When the AC at my condo has stopped working during the summer here in Raleigh, NC, USA, I have gotten it fixed pronto even though you have to pay a heavy price for fast AC repair in the summer time and I am generally considered by most people I know to be frugal/cheap. I live in a small 2 bedroom, 2-story condo. My home is built for air conditioning, not ventilation. In the Philippines, during my last visit I spent a month in an average one story cinder block home, Mama’s House, which is built for ventilation. I went to town about every other day and spent 2 to 4 hours shopping in air-conditioned malls. The purpose of this article is to compare the advantages of what I consider a USA home which is insulated to keep cool air from an air condition in to a Filipino style home built for ventilation. The premise is the benefits and disadvantages of both in the Philippines which has an eternal summer at least in Bohol. I will compare: Comfort, Climate Acclimation, Carbon Footprint, and Cost.
Comfort:
I do not have some superhuman ability to handle the heat neither do Filipinos. At Mama’s House in Bohol from 11 am to 5 pm I would describe the comfort situation in her Filipino home as almost unbearable hot. It feels kind of like I imagine the inside of an oven would feel. The electric fan does little to improve the situation. During the heat of the day ventilation does not get the job done. Something magical happens when the Sun sets. The temperature of a Filipino-style home dramatically drops. The reason for this lies in the ingenious design of the homes. When I first saw the homes in the Philippines, I did not understand why the walls sometimes don’t go to the roof or why there was no ceiling. You can see the rafters and the underside of the roof. I just assumed they did not have the money to finish the house. I also thought the cinder blocks with holes designed in them were for decoration the truth is they are for ventilation. A properly designed Filipino house is comfortable at night and in the early morning. That being said the unbearable heat during the day gives a big edge to a USA air-conditioned and insulated home where the temperature can be controlled 24/7 unless there is a black-out or brown-out. Without electricity an insulated USA-style house will be like an oven both day and night. The insulation keeps hot air in just like it keeps cool air in. This is when you start camping out in the yard at night and taking hours long baths in ice cold water in a kiddie pool with an ice cold beer during the days. For Comfort the USA House wins big as long as there is electricity!
Climate Acclimation:
As I said in the Comfort section a Filipino-style house is unbearable during the day. This pretty much forces the people living in the home to get out in the elements at least until they can make their way to free air-conditioning.
Where is this free air-conditioning you ask? The mall, standing or sitting waiting at the bank, some offices, etc. is my answer. I met an expat on my last visit and the man has an air-conditioned house. He gets in his air-conditioned van quickly and goes to an air-conditioned mall. The air he does not get conditioned to is the air outside. The man seemed happy and if that works for him then fine. It would not work for me. I want to spend at least some time outdoors, just not the heat of the day when I can avoid it. For Climate Acclimation the Filipino-style home wins big!
Carbon Footprint:
A Filipino-style house uses a lot less electricity than a USA-style house. The Filipino electric fan does not suck the juice like an air-conditioner. Electricity is usually generated by burning fossil fuels that are believed to harm Mother Earth. I am not big on worrying about Global Warming, but I did think it worth mentioning that Filipino-style homes are a lot friendlier to the environment!
Cost:
I don’t know for sure how much more it cost to run an air-conditioner than an electric fan, but I do know that it is a lot more especially if you are trying to keep the temperature at 72 degrees. I have noticed that some of the upper poor in the Philippines have window unit air-conditioners that look like they have not run since Nixon was POTUS. The reason is that once the air conditioner was bought and probably used for about 1 month the devastating electric bill came in and the realization that paying for the electricity was a big budget buster. I am by no means an expert on the difference that not running an air-conditioner has on the monthly bill, but I am sure it is significant. If any readers with knowledge would like to share on the comments below it would be greatly appreciated! Anyway the Filipino-style house wins big again!
Analysis:
By winning 3 out of 4 of my categories I declare the Filipino-style house the winner of this addition of Filipino vs USA! If comfort is most important to you and you cannot or do not want to leave the house, then maybe you want a USA -style house. You just have to be ready to pay for it and realize that your home can become a kind of prison if you cannot deal with the outside elements. That is a personal choice. If I ever make my move to the Philippines, I think I would want to have a Filipino-style home with one small well insulated room with an air-conditioner that I could retreat to when the heat of the day got too bad.
Questions of the Day:
Please feel free to answer one, both or none of the following questions of the day:
- Do you believe in-home air-conditioning is a want or need in the Philippines?
- What temperature would you set an air-conditioner at night?
Jay,
Yes electricity is higher in the Philippines, but not as high as people think. What makes the bills higher is because so many people have appliances that are not energy efficient. Where we live in Lipa City, Batangas we have not used A/C since May of 2014 when we first moved there. Our bill’s generally range from 800p to 1200p depending on the time of the year. If i had A/C on it would be around 78. A/C would be a need in some parts of the Philippines. We are at a higher elevation so the need is not great.
Hi PapaDuck – I live in Santa Rosa City where its hot – I’ve heard good things about Lipa City…I’ve heard it’s cooler there….will look into there if I can ever pry my wife out of Santa Rosa…haha.
