go back to sleep? Unfortunately, I almost always choose the latter, although it rarely results in a restful night’s sleep.

One way to make sure that you stay warm throughout the winter involves using a blanket that is not really a blanket on your bed. I discovered this trick quite by accident when I was living in the mountains of Fukushima, a chilly prefecture in southern Tohoku. In Fukushima, most houses have kotatsu, small tables with heating units attached underneath. I had never seen a kotatsu before coming to Japan, so I didn’t set mine up that first winter. (I was a JET living in an apartment that had been furnished by my Board of Education, so I didn’t really know what all the things in my house did.) However, when it started to get cold and I was scrounging through my closets for extra blankets, I happened to find a very thin, perfectly square, kind of stiff blanket that looked like it might do the trick. I placed it on top of my duvet and found that despite the thinness, it acted as a kind of insulator and kept my bed toasty warm without the weight of a normal blanket. It was only a few weeks later, when one of my Japanese friends happened to see the square-shaped blanket on my bed, that I found out the “blanket” was supposed to go underneath the kotatsu (i.e. on the floor as a kind of carpet).

My kotatsu-carpet bedspread served me well over the five years that I lived in Fukushima. I brought it out every year as soon as it started to get cold despite the inevitable laughs it garnered from my Japanese friends. It was a perfect set up for me — the kotatsu-carpet was light so it didn’t weigh me down or hamper my movements at night and it kept all the heat in so once I got warm, I stayed warm throughout the night. Also, because it was kind of stiff, I could pull it over my head and it would keep in the warmth without suffocating me because it wouldn’t actually touch any part of my head. Between that and my newly acquired habit of sleeping with socks on, I managed to survive the cold Fukushima winters and live to tell the tale.

Not sure if the kotatsu-carpet bedspread idea will appeal to everyone because you do have to put up with a bit of jeering in the implementation, but if you find that you are waking up cold in the middle of the night and you don’t want to add too much extra weight to your covers, I would recommend giving it a try!

First of all, did you know that aircon alone account for over one-forth of all household electricity costs in Japan? Yep. It’s startling but true, according to Japanese frugal guru Yuki Wada.

The simplest way to cut aircon costs is to adjust your temperature settings. Most typical aircon units in Japan have a small remote control that can be used to change the settings. Typically, the temperature settings resemble little “up or down” arrows. Wada says that simply upping the temperature setting on your unit by one degree can cut electric costs by 10%! The ideal summer temperature setting for aircon is 28 C. Apparently, any difference in indoor vs. outdoor temperatures of greater than seven degrees Celsius can cause discomfort, chills, and even headaches – in addition to costing more money! So, first things first – set your AC to 28C!

The second variable to look at is the direction and strength of airflow. If you can’t find these settings (labeled with the characters for “wind direction” [風向] and “wind amount” [風量])　on your remote, check the inside panel. Wada recommends pointing the air upward, as air flowing downward tends not to circulate. Pressing the direction button, you’ll notice the little vents on the aircon unit change direction – put them at the top angle. For airflow strength, she recommends the automatic setting (jido unten) which automatically adjusts airflow based on temperature. Using a fan in addition to the AC (fans are very low-cost items – only Y100-Y150 in electricity usage for one month’s use at 5-6 hours/day) is also a good way to keep the air flowing.

There are some other, simple measures you can take as well. One is using curtains or blinds to limit the heat that can enter a room. Another is making sure the aircon’s external unit (that big hulking machine located on your balcony or in your yard) is not exposed to direct sunlight. An exposed unit can make it difficult for the aircon to exchange heat effectively, wasting electricity. While directly putting a cover on the unit is inadvisable, Wada does recommend ensuring that the external unit gets proper shade.

An additional point is making sure the innards of your aircon are clean. Wada recommends cleaning the aircon filter at least once very two weeks. You can typically remove the filter by popping open the vented front of the aircon. After removing it, softly brushing the eyes of the filter with a disposable toothbrush while using the vacuum (hose) to suck up the dirt is one effective method (click here for a picture).

Finally, you can have the inside of your aircon professionally cleaned. Typically, these services are rather costly (from Y10,000 per unit). Duskin is one reliable provider. Recommendations vary, but cleaning every two to three years is a good bet. After several years of use, the aircon traps dirt, allergens, dust, and mold, both reducing its cooling capacity and creating “dirty air” forced out through the vents. If you’ve never had your aircon cleaned and find yourself complaining of allergies or a sore throat, you might need to look into this. Note that appointments are typically necessary for this service. (Duskin Aircon Cleaning)

If none of these measures help cut your aircon bill, then you might need to rethink the aircon itself. New models are twice as energy efficient as those from a decade ago, and the extra Y30,000-Y40,000 required to purchase a low-price model might actually save you money over the long run. Of course, the simplest way to cut aircon usage is… not use it at all. “When in doubt, turn it off.”

