This is our fist winter in the old house. And yes, it is cold. We’ve had several sub-zero (just barely, but sub) nights and days where the hottest part of the day didn’t get above 5°C. The logic of having shrinkable rooms (rooms that can be subdivided with sliding doors) has suddenly become obvious. It’s quite remarkable how good an insulator paper can be. I wouldn’t have guessed that a paper-covered door can actually hold the heat.
But, Lord, it is cold. Nights are the worst, of course, and I sleep in my sub-zero sleeping bag. It’s toasty warm, if a bit eccentric for most Japanese folks. In the old days, the only heating in the house–other than passive solar–was a single metal hibatchi burning charcoal. (Folks were clearly tougher back when.) We have several (five) of the ubiquitous “air-cons” stationed throughout the house, but they are relatively expensive to run, and because they are mounted at the top of the wall, don’t do the best job heating a room.
Mika has long wanted to fire up the old hibatchi, so over New Year’s, she kept it burning all day, burying a live coal in the ash when we went to bed, then reviving it first thing in the morning. It sort of works, but what a creosote-y stench! Plus, it looks like a major fire waiting to happen.
Finally broke down last week and bought a fancy new kerosene heater that really does the trick, but, man, does it drink the kerosene! These houses are definitely more comfortable in the heat than the cold.
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