Hi Randy,
Thanks for the excellent comment! I thought of mentioning how temperature vary based on location and things like elevation, ocean breeze, urban heating from asphalt, etc. Thanks also for the details about your electric bill. Here in Raleigh, NC during the summer at night we set AC at about 75 -78 at night. In winter the heat I think around 66 or so I don’t remember. Whatever feels right. The ideal some people have of 72 is strange to me in the summer that feels cod to me in the winter it feels hot. IDK if that makes sense.
Peace
Jay
Jay
Hollow block have no insulating value’ insulating inside walls will keep the house cooler, very large screed windows and the highest ceiling you can afford also keeps your house cool. The most important factor is to paint the roof a light color (White works best) to reflect the sun. Whereas dark colors absorb the heat. Insulate the crawlspace above your ceiling also will drop the temperature within the house.
My bedroom has Air/Con and the rest of the house stays comfortable because of the list above. This was taught to me in Florida, Puerto Rico, Diego Garcia and other tropical places I have lived.
I remodelled my in-laws house to help them avoid the heat.
This, sir, is GOLD! I need to remember this when I make my move to the Phils!
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the information! I write a lot of articles with the intention of learning more than teaching. Comments from readers like yourself help my articles a lot. If I only wrote about things I knew anything about, I would have to submit blank documents to LiP and I kind of doubt Sir Bob would publish them.
Peace
Jay
Jay;
Did you notice how many different ways and suggestions the readers had to solve the problem? That is why I like articles like this; because of the flow of information agreeing and disagreeing which is the best way to keep cool. Because of my extensive time in the tropics I arrived here in the Philippines already acclimatized. One time I flew in from the Persian Gulf to Manila I boarded the plane in Bahrain at 122 degrees and debarked in the Philippines at a cool and refreshing 93 degrees; it all depends on your point of reference. The anti Air/con people, I respect their decision to not have it, but I can afford it and furthermore I want it. Both sides are right, the other argument that makes me laugh is renting vice owning a house; it is whatever suits your needs that is the only correct answer.
Hi Paul,
I am glad you enjoyed the article. One thing I was unclear on with your home from a previous comment:
Does the un-air conditioned part stay reasonably comfortable during the heat of the day?
From what I have seen of your home on your previous articles, I am impressed. That flat roof of yours looks like an excellent place to entertain. I also agree that it would be good to have a couple of air conditioned rooms, but not the whole house as that would be cost prohibitive.
Peace
Jay
Hi Jay;
The house stays very comfortable 95% of the year, but when the temp jumps into the 90’s during March or April I go to one of the A/C rooms and take a nap, or go out for the afternoon. But my wife is fine in the living room. I would shutter at the cost of Central Air for the whole house. The roof is best in the evening, but with our canopy tents it is good, but the front yard is always a great place to sit during the day, and I have the man-cave out in the back yard.
Hi Paul,
Wow! That is impressive. You got Mama’s House beat. It feels fine at night and cools off real well, but it is a preview of Hell during the heat of the day at Mama’s. Thanks for sharing!
Peace
Jay
I just finished insulating my filipino home, i used 2 inch glass fibre then covered it with foil polystyerene although city hardware now sell glass fibre with foil on one side, first thing i noticed was the floor tiles are now cold on the feet and the thermo on the aircon now turns the compressor off for longer periods, total cost for 100sm space was 9,000 pesos well worth it, now i just have to train the wife to keep the doors closed
Hi Paul S,
Thanks for the comment! I am sure that your information will be useful for someone considering building a home in the Philippines.
Peace
Jay
When me and my wife built our house here we made sure most of the large windows were facing the direction the wind here mostly comes from. Our stairs also face this way. Most days when you stand at the bottom of the stairs you can feel a slight breeze filtering down. We also have a couple of “secure mesh” doors that the cool air at night can come through. This secure mesh is unbreakable so you can have the glass door open and the air will get inside still.
No real need for aircon. Our electricity bill here averages 1550 per month. Next to nothing compared to Australia where you would be lucky to get under $700 Australian or roughly 25,000peso. Give me Philippines any day!
Hi Adam,
Thanks for the information on how to keep cool without busting the budget! It is good information on the cost of electricity and how to manage it.
Peace
Jay
Jay –
I spend roughly half the year in Laguna Philippines and the other half of the year in Raleigh, so we probably have a lot in common! I think AirCon is a want to most Filipinos but a need to most Kanos. In Raleigh I keep my temperature set to 78 24/7 unless the temps get into the 90s, then I set it a little higher. Here in the Philippines only the bedroom has aircon. The lowest I’ve ever been able to get it down to is 78, but that’s fine for me. In fact, most nights I get up around midnight and turn it off, then just turn on an electric fan and I’m good to go until morning.
My wife’s house is the very definition of an oven, so I’m working on that. Her ceilings are thin pieces of plywood, so I want to start by replacing them with what we call wall board or sheet rock. Next is above-ceiling insulation and then I also want to find a way to get her roof vented. Painting the roof white is also on the to do list. I’ve also heard they have stuff they spray on the roof that is white, but also like a think layer of styrofoam when it dries that add an added layer of insulation…anyone have any experience with this?