(This article borrowed heavily from the ever-frugal Yuki Wada’s AllAbout.co.jp Setsuyaku & Yarikuri site’s Aircon Setsuden No Kotsu! (Tips on Cutting Aircon Electricity Costs) article from July 14, 2003.)

© 2007 Wendy J. Imura.

You’ve probably seen the shocking pictures on the evening news: cherry blossom buds poking through in a balmy Washington DC in early January, the first snowless winter in the European Alps in 1000 years, and Japan’s own amateur skiing championships delayed for lack of snow. To be sure, Osaka has enjoyed a nice, warm-ish winter this year – most days are around 10-12C.

That said, it’s still a cold time of year – so, in my annual ‘keep warm frugally’ issue, I thought I’d introduce a few tried-n-true but not well known to the foreign community aids for warmth. Long-termers might not find anything new on the list, but newbies to Japan should get their shopping lists ready. In fact, late January and early February are an *excellent* time to purchase winter items – retailers want winter merchandise off their shelves yesterday, and will often heavily discount products. Stock up for next year!

1) Fuzzy Acrylic/Lambswool Bed Pads

These are called a variety of things in Japanese, from either ‘fuyu you shiki paddo’ (winter-use bed/futon pads) to ‘muuton shiitsu’. Basically, these are quilted bed pads with a fuzzy, soft texture much like the ‘moufu’ blankets one sees here so frequently. They will typically have an elastic tie or band on each corner to attach it to your bed or futon. Be careful *not* to purchase the cotton variety intended for summer use – these are not as warm, and are design to absorb moisture.

I highly recommend purchase of these bed pads! Basically, you attach the pad to your mattress or futon on top of the sheets, fuzzy side up. You then sleep *on top* of the fuzzy part. For particularly cold nights, you can use an electric blanket *under* the pad to added warmth. While it might be tempting to scrimp on size, please buy one the same size as or larger than your futon – you’ll find yourself fighting with your sleeping partner over the space if its not!

These are frugal because they save on bedroom heading costs and (if aired and washed properly) can last for very long time.

2) Warm Underwear

For years, I was astonished by the substantial underpinnings unveiled by Japanese women of all ages in onsen dressing rooms. Then, after a few winters of shivering through frigid waits on the train platform despite a warm coat, gloves, hat, and boots – I realized they had a point.

Ladies: those flimsy underthings from from Victoria’s Secret (or Marks and Spencer, take your pick) are just not gonna cut it in this climate. Have a problem with cold hands and feet? Keeping your body’s ‘core temperature’ warm with an extra layer closest to the skin will most definitely help. Affectionately called ‘baba shotsu’ or ‘baba shaatsu’ after the older women who love them, these warm boy shorts, camisole bras, or thin undershirts are a lifesaver in winter. I guarantee that even the most fashionable of office ladies you see is probably secretly sporting foundation garments that would make your grandmother jealous. So take a lesson from them, and visit the women’s underwear counter of your nearest GMS or department store to check out the offerings.

Men: I haven’t been shopping for men’s underwear recently, but I can say that sales of similar items for men (longish boxer/brief underwear and undershirts) appear to be on the rise. While you probably don’t have to go the momohiki (long underwear) route as my father-in-law does, adding an extra layer or too might help you venture out from under the kotatsu a little more often.

Why are these frugal? Keeping your body warm by adding extra clothes can help you lower your heating costs (by reducing the amount of time in use or lowering the thermostat temp), and keep you healthy.

3) ‘Sukima Seals’

Having problems with corner drafts coming in from your windows and doors? Do you see phantom breezes *inside* your house? Is it sometimes warmer outside than inside? Maybe these ’sukima seals’ (gap fillers for windows and doors) will help.

These are essentially small (6mm or 9mm) width strips of bristly mats backed by a sticker sheet. (See a picture at the link below). You simply peel off the back of the sticker tape, attach it firmly to the surface (i.e. crack under a door) you want to muffle, and stick it on. If the bristles are too long, you can trim them with scissors. The website advertises that the seals can cut temperature loss through window and door gaps by 2 degress Celsius – I have yet to try them, but this could be a useful product for older homes. Cost is Y940 plus shipping for two 2 meter rolls – though it might be available at home centers for less.

See: http://www.netyokocho.jp/nakanishikobo/goods/67866/

© 2007 Wendy J. Imura.

