To A/C or not to A/C

I have been heard to say that you can't put a price on comfort. Well, today I was proved wrong. The Osaka electric company has seen fit to put a price on my comfort. Today I received my first real electric bill of the summer, well since I got an air conditioner. I was warned that air conditioners use a lot of electricity.

My air conditioner in fact doubles as a heater in the winter and as heaters go they are so expensive or so the yen watchers say. There are other types of heaters (remember no central heating) all of which are supposed to be cheaper than these types of heaters. However this unit is in the unique vantage point of being about as far away as possible from my gas heater; the part of my apartment that I spend the most awake time in and is never warm.

As an air conditioner it works quickly and effectively to cool first the room and then the coolness permeates the rest of the apartment. As a heater I have great hopes that it will do the same.

Today in Osaka, at 7 pm at night, now over half an hour since the sun went down it is still 30 degrees, with a "feels like" factor of 41 degrees. This is one of the cooler days we've had since I got back. As for "feels like" we've been up in the high, humid 40's. However half an hour after getting home my apartment is nice and cool, comfortable, not humid.

Can you put a price on comfort? Apparently. Is it worth it? Let me tell you, it's worth every last yen.