Hi SteveB,
Thanks for the great information! The truth is everyone could live without air con, but if you can afford it why roast. Great information about acclimation. I don’t know the exact temperature of Mama’s House after dark, but I would estimate mid to upper 70’s. I sleep fine when there with just an electric fan. Mama put in a ceiling. Yes, I paid for it. I did not want to. Not because of the money, but because I knew it would increase the temperature at night. My wife and her mom did not think it would increase the temperature. We were all right and wrong. Most of the house feels the same, but one bedroom the temperature feels about 3 degrees warmer because of poor ventilation. Mama is happy though.
Peace
Jay
The bedrooms at our house are air conditioned. The main living area is not. The main living area 18ft+ ceilings but still gets quite warm (90F+) during the hottest part of the day during April and May. I usually retreat to the bedroom for the afternoon siesta during that time of day. Could we live here without AC? Of course millions do but I choose not to. I will continue to pay my higher electric bills for our comfort.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the information! Retreating to the AC in the heat of the day makes sense. I don’t think ventilation gets it done during the heat of the day.
Peace
Jay
Hose in Victorias Negros has no air conditioner and I don’t need it. I have a balcony and sometimes I sleep outside on a cot. TayDay said the witch would get me, but she never did.
Hi Tim,
Sound like a great place to be! Thanks for sharing!
Peace
Jay
Probably the biggest money saver with AC is blocking the sun. If you have a wall that is sunny, the cinder blocks will absorb the heat and release it throughout the night making your bill rocket. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment in Ormoc City. Out neighbor has an AC like we do as the hole is very small and the rooms are small too. The difference is I sealed my windows. I also made shade. One month the electric bills got mixed up and we got their bill and they had ours. Our bill was actually about P300 more than what they pay. I have an electric stove they use gas. But I leave my AC running 24/7 and they use there AC at night.
The thing is you have to think how the AC works. Most people think the AC cools the air. It does but it also has to lower the temperature of everything in the room it is cooling including the walls. If you turn it off during the day everything in the room will absorb and store heat causing the AC to have to cool everything back down which costs, apparently, the same amount of money.
Next time you load up your refrigerator, watch it work all day or night to cool everything down. Now imagine if you loaded it the same every day. Your AC works the same way.
My electric bill is average P3000 (AC 24/7). I use LED lights and efficient fans which saves around P500 (estimate). Inverter fridge that also saves P500.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the information! As I said before I writ more to learn than to teach. I and the other readers benefit greatly from comments like yours!
Peace
Jay
Hello Jay,
I’m another vote for the Filipino style house. When we had our house in Virginia, we could open the windows for cross ventilation. I only used the air conditioning if it was an extremely still and muggy day. But, I’ve worked in outdoor type jobs all my life. At work, I’ll often wear a jacket in an air conditioned building. I mostly don’t like going back and forth between air conditioning and the hot, humid outdoors.
None of our abodes in the Philippines have air conditioning, and I don’t notice at all.
Our niece from the States and her fiancé seemed miserable though. But they are thoroughly modern, Millies, raised in air conditioned suburban homes.
In some ways, it’s not a fair comparison. A house in the temperate zone also has to keep you warm in the winter. Insulation and sealing out cold air are important. But anyway, the old style Filipino houses were designed to keep cool in the heat and humidity. My wife has commented that the old, wooden houses with the shell window shutters are very comfortable in the heat, but cold in the rainy season. High ceilings and cross ventilation are the main features. Paul Thompson advocates high, but flat concrete roofs for typhoon durability. Maybe I’m flirting with disaster, but I favor the 4 sided, high peaked roofs with a ventilated cupola on top. Or a gabled roof with a raised and ventilated ridge cap.
Altitude also plays a major role. Even when it’s stifling hot in the valley, our hilltop ranch is nice and cool.
Take care,
Pete
Pete;
After losing a nightclub and a house to hurricanes in Puerto Rico I refuse to tempt fate with a gabled roof. The last typhoon that hit Bataan took hundreds of roofs with it; mine was where I left it, right on top of the house. (LOL) When a tree smashed my wall and damaged my house I moved those nice tall shade trees away from my house. But Pete I second your Idea about living on high ground to keep cool, and the added benefit of gravity to remove excess rainfall.
Hi Pete,
Nice hearing from you again! Elevation makes a big difference. On the other hand a sea breeze is nice. When we go to the beach some of our family stays under the cabana in the shade eating and drinking only to venture to the water for a brief dip.
I have not seen too many wooden houses in the Philippines. I am not saying there aren’t a lot, as I have stated in the past my experience is limited to a small geographic area. I kind of got the impression that wood would not stand up as good to the elements. The ants like to eat wood. I don’t know thanks for your information!
Peace
Jay
First of all, cinder or cement block is NOT a Filipino styled house! What works best is what has been working for the Filipino for the past 4,000 years. It’s called a Nipa house. It’s usually framed in coco lumber. Walls are made of woven bamboo. Floors are of split bamboo and the roof is a Nipa thatch. It’s a perfect design for the Filipino. All of the materials are local. There’s an abundance of skilled Filipino labor. The roof and walls may blow away in a typhoon, but can be quickly replaced when the winds subside.
