mjm

Electric wall mounted units have progressed dramatically since many posting here have seen one I think. The electricity bill is easily monitored on the remote control screen and in ECO mode costs pennies per hour. Far safer than any gas appliance could ever be, let alone kerosene etc. As they are on the wall they also do not require floorspace and a reasonable perimeter to allow the heat flow as do the floor units (both gas and elec.). I used a paraffin (Brit speak for Kerosene) heater in London back in the mid-80's but that was a squat and the electrical wiring was minimal although ran to some rooms. In modern Japan, being in the housing industry, I cannot fathom why someone would elect to use a gas heater on purpose if not solely for "old times sake".

Mizunara

It's definitely an older thing. My relatives in Hokkaido have a more modern house with heated flooring, central heating, and double-insulated glass. Makes the New Years celebrations spent up there more cozy.

Back home in Tokyo, I just stick with wearing thermals and hanging out in my kotatsu if I'm not at my desk. Freshly brewed tea or coffee also helps. The wall-mounted air conditioner gets occasional use to help warm up the apartment when I wake up, but I don't run it while I sleep since my winter blankets are plenty. Otherwise, I tend not to use my air conditioner too much to save on my electricity bill. It's never gotten cold enough where I am to justify needing a separate heating appliance.

nishimark

Electric wall mount units never warm the entire room, especially around the floor level, at least in our house, which is larger than "normal". Also, the room feels quite dry when heated by one of those, though maybe I could adjust the setting for that. On the other hand, touyu stove has a comfortable warmth that spreads throughout the room well. I imagine that in an apartment/condo unit, especially not one on the first floor, a newer electric wall mount machine may work well enough. My son and his wife just moved into one last summer, so I'll check with him once the dead of winter sets in.

LapLap

The central heating at my husband’s cousin’s home in Sapporo is under the floor. I don’t think that would show in photos of apartments.

invisible

Seems yes, the particular unit could be several decades old.

Question - do newer units still require starting burning cycle outside and bring them inside, or it is not necessary? Second question - how safe in terms of CO/CO2 are these things? Kerosene, being liquid and way more heavy and dense than natural gas presents less danger in this front, but it is never eliminated.

mjm

Wall units will warm any room to any temperature if in designed for that size of room. As they project the warm air further they are far more efficient than a heat radiating device. Again, new units are quite incredible.

mjm

Probably not, unless on radar. That said central heating is tremendously inefficient for single family dwellings. They only really have decent economies of scale for larger multi-unit buildings and even then there is a high cutoff point for efficiency. The most efficient are wall units used in the rooms in which one is spending time and off the rest of the time.

nishimark

My experience says otherwise. I've used gas fan heaters, touyu fan heaters, and new electric wall units in various single family houses over the years. Gas and touyu are both more effective than the electric wall units, at least in the dead of winter. Of course, that's just an individual sampling. Now, please heat the hallway outside of the living room and the toilet room as well, where I swear I can see my breath on those cold days. :-)

nishimark

No, newer units have a storage can to hold the kerosene and light by pushing a button when in the living room plugged into a wall socket. They take a minute or so to ignite, but then quickly start heating up with the warmth blown by a fan. Virtually no smell with the newer units. Thermostat controlled.

BRITINJAPAN4

It is extremely common, we have a newish house in Tokyo and use Toyou heaters every winter, they are very cheaper and warm up the room. Co2 build up is not an issue, they have a sensor that kicks in if a problem, but 90% of Japanese houses are not that well sealed and there is normally enough air flow that its not a problem, I have never experience the issue. Many companies will deliver to an large outside tank in the countryside but in Tokyo we have to take our tanks about once a month in the winter to fil up and then tip up the heater tanks, the only down side in my mind but not a big one.

When you fire them up there is a smell but once they get warm this goes away, I don't even notice, I also have a Maki ( wood) stove which is fantastic but not as cheap to run as the Toyou, and no thermostat !!

WalterPiggins

I've never seen anyone start them outside then bring them inside here in Hokkaido, so I assume it's safe to start them inside.

The exhaust gas is dangerous, so large kerosene units should be connected to a pipe that vents the exhaust gas outside. Smaller portable units are supposed to be used in rooms with adequate ventilation. I was always told to open the door or window every few hours to circulate the air in the room.

mjm

I work with about 3000 units (homes) and my experience is based on that. Of course individual preferences will vary.

The hallway though, yeah I have always used the walk from shower to dressing room as a sort of pore-closing experience
The toilet though should be warm if the washlet is set up properly.

shuigao

One thing I can never get used to during my winter ski trips are the trek from heated room through unheated corridor to sit on an unheated toilet which thankfully has heated seat. All these hot / cold / hot / cold shenanigans make my body temperature regulator go haywire

evergrn

I guess that makes sense. But we never did that, and I'm still here.

evergrn

One of the things that make it tough to stay with my family in Jpn.
They heat one room out of the entire house with AC. It's amazing how cold the house gets at night. Laying under futon at night, your body's warm but the face is frozen, and you'd almost rather pee your pants than freeze yourself trekking to the bathroom.