First, the easiest (and cheapest) way to warm up is to wear more clothing. The Japanese padded winter jacket, or hanten, is great in this regard, as it keeps you quite warm. The next “must have” for frugal winters is the kotatsu, or heating table. Paired with a futon/blanket on the top and carpet on the bottom, you’re pretty warm. One more frugal tip is to put a layer of insulating material (newspapers or cardboard works well) underneath your kotatsu carpet, to prevent heat from escaping. As far as the temperature setting, did you know that reducing it from “high” to “medium” can save you 32.48 kw, or Y1,130 a year? Amazing! Be sure and turn off the kotatsu when you’re done using it.

The air conditioner/heating unit found in most Japanese homes is another major source of winter expense. Be sure and keep the filter clean, as that helps the machine run more efficiently. Also, setting the AC temperature lower (from 21 to 20 degrees) can save you major bucks – some Y1,640 a year, based on nine hours a day of use. Likewise, your gas or oil fan heater should also be set at around 20C. Reducing the termperature from 21C to 20C on this baby can save you Y2,070 in fuel expenses.

Speaking of heating appliances, were you aware that your hot carpet actually uses about twice as much energy as your kotatsu, and is much less efficient at heating a space? If you must use a hot carpet, keep it set on “medium” or “low”, and use it only when people are in the room. Lowering the hot carpet setting can save you Y4,280 a year (based on five hours use/day).

This year in particular, kerosene costs are quite expensive, making it hard for people who use oil stoves or oil fan heaters to keep warm frugally. Try using a fan in a heated room to circulate the warm air (which stays near the ceiling), or use your oil-based heater together with a kotatsu and other methods.

Finally, find a comparison below of the various costs per appliance per day and month (data taken from:http://kakeashi.boo.jp/danbouhi-part2.htm). Perhaps this will make it easier for you to decide which equipment to use.

Seikyu (Oil) Stove:
Y250/day Y7,500/month (based on Y1,250 for 18 litres of kerosene) Y216/day, Y6,480/month (based on Y1,080 for self-service kerosene)

A/C Unit:
Y240/day, Y7,200/month (16 hours/day) (A/C units average Y15/hour of running time.)

Kotatsu:
Y3/hour for a 500 watt lamp, Y5/hour for a 600 watt lamp Y80/day, Y2,400 month (16 hours/day)

Hot Carpet:
Y14/hour on High setting Y224/day, Y6,720 month (16 hours/day)

Halogen Heater:
Y17.6/hour for a 800 watt unit, Y21/hour for 1000 watt unit Y281.6/day, Y8,448 month (16 hours /day)

Gas Fan Heater:
Y13/hour for an 8-mat size gas fan heater Y208/day Y6,240/month (16 hours/day)

© 2006 Wendy J. Imura.

Electricity use

Is your house lit up like a Christmas tree even after you turn off all the lights for the night? All those little red and green LEDs blinking and clocks keeping time are using electricity. Called ’standby power’ the amount of electricity used by appliances left in standby mode is not inconsiderable. Research in Australia found that 11.5% of home energy consumption was used in this way. Not all appliances use the same amount of power when in standby mode, and there is some variation between brands, but in general VCRs (19 watts), fax machines (30 watts) and stereo systems (10 watts) are heavy standby power users. A stereo that uses 11.7 watts of power when in use was found to use 9.5 watts in standby mode! Similarly, left plugged in, a microwave oven uses more power over a year in standby than it does when in use.

While some appliances need to be left on (turning your fridge off each night would not be very healthy or frugal!) there are many appliances in our homes that don’t need to be left on all day, everyday. A little extra effort could save you a lot of money.

In the Home Office

Many computer peripherals do not shut down completely when you turn the computer off. Printers, speakers, modems, external CD-ROMs etc do not need to be on when the computer is off. Putting all these devices on to one switched powerboard allows you to shut everything down with the flick of one switch. Many appliances come with AC power adapters (usually small black boxes). These devices change the 110-volt electricity from the wall socket into the lower voltage required by each appliance. During this conversion much of the unwanted electricity is dispersed as heat. Even if you are not using your laptop, speakers or mobile phone charger, if the adapter is warm to the touch, energy is being used. Therefore turning off the appliance at the switch is the most frugal way of shutting down such equipment.

If turning your computer off completely is not practical there are still steps you can take to minimize wasted electricity. http://www.rmfdevelopment.com/DesktopConservation.html describes how Windows and Linux users can create personal settings for their computer’s standby, suspend and hibernation modes and maximize power conservation.

In the Living Room

Getting up and turning the TV, VCR, DVD player and stereo at the switch rather than with the remote will save you considerable energy.

One of the biggest energy consumers in the living room is heating. Whether you use an air conditioner/ heater unit, hot carpet, fan forced kerosene stove or kotatsu heated table there are steps you can take to keep warm AND frugal.

Air-Conditioner Unit

Clean or change the filters regularly. Running the air conditioner unit with dirty filters uses 5-10% more electricity than if the same unit was cleaned.