They are cool and airy, daytime and night. I love them when they are new. They smell like new mown hay. Their downside? They degrade rapidly and left to their own devices they’ll soon melt back into the environment. Filipinos do awful things to them to make them last longer. They’ll add galvanized sheeting to the roof to stop the leaks, but the sheeting collects the heat of the sun and radiates it into the house. No, the best way to preserve them is to continually replace the original materials.
Along come the Spanish and they introduce cement. Back to the drawing board now to redesign a house for the tropics!
You’re getting some good suggestions (along with some pretty crazy ones)! As you may have surmised, much will depend upon your use of air conditioning. I personally prefer natural design and have constructed my houses without a/c. Here are a few things to think about and hope this is helpful:
Considerations:
* Naturally comfortable houses are low energy houses
* Ceiling fans provide low energy cooling if you only use them while rooms are occupied
* Use plantings, orientation and shading to eliminate direct sun on exterior walls
* Minimize east and west wall areas and avoid windows on east and western walls to prevent low morning and afternoon sun heating up the house
* Correctly sized eaves can provide permanent shade to north and south windows and walls (northern verandas make sense)
* Plant tall trees on the east and west sides of the house to shade walls
* Tall trees on north and south shade roof (minimize mid-height foliage to
let breeze through for naturally ventilated houses). Consider leaving half
roof unshaded if solar panels are to be used
Design for Natural Ventilation:
* Use the breeze for cross ventilation through openings in opposite walls and internal partitions. High ceilings circulate air more easily than low.
* Maximize the area of windows (e.g. louvers) that can be opened
* Orientate house to catch the breeze (while still minimizing sun on east and west walls)
* A long narrow floor plan catches the breeze best.
* Trees and shrubs act to cool the air passing through the house.
* Don’t use exposed concrete on ground immediately outside the house as it heats the air above it.
* Well designed vented attic trumps a poorly designed and vented roof, even if insulated
* Full shading of wall is much more important than wall R-value. Unshaded, masonry walls store heat and release it well into the night.
* Shelter windows with louvres, canopies, shutters or fixed overhangs – then you can enjoy the cooling effect of rain.
Design for Air-Conditioning
NOTE: House designs depending on full air-conditioning for comfort are not
very suitable for our tropical climate nor environmentally sensitive.
Energy costs will be high when air-conditioning is running and comfort
levels will be low when air conditioning is switched off. Occupants can have
difficulty acclimatizing to outside temperatures.
* The better your house seals and is insulated, and the less glass area, the
less energy air-conditioning will use.
* Keep the heat and moisture out and the cool in!
* Shade walls and choose the highest wall R-value(lowest U-value) possible.
Windows
* Medium sized with the greatest possible openable area per window, and placed for cross ventilation, so you don’t have to air-condition all the time
* Heavy snug fitting curtains and pelmets prevent cooling energy loss from radiation and air flow against glass
* A square floor plan minimises external wall area and therefore reduces cooling energy loss through walls.
* Exposed heavy construction materials (e.g. concrete and bricks) inside insulation barrier store cooling energy.
Combined Air-Conditioning and Naturally Ventilated Houses
* Many houses in tropical regions have some air conditioned spaces and some naturally ventilated spaces or the same spaces are naturally ventilated and air-conditioned at different times
* Design of each area should follow principles for natural ventilation or
air-conditioning as relevant.
* Walls separating naturally ventilated and cooled spaces should be insulated and have doors to limit loss of cooled air.
Hi Ronald,
Firstly, thanks for the information your comment may be longer than my article! You should consider writing and submitting to Bob.
On the Nipa hut, I agree that the Nipa hut is more traditional home in the Philippines, but I see very few where I have traveled. As I have said before I am not that well traveled may be in other parts of the country Nipa huts are plentiful. When I read your comment I honestly thought why not compare the Filipino Nipa hut to the Native American tee pee or log cabin. I write from my very limited experience. I have not stayed in a Filipino Nipa hut, a Native American tee pee or a log cabin, so I wrote about where I have stayed. It is good to learn from readers who have had more varied and extensive experiences. Thanks again for sharing!
Peace
Jay
Jay,
My formal training came as an Electrical Engineer and my work led me into Mechanical Engineering and Computing, but architecture was one of my many hobbies. Now I’ve got the best job of them all, retirement!
It is interesting to read the opinions of those who have come here to live. It doesn’t require years of experiences on every island in the archipelago to get a fairly good understanding of life here.
I happen to have come here while sponsoring a couple of families through The Foster Parent’s Plan, known as just “The Plan” in the islands. So I have experienced many Nipa houses. A Super Typhoon came through Cebu in the early 90’s and destroyed many homes. Over 5,000 were “Plan” families. We quickly organized a relief effort for those families, sheltering many temporarily in donated tents. The Plan went right to work, contacting an Architectural Firm in NY to design a house we could build for these families.
The Design they offered was essentially a Nipa house. These have been constructed for 4,000 years and fit all the requirements for the reasons I’ve stated. Built of local materials, with a large experienced workforce on site already. There were expenditures for materials (bamboo, coco lumber and Nipa aren’t free)! But in western standards we got the biggest bang for the buck. In less than 8 weeks nearly all the Plan families were moved back into their new Nipa houses. I actually enjoyed my minor involvement with the enterprise, setting up assembly-line manufacturing of woven bamboo walls, splitting bamboo for flooring and collecting Nipa roofing. You really need to live in one of these for a while to appreciate it’s design. And they are environmentally favorable as a bonus.
