House Insulation in Japan

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gonbechan
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House Insulation in Japan

Post by gonbechan »

As a lot of us know from first hand experience, Japan lags way behind in house insulation.
Recently it might be getting better with the popularity of 'eco-house' and imported houses, but on the whole it leaves a lot to be desired IMO.

I saw this video on youtube yesterday about heating a whole house with one normal AC unit placed under the floor.
It seems to me to be quite a weird way to go about things, but it is a vast improvement on a lot of methods in Japan, and they do stress the role insulation plays in the working of the whole thing.


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Re: House Insulation in Japan

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Interesting find Gonbechan,

That's similar in concept to how the OM Solar & ECS systems heat their houses during winter, except they use a metal roof on sunny days to heat up air and then blow that under the floor. I'm really surprised that not every new house has that type of system incorporated, it's free heating that doesn't smell of kerosene or send your electricity bill skywards.

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Re: House Insulation in Japan

Post by paradoxbox »

I dunno, I think I would just circumvent Japanese tech and do things properly. Japan is so far behind in insulation and snow management tech that it's embarrassing. I remember seeing houses in Aomori with inverted-vee shaped roofs with heating elements placed at the bottom of the vee. Great if the power is on since the v collects tons of snow and the heater will melt the snow, but if the power goes out, something not uncommon in snowy areas, you have the threat of the snow weight destroying your house. Not smart.

I think it's worth just ordering tons of fiberglass wool and telling the contractor to do what you tell them to do regardless of whatever their opinion is on insulation.

With floor heating but a JP style house you end up with a warm floor and nothing else since it all just leaks out through the 0.5mm thick single pane windows and walls and ceiling.

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Re: House Insulation in Japan

Post by xxxxtom »

I replaced this piece of shoji in our dining room yesterday and its the only thing that seperates us from the outside winter cold etc. Does that qualify as insulation?
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Re: House Insulation in Japan

Post by Zasso Nouka »

What did you replace the shoji with xxxxTom ? If it keeps you warmer in winter then I think that qualifies :)

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Re: House Insulation in Japan

Post by xxxxtom »

My bad . I didn't explain myself correctly , I replaced the old shoji with new shoji it just looks better so still very questionable insulation.

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