Grab a jumper/sweater. Are you guilty of walking around in the wintertime in a t-shirt? By grabbing a jumper/sweater and turning the heating down only 2 degrees you can save as much as 10% of the energy consumed by the air conditioner.

Hot Carpet (Electric Carpet)

If your living room floor is wood or linoleum, placing a mat, towels, rug or newspaper between the floor and the hot carpet will provide insulation and stop heat loss.

When using a hot carpet sitting directly on the carpet (without using a floor cushion or seat) will give you best results.

Fan-Forced Heater

When selecting a heater look for one with a low energy mode (sho-ene or jaku unten). If you don’t have small children or animals that may get burnt, a kerosene-only heater uses no electricity at all, relying instead on radiant energy. As with an air-conditioning unit keeping the thermostat at 22 degrees will help keep running costs down.

Kotatsu (Japanese Low Table with Heat Lamp, Covered by Large Coverlet)

Thick equals warm. Changing the futon coverlet covering your kotatsu (kakebuton) from a 3cm thick one to a 10cm thick one will save you around 20% energy. If you don’t have a 10cm think futon you can double up with two thinner ones. With a thick mat under the kotatsu (shikibuton) and a thick futon on top large enough to stop cold air getting in around the edges you will find that once you use the electric heater to warm the kotatsu you can turn it off and stay warm for quite some time.

Whichever method you use to heat your house you can make a big difference to your heating costs by ensuring that no drafts are getting in and using thick blinds or curtains on the windows. 10% of heat is lost through windows so if you don’t mind how it looks a layer of clear bubble wrap fixed to the inside of the window is a good DIY double glazing trick.

In the Kitchen

The Fridge
One of the biggest users of electricity in the home is the fridge. A few simple steps can reduce the energy consumed in keeping your foodstuffs cool.

Location, Location, Location
In many Japanese kitchens you don’t have a lot of choice where to place the fridge. If you do, however, aim for a cool place. According to the Centre for Environmental Information Science running your fridge where the surrounding air is 30 degrees uses 80% more electricity than the same appliance run in a 15 degree environment. Leaving adequate space around the fridge (at least 10cm on all sides) helps air circulate and aids efficient cooling. If your fridge is not too heavy to move, vacuuming the coils at the back will also help it run better. But be careful you don’t knock or damage the coils as refrigerator gas is poisonous.

Optimum Capacity
An over-full fridge uses a lot of energy. It is also not wise to let your fridge get too empty though as it takes more energy to cool air than foodstuffs. This is particularly true in the freezer. If you don’t keep a lot of things in the freezer fill some containers with water or keep your freezer packs in there to reduce energy costs. Placing hot foods straight from stove to freezer is another energy waster. Try to leave dishes to cool to room temperature before freezing.

And opening the door to the fridge and THEN thinking about what you want to eat is an energy black hole. It can take up to eight minutes for the fridge to return to its set temperature after the door has been opened.

Rice Cooker
Do you cook rice for the day all at once? It can actually be more frugal to cook rice twice than to keep it warm all day. For example, if you cook 4 cups of rice in the morning and keep it warm till dinner time you use more energy than you would have cooking two cups in the morning and another two for dinner. Some rice cookers have a low energy switch. Be careful though: in many cases this is not an energy efficient option as the same amount of energy is used- just over a longer period of time. This switch is designed to minimize the amount of energy used at one time so as not to overload the ampage breaker.

Hot Water Pot
In most cases a very energy inefficient appliance. If you need hot water on demand throughout the day (or have just got too used to having one to do without!) unplugging the pot before you go to bed saves you keeping all that water hot when noone will be using it. The hot water in the pot when you turn it off can be recycled into your hot water bottle.

If you need any more incentive to become energy efficient around the house check out the Kansai Electric Power Company’s fun eco-check page: www.kepco.co.jp/sho-ene/ec/ec.html. All you need is a copy of your last electricity bill and in a couple of minutes you can see how many yen you could be saving by taking a few small steps to conserve energy.

References

• http://enduse.lbl.gov/info/40295-abstract.html
• http://www.energyconservationinfo.org/almanac.htm#Refrigeration
• http://extratv.warnerbros.com/dailynews/consumer/04_01/04_04b.html
• http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/sbeder/columns/probe22.html
• http://standby.lbl.gov/data.html
• http://www.rmfdevelopment.com/energysa.html
• http://www.rmfdevelopment.com/DesktopConservation.html (Ed’s note: link no longer valid)
• http://www.ceis.or.jp/ecolife/eco1.html
• http://www.kepco.co.jp/sho-ene/ec/ec.html?kwh0=2222 (Ed’s note: link no longer valid)
• http://www.zds-osaka.or.jp/kaden/kufu/kufu.htm

© 2004 H. Fukase.