Photo/Illutration Pedestrians hold parasols to stay cool in a shopping area of Tokyo’s Sugamo district on June 24. (Ryo Oyama)

To blast the AC, or not blast the AC. That question has sparked many a household war over comfort versus frugality.

Panasonic Corp.'s survey has official numbers. In the blissfully cooler days of early May, 555 men and women, ages 20 to 69, were asked if they plan to use air conditioning this summer. 

More than 40 percent said they “want to hold off,” likely due to a desire to save money.

Elderly respondents tended to be more reluctant.

In the survey, 27 percent said they “want to work proactively to save electricity,” while 50 percent said they want to be "somewhat” proactive. 

Regarding the use of AC, 10 percent said they “would rather tolerate the heat and avoid using AC,” and 33 percent responded they will sometimes turn it on.

The company concluded that the survey revealed “the high awareness of energy conservation and willingness to hold off on using AC.”

In a 2021 Panasonic survey about AC usage in the event of early heatstroke symptoms, 26 to 30.8 percent of participants ages 20 to 49 said they refrained. Comparatively, 41.4 percent of participants 60 or older switched it off. 

According to 2022 data from the Tokyo metropolitan medical examiner’s office, at least 60 percent of the 232 people who died of heatstroke indoors across the 23 wards did have air conditioners, but they weren't being used.

Nationwide, 91,467 people were taken to the emergency room for suspected heatstroke between May and September of last year, as logged by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

That marked the second highest number of visits since the survey began in 2008.

Those 65 and over accounted for more than half, with 50,173, or 54.9 percent.

The most common place where they became ill was inside a residence, as 36,541, or 39.9 percent did.

Yasufumi Miyake, head of Teikyo University Hospital’s advanced emergency medical center, said, “The older they get, the more likely they are to suffer heatstroke.”

The elderly have a lower basal metabolism, become “cold sensitive,” and their ability to sense heat declines. Additionally, they lose water due to decreased muscle mass and other factors, making it easier for their body temperature to rise, he said.

The central government ended subsidies for electricity and gas bills after May's payment.

However, it recently said it will resume subsidies for a period of three months, starting in August, as an emergency measure for surviving the extreme heat.

A representative of Panasonic said there are two key points to preventing heatstroke and saving electricity at the same time.

The first is the direction of airflow. Cold air tends to accumulate at ground level, so if an AC’s wind direction is upward, its cooling efficiency will increase and cold air will not directly hit users.

Additionally, if a fan is brought out, the cold air will dissipate, leading to the same result.

The other factor is air volume. It is better to set an air conditioner to "automatic" to save money, versus "low" or "light."

It takes longer to cool a room with lower air volume, therefore taking more power. When a room is hot, increasing the air volume before lowering the temperature setting will save electricity, according to the representative. 

(This article was written by Ryo Oyama and Hiroshi Nakano.)

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