"It feels good to sit in front of a kotatsu or wood stove in a cold room" is a kind of "habit"!!

"It feels good to sit in front of a kotatsu or wood stove in a cold room" is a kind of "habit"!!
The excuses often given by practitioners who dislike insulation are, "It's better if it's a little cold," or "It feels good to be warmed by a kotatsu or wood stove when it's a little cold." The former is a matter of personal taste, so let's leave it aside, but as for the latter, in terms of the thermal environment,
It's almost the same as saying, "It feels good to be warmed by an electric stove in an air-conditioned room." It's also almost the same as saying, "It feels great to be warmed by a bonfire outside in the winter." The latter is certainly understandable, as it has a certain atmosphere that is unique to camping, but this is an extraordinary world. Saying, "It feels good to be warmed by an electric stove in an air-conditioned room" is still very unnatural, and above all, it consumes a huge amount of energy.
Let me explain it in simpler terms. This type of environment has "large variations (unevenness) in the radiation environment."
However, this is the exact opposite of the indoor environment of a well-insulated, airtight home, where radiation variation is minimal.
I was thinking of giving a technical explanation of thermal environments, but I've decided to forgo that and instead go with a parade of examples.
- The bath water is freshly heated and has not been stirred, resulting in a large temperature difference between the top and bottom.
- In a poorly airtight home, the air conditioner and fan heater are turned on full blast, causing large temperature differences between the top and bottom
・It is in a super public bath. The bath is about 5cm deep, and you lie down in it. The back side is warm, but
The stomach is cold
Other examples besides the thermal environment
・When cooking, I added too much sugar so I adjusted it with salt
・A life full of ups and downs is better than a peaceful one!?
There are many more examples, but strictly speaking, some different phenomena are included. This is because there are some parts where radiation and convection are mixed up in the explanation. As for the last point, "An eventful life is better than a peaceful one," it's a 50/50 split, but I think you'll feel more comfortable with less variation in all other aspects. As examples with less variation, I think the situation in spring and autumn is the easiest to understand. These are times when everyone can stay healthy and comfortable, even without heating appliances that are particularly hot.
However, "heating with intense radiant heat" from kotatsu and wood stoves can often become addictive. In fact, even if you live in a highly insulated and airtight house, there are very few people who cannot break the habit for the first year and end up using more heating energy than they had expected, even though they complain that it's hot. Even such people will come to think "this is fine" by the second year and return to the correct lifestyle, but that's how powerful "intense radiant heat" is.
It's true that the flickering flames of a wood stove are very emotional and attractive. I love them too. However, doing it in the cold is a completely different matter. In Germany, there are many people who install wood stoves in their highly insulated and airtight houses because they "like the emotional aspect of it." I also agree with this in terms of the environmental impact. In fact, heating with a wood stove is slightly more comfortable than heating with air in a highly insulated and airtight house. If the comfort of a highly insulated and airtight house plus air conditioning is considered to be average, then the combination with a wood stove is at the very top.
However, it costs nearly 1 million yen to fill this slight gap in comfort and emotion. It's the same with wine or anything else, but few people can tell the difference between the top and middle of the line, and even a small difference costs a lot of money, so it's very similar.
In terms of the order of costs, it would be unthinkable to spend money on a wood stove before spending money on insulation for a sparsely insulated house. However, there is a reason why people who build low-insulation houses using natural materials prefer to use wood stoves.
This is because they themselves know very well that "convection-type heating appliances that only heat the air" will not warm you at all. You can't expect warmth through convection unless you heat it with the powerful power of radiation. However, this is not as simple as solving all the problems. The effects of radiation only reach as far as the naked eye can see. Moreover, it is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This means that the effects of radiant heat cannot reach individual rooms, let alone rooms with a high risk of heat shock, such as changing rooms and toilets. As a result, the temperature difference within a home can be very large.
So, to sum up, "feeling good in front of a kotatsu or wood stove in a cold room" is a kind of "habit"!!