One of the misconceptions of those from the Northern climes is the actual temperature differential one must deal with. Consider a house in northern Michigan for instance. It must be suitable for summer temperatures similar or greater than the Philippines, 90-100 F. It must also be suitable for winter temperatures well below zero, lets say -30F. That’s a differential of as much as 130 degrees F. It makes good sense to insulate them to the hilt for winter temperatures and use aircon to cool them in the summer.
On the other hand, temperature differentials in the Philippines are much lower. If you pick 72 as a comfort point for instance, it doesn’t often get lower in the Philippines (at sea level) nor does it exceed 100 very often. A differential of only 30 degrees. Unless you use aircon, use of insulation is nearly pointless. Add aircon and you only have to keep the interior up to 30F lower than the exterior.
Insulation doesn’t add or detract from heat or cold. It merely keeps the two separated! It takes much less insulation in the Philippines than a house in Northern Michigan would need to keep it at 72 F with an outside temperature of -30F!
So if you use aircon, use insulation sensibly! Unless you roof your house with Nipa, a well constructed steel roof will do well if ceilings are added and the attic space is well vented. Painting a steel roof can be done to taste without worry that a particular color will make the living space hotter or colder. We know that cement collects heat in the direct sun and releases it at night, so we shade the exterior wall to prevent the direct sun.
All modern house design is a compromise. You know it’s best not to lay a concrete slab near the house because it will increase the heat of the air above it, but we still like our drives into a garage or carport. We know that glass is a very poor heat barrier, yet we enjoy our large windows with a view. So we add thick curtains and pelmets. The compromises go on and on…
Hi Ronald,
Thank you for sharing your expertise, knowledge and experience on house construction in relation to handling the elements!
Peace
Jay
Traditional styled filipino homes are not efficient at all. Modern homes here in the Philippines would out perform a US designed modern home if it were constructed here. I think this article would bring a lot more value if it were between “Modern PH home designs vs Modern US home designs.
So modern homes in the US are still built out of wood and everything is insulted. Compare that to a modern filipino home the entire structure is built from concrete/cement/hollow blocks. Yes very expensive but #1 its going to outlive you #2 its going to be fully insulated without insulation as long as your roof is a concrete slab. If you have a metal roof then you’ll still need to insulate the roof.
What I’m getting at here is a modern filipino house is a lot more efficient than a modern US house is when built here in the Philippines. I’ve come to this conclusion based on my own experiences and me building my own house here in the Philippines. 100% concrete structure with roof deck (Concrete slab roof). The rest of the house is modern as well with bifolding doors which open up large portions of walls which allows the breeze from the ocean to enter at one end of the house and leave through the other side of the house. The house is built with large sliding windows and doors which can be opened up for even more ventilation on the 2nd floor.
If your going to build a house build it with a roof deck (yes enjoy your san mig lights on the roof) and bifolding doors for ventilation. The more walls you can replace with bi folds or large sliding glass doors and windows the better the breeze you are going to get. I have a 1.5hp split type inverter aircon which I run 24 hours a day, a freezer, refrigerator, and a desktop computer which also runs 24 hours a day. My bill is around 6,800php or $144 a month which is not bad. The same setup in an old cheaply built temporary house without the split type aircon but WITH an old window type aircon I was paying upwards of 10,000 pesos a month easily, mostly due to the ceiling at that place not being insulated and within 24 inches of the metal roof.
Hi Alexander,
Wow! What a great comment! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thoughts. I compared a US-style home to the only type of home I have any experience with which is my wife’s mom’s house in Bohol. I don’t know about modern Filipino homes although thanks for passing on the information on it. You are another guy who could probably write a better article on this topic. I say go for it! E-mail it into Bob Martin.
Peace
Jay
We’ve got relatives in bohol as well. Beautiful place indeed. I enjoyed your article and probably overdid my last comment as this is probably the largest project I’ve ever worked on before so the passion is fresh haha. But if ever constructing a house make it out of concrete. When you open everything up and have ventilation the inside is quite cool even during those hot days.
Take it easy Jay
Hi Alexander,
If I sounded sarcastic I did not mean to be . People can read or skim or skip a comment if it is long, but if the information is not there then they can’t get it. Just the same goes for the articles written here. If I write an article that is boring then probably the best thing to do to show that it is boring is not read or comments. This article writing is a volunteer gig. If I start thinking my articles are boring people and no one is commenting, I will quit submitting. Thanks for the compliment!
Peace
Jay
We were told that electric stoves use a lot of electricity. I mean A Lot. So we changed and use our gas stove. The electric bill went way down.
Wattage is heat. Ask any electrician.
Lets say in your air-conditioned room, you have a 100 watt TV running. Not only do you have to pay for the 100 watts of power, but you also have to pay to cool that 100 watts back down.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is in a perfect world. So with that in mind, for every 100 watts of heat you produce, it will take 100 watts of energy to cool it back down (in the perfect world, your world will vary).
The point is, you pretty much pay double for all your electrical devices in your air-conditioned home that you use.
