Japanese households turn to nonstop air conditioning to beat the heat
- Adam German
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Mitsubishi Estate Home released survey results on September 4th about heatstroke risks inside homes and stress caused by air conditioning use.
The survey was conducted between August 14 and 15, covering 1,025 men and women aged 30 to 60 across Japan.
The survey found that the living room, bedroom, and toilet were most often cited as the hottest areas in the home.
Nearly half of respondents pointed to the living room, followed by the bedroom and toilet - places where people spend much of their time.
When it came to measures in rooms without air conditioning, households reported a mix of approaches:
39.4 percent used portable or electric fans
28.8 percent relied on natural breezes
32.9 percent took no special measures
Among those who did nothing, nearly 80 percent still felt they were managing heatstroke risks well enough.
Air conditioning habits showed a clear trend toward continuous use:
55.8 percent reported keeping the AC on around the clock
26.6 percent turned it off only at night
17.6 percent turned it off only during the day
The main reasons for not running air conditioning nonstop included concerns about electricity bills, a preference for natural ventilation, and worries about becoming too cold.
Although more than one third of respondents reported no discomfort with air conditioning, others mentioned specific issues such as:
Dry throat or skin
Waking up at night from the cold
Difficulty sleeping when airflow hit the body directly
The findings illustrate how common 24-hour air conditioning use has become in Japanese homes, while also highlighting the balance residents try to strike between comfort, cost, and physical wellbeing.
Further Reading:
Mitsubishi Estate Home Air Conditioning Usage Survey 2025 (Japanese only)
Source:
R.E. Port News (Japanese only)