Hi Rusty,
Thanks for commenting! I actually have an idea for an article about different cooking choice for Filipinos. I may write it eventually. My wife’s family cooks with wood. They have tried gas stoves, but mice eat the hose and they become dangerous.
Peace
Jay
Yea mice/rats are a huge problem here. But if you don’t mind spending $5 a month on rat poison you can enjoy the finer things in life like the tiny gas stoves they have here.
Hi Alexander,
I guess I am giving away my lack of Filipino experience in saying I have yet to see a rat in the Philippines. I have seen mice and I know people who have seen rats just not me. I am not doubting rats are plentiful just have not seen one.
Peace
Jay
Not to change the subject, but I have a story about rats. About 20 years ago I was staying in a boarding house in Cebu City for female collage students. It was the summer and the house was otherwise unoccupied except for the student I was sponsoring and her family. The building belonged to a friend. My quarters were on the ground floor adjacent to a dayroom. We cooked our meals and ate in the dayroom. One morning I happened to get up early and found that the table in the room must have had bits of food on it because there was a mass of blood and fur all over it. Rats had been fighting over the food I presumed.
My Filipino friends advised that if I left the rats alone, they would leave us alone. But I had reached my limit! I had to search, but found some rat poison. I prepared several little bowls of it and scattered them around the 1st floor.
The next morning all of the poison had been consumed! The same on day #2 and #3. On day #4 there was quite a bit of it left. All went well for a couple of days…then it began to smell! We moved a pile of wood in the yard and found a dozen bodies. The odor continued. A few days later we had a big rain, but the drains couldn’t handle it. We removed the drain covers in the street and found dozens of dozens of dead rats!
I learned my lesson. I now leave the rats alone and hope they continue to leave us alone!
I tell you a little trick on how to control the rat population. Simply let nature do it as she is the best at it. Philippines has many feral cats. Just keep those guys around and the rats will stay away.
When I first moved here to this apartment, I seen a few big rats in broad daylight. People moved in and the cats show up. I left some milk out back just to make friends with a cat. I have seen no more rodents of any kind.
I learned this from my brother who lived outside of town. Had cats living under his house in the crawl space. He got them out and blocked the holes and the mice moved in. He let the cats back in and no more mice. So it is kind of choose your poison.
Hi Gary,
I think I would rather have cats than rats. I am not sure on cats and mice. Mice are kind of cute, except for eating the hose to the gas stove. Thanks for the suggestion! Cats do control rodents and some people like them as pets.
Peace
Jay
Hi Ronald,
I will put you down as someone who has seen rats in the Philippines. I am not sure why I have not seen them near Mama’s House. Maybe rats are more of a urban problem. Mama’s House is semi-rural. Some people have cats. I think pigs would probably eat rats too. I have heard pigs eat anything. I have also heard some people eat rats. On time some neighbors in Bohol cooked some kind of highly seasoned meat. The men kept offering it to me, but I noticed they were not really eating it either just trying to get me to eat it. I declined. Was it rat? I don’t know. I thought it might be dog as well.
Peace
Jay
You can be pretty certain that rats are in the neighborhood just about anywhere you chose to live in the RP. Some folks try keeping cats and it may work for mice, but rats eat cats too! I live in the province not near any city. We have a few neighbors and we see rats every once in a while. Some of the neighbors keep cats, but they’ve never put much of a dent in the rat population. We just try to keep our yards clean and foods protected. They’ve never been a bother in the house. They are nocturnal, but I see them every once in a while crossing the National road.
http://www.kotaronishiki.com/
This is not my house but I live in exactly the same type of house, double walls and double roof for an ideal insulation.
Comfort all year around without A/C.
That looks cool but one thing that I don’t like is the possibility of getting mold and mildew in the rocks.
Having a layer of air is good insulation (double walls). The trick is to replace the air with cooler air as this design does. I live in a concrete cave and my idea was to get some bamboo and give it a little stain to keep the bugs from eating it. Attach it to the back part of my apartment where the sun shines. That way the sun would heat the bamboo and not the wall. I think the bamboo would dissipate the heat faster than it would transfer the heat to the cinder blocks. And if you do it right, I think it would look very good.
http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/PhilippinoBob/media/IMG_20160804_105938_zpslll1mopj.jpg.html
That’s exactly what I did.
See photo.
All side walls are covered with bamboo strips. The distance from the wall is only 2″ but it’s enough to keep the walls cool. You can also see that the windows are covered as well.
The double roof (not visible on the picture) is covered with corrugated sheets. That’s a real COOL ROOF and it can be any color you want.
Dat-b-it! I think PB and I live on the same planet.
I live in a brand new apartment. Already have a lot of cracks forming on the walls. I think it is primarily from the sun directly hitting the wall on the back of the apartment. Hot season, April and May, is a scorcher here. My electric bill goes up 2000 pesos those two months. My little AC struggles to cool my little room. I have a picture of what I did near the end of June.
http://s32.postimg.org/chia454dh/A1_WP_20160502_15_29_50_Pro.jpg
http://s32.postimg.org/jmsmdwuat/A2_WP_20160502_15_29_55_Pro.jpg
Asian Shade!
You can kind of get a bearing by the satellite dish in the second pic. I don’t know how much that will help my bill but I do know the concrete there is not so hot. The bamboo doesn’t block the air and that helps.
Hi Gary,
What you and PB are saying makes sense shading the walls should reduce the heating of the walls. Thanks for sharing the pictures and information. Good luck!
Peace
Jay
Hi PB,
Thanks for sharing! I had never guessed you were Japanese. I kind of saw you more as the concrete bunker type. Ready for the Big SHTF event.
Peace
Jay
No, I am not Japanese, the fellow who wrote the article is Japanese.
Hi PB,
OK, thanks for clearing that up! Looks like a nice house. Somehow I missed in your comment where you said the house was not literally yours. Guess missing things like that is a sign of something….unfortunately not inteligence.
Peace
Jay
http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/PhilippinoBob/media/IMG_0548.jpg.html?o=21
This is me. Green eyes, 6′-2″, 230 lbs.
Hi PB,
Thanks for sharing the photo. It kind of takes some of your mystery guy persona away, but it is good to see what you look like.
Peace
Jay
Depends on the house, right? Turning the A/C on and off is expensive. We have friends who A/C their whole house 24/7. They pay around 6,000 a month. $125 a month to live in comfort isn’t bad. $125 sounds better than 6,000.
Yes, people pay 1200 pesos. Sweat during the day and then turn the A/C on for awhile at night. But people get used to the heat. Sweating is good for one. Well, that is what they say.
Rusty
Anybody ever try one of those units that plugs into an outlet and it is supposed to save you money on electricity? Do they work? Does it save on the electric bill?
Those are capacitors. If the numbers are right they can probably save a little. Like I said I have a brother who is an electrician. He is very intelligent on this subject and he says in the long run they don’t work.
The capacitors need to be the correct size for every appliance that would use them or they cause some kind of problem which renders them useless. Most things that benefit already has the capacitor built in. Most fans I ever seen have them.
I see them advertized in many places. Not really expensive. One of these days I will grab one and try it when it is convenient.
Hi Rusty,
In a house like Mama’s House the air conditioner would not be need at night because of the ventilation. Paul Thompson says the way he has designed his home he does not need air conditioning 95% of the time during the day. That sounds incredible, but I think he is located in a place with elevation. I think they get more rain in Luzon as well to keep things cooler.
Peace
Jay
Jay,
Ouch. Mice eating the gas tubes would definitely be a bummer We don’t have the little critters. I guess I live a pampered life.
We do have ants. I’ve tried to put up signs so they’d head to Paul’s house but no luck. They hang around.
Hi Rusty,
The mice are interesting, because no one really seemed to care if they were in the house or not. One ran across the floor and the ladies kind of screamed. I volunteered to try and hunt the mouse down and kill it. My wife said I would just make the mouse mad. I guess she has little confidence in my ability as a mouse killer.
Do your ants eat wood? We had a wood framed bed at Mama’s which was fine until I cracked the wood. The bed was still usable, but very soon ants showed up and it was not long before they had destroyed the bed.
Peace
Jay
Jay,
LOL, a mad mouse. Ok.
So you didn’t pass Mickey Mouse killing 101 by Filipino/wife standards, aye. I guess it does take a lot of talent. I’ve also failed many a test. Seems Filipinos have more faith in fellow Filipinos, right? At least that’s been my experience. Still the wives are very faithful.
Our ants are well trained. They go where ever I tell them. Yeah right. I don’t know if they’d eat the bed. They are happy to cart away anything that is left out for half a second. Maybe even a bed.
Lol, mad
Hi Horace,
Mistreated minuscule mice may make malicious mischievous mayhem! Sorry my alliteration has been acting up. Seriously did you not learn anything from educational shows like “Tom & Jerry” and “Itchy & Scratchy”. Don’t tick off mice.
I think the ants at Mama’s House in Bohol are carpenter ants. There was a basketball hoop nailed to a tree. One of my brothers-in-law saw a few ants on the tree and said the tree would fall in a few days. I thought he was crazy, but it happened. Beware the ants!
My wife reminds me often that I am not a handy husband. It is very true that I am a Jack of few trades and inadequate in many many ways. Yet, somehow she still loves me! I am blessed!
Peace
Jay
Jay,
I guess people just adjust to their surroundings. By that I mean when it’s hot and humid I’m hot no matter what. When I lived in Vegas people would say at least it is dry heat. When it is 110 it’s hot. Dry or not it’s hot. Not fun. Especially that awful hair dryer wind.
Hi Horace,
I think 110 is going to feel pretty hot even if not humid. The hottest day I remember here in Raleigh was 105 degrees. I am not sure it gets that hot in the Philippines. Thanks for your comments!
Peace
Jay
Gary,
Thanks. Are the capisitors (spelling) the units that other electronic appliances don’t plug into. People just plug them into an outlet and the units reduce the electricity used?
The salesman will show lights that are very bright. Then when the unit is plugged in the brightness is reduced.
A friend bought 2 of them and he says his electric bill dropped by a couple thousand. If you want one just send me $19.99 (plus shipping and handling). There is a 2 for 1 sale for a limited time.
Actually it is supposed to work.
If the lights are reduced then that would indicate that you are actually using less electricity so that would save a bit of money.
The fact is there is a lot of math in this. There really is nothing that is standard. There is a lot on this subject on the internet. It takes a bit of reading and some understanding what you are reading. Resistive loads, inductive loads, KWh, power factor, and capacitance just to name a few.
Like I said earlier, you need the right capacitance for the loads you are using. I did a quick search and here is an article about using this device. It is a bit long but, at least, scroll down and read the conclusion. It hits on what I said and it does have a bit of a warning about wrong sized capacitors that could create some real problems with ringing voltages and mess with the harmonic frequencies.
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/the-real-truth-behind-household-power-savers
Hi Ronald,
Rats being nocturnal is probably a big factor in why I haven’t seen any in the Philippines. When I visit I am rarely out after sunsets and am usually asleep by 9 pm. I am a morning person by nature.
Peace
Jay
Gary,
Thanks. I read the article. It was very helpful.
Rusty
It seems the humidity in the Philippines is usually between 80 to 90% and the temperature is about the same. My sister, who lives in MI, said the humidity was around 12% and that was just horrible. I emailed her and said that is a Dream Humidity.
Rusty
Hi Rusty,
What your saying is my take at least for Bohol that the weather does not change much seasonally speaking. I have a friend whose wife as moved to Bohol, but he is still working here. He said in a few years he wants to retire and live 6 months in the Philippines and 6 months in the USA. He says that summer is too hot in the Philippines. I don’t argue with him, but don’t think he is right that there is any other season than summer. I know there is suppose to be a Wet Season and a Dry Season, but for Bohol I don’t think there really is. In Luzon there is, but Bohol and Mindanao seem to be too far South to be effected by the Monsoon..
Peace
Jay
Rusty, Jay,
Seasons in the Philippines aren’t like the seasons familiar to most Americans and even in the US, seasons aren’t the same between east and west coast.
The tropics of the Philippines is different still. Higher elevations tend to be cooler while climate doesn’t seem to be as affected by “windward” or “leeward” as it is in Hawaii for instance, where the trade winds are constant most of the time.
Regarding seasons and weather in the RP, there are three seasons:
Summer, March through to June. Day temperatures can be hot (average
temperature round 35C, rain is almost nonexistent.
Wet or Rainy Season, late July through to November. Expect plenty of rain
when a tropical storm or typhoon is in the vicinity. When there is no heavy
storm activity it generally only rains in the late afternoon. Climate is
occasionally humid (average temperature around 30C) but generally cooler and mild.
Winter, late November through to the end of February. Days are cool and dry
(average temperature around 28C). Rain is rare during this time of the year.
Hi Ronald,
Thanks for the explanation of the Filipino Seasons!
Peace
Jay
Ron,
I’ve put signs up in the yard for any rodent. They have arrows pointing towards Cebu and your house. I’ll even pay for their Ferry tickets. So if you see any you’ll know where they came from.
Rusty
Jay,
It seems to me January has about 3 weeks where the weather drops to parka time. The humidity is also really nice.
I think, during January, the temperature is around 70 degrees F. Yup, freezing right? Really the weather is ideal. Well, unless your used to Wyoming temperatures. The natives hate the 70 degree weather but we love it.
Rusty
Hi Rusty,
How long have you lived in Bohol? I wonder what causes it? I have not heard of this 3 week January cold snap. I have only been in Bohol in June and July. I do remember one evening after a day in July that was cloudy all day and comfortable the temperature dropped to perhaps the upper 60’s during the night and my Filipino family were all putting on sweaters.
Cool Season: December January February, low electric bill.
Hot Season: March April May, high electric bill.
The rest, June through November, is rainy season (typhoon season) and any day could be very hot or cool. Electric bill is average.
That is what I was taught before I came here and it is fairly accurate in the low lands. You can throw this out the window if you live in Baguio!
Hey Gary –
I’ve lived here in Laguna during every month of the year during the past 3 years and your comments track perfectly with my experience.
The last few days here we’ve had lots of rain and things have been what the locals call “cold” (77F or so). Its truly refreshing…I love it but my wife and stepdaughter are wrapping themselves up in blankets at night!
The two areas I lived in, is about the same. It does seem that during hot season Ormoc is a good bit warmer than Metro Manila. And during rainy season, Ormoc gets more rain in my experience. Since rainy season started, I believe it has rained more than it hasn’t. I know I have a job getting rid of the algae taking over the back area. I just need a good sunny day which I haven’t seen in a while.
It is pretty accurate. Can’t set the time with it but maybe your calender! 😉
Hi Gary and Steve,
Thanks for your comments and information!
Peace
Jay
Jay,
I’ve lived on the island of Bohol for 3 years. There really is a cool spell sometime in late December and the middle of January. It is really quite pleasant. The humidity also drops during that time.
Rusty
Hi Rusty/Horace,
Thanks for the information! I look forward to experiencing that short “Cool Season” someday.
I am a little slow on the uptake in that it took me awhile to pick up on Rusty = Horace. My wife has 4 brothers and 4 sisters and lots of other relatives. They all have 2 different names. The name they were born with and the one that everyone calls them. It is a real challenge for someone with as little memory as me.
Peace
Jay