Layla_38

Hello everyone,

I'm new here I’m considering moving to Portugal but what I have read about the winter and the lack of heating is making me hesitate, and I am looking for advice from seasoned vets like yourselves who have already had this experience.

I would be renting a flat and working from home, so I will be in the place more often than not. So staying warm and being comfortable are of utmost importance. I have a very strong anxiety about being cold because I am anemic and the thought of not having central heat plus the possibility of dampness/mold in is worrying me. My worst nightmare would be to be stuck in a cold, damp place and have to sleep in a damp bed (I've done before and gotten really ill).

The areas I am considering are:
Leiria (the city itself)
Caldas da Rainha
Loule
Evora

What are my options for heating up an apartment? I've come up with these solutions, but I don't know if they will be enough:
-Space heaters (only works for a space, and not sure if they will work well enough)
-Get an apartment with the dual ac/heating unit - but I know (from experience) they don't work that well unless you are in a small space
-I can get an apartment that faces the sun, but that’s only good for the daytime.

I’ve also read about the high cost of electricity there and since I will be working from home, I can imagine I will most likely be running a space heater (or two) in my work space all day. Can you give me a rough estimate of how much extra cost per month that would be?

What are some tips on how you stay warm? How bad is the winter, really? It’s hard to tell if my mind is over exaggerating things but I’ve slept in places without heat – Balkans in the dead of December for instance – and it’s not something I want to do as a part of my long-term life.

Since I've heard the winters are windy and rainy, (I know it varies depending on the area) I'm also curious if the rain a constant for 1-2 months, or are there breaks of sunshine? I suffer from Season Affective Disorder and worry that depression might kick in if I have to deal with weeks of straight rain.

I know this post has been long-winded and I have many questions but I truly do appreciate any insight on this subject that will help me make my decision on whether to move or not to Portugal.

Thank you so much!
Layla

EMR

The further south the better.
The newer the property the better..

Moses2013

Not really true with new properties and some newer properties can even be worse. At the end of the day winter is winter and even if one place is a bit sunnier than another, it still gets dark around 5pm in December, so I would be more focused on the overall offering.@OP If you look at it this way, a place like Caldas da Rainha would see just as many, or even more wet days than London during winter but would be sunnier. Then Evora is a bit further inland, so would you rather be on the coast? A place like Loulé is further South, but even then it's wet during winter. All those stats go out the window if you are on the wrong side of the mountain, have the wrong property, get hit by direct wind from the Atlantic and are just generally unhappy because you have nothing to do. Also depends what you are used to and someone coming from Dubai will feel that 5 days of rain a month is constant rain and then they feel cold when it hits 20c.

mfesharne

If you're going to be renting then the easy way is to rent a place with good insulation & heating no matter what area you decide on

qianh

Ingles

And a "woolly hat"
Not kidding ,if your head is warm it really help's.

Layla_38

Thank you all for your input. My top two places on that list of where I was considering moving to were Leiria and Caldas. (Central Portugal) Am I right in expecting the dampness in an apartment? It's also my understanding that apartments with good insulation are the exception rather than the norm, is that true? I'm wondering how difficult it would be to find one.

I am from the northeastern US, so I know all about cold and snowy winters, but like I said we have heat (thank goodness!) lol. Last month it rained here every day for 2 weeks straight and I found myself getting depressed without any sun, so that's also a concerns me - being stuck inside, working in a cold place for a few months a year. How long does winter normally last there?

I mean, if it were that horrible, none of you would continue to live there, am I right? lol

I'm just trying to work out if it would/would not be an ideal situation for me.

Thanks again!

wellinever

hi
my advice is as follows:
Rent the newest flat you can find. Very little insulation, if any in pre 2000 properties. New ones covered by better legislation.
Inside flat should be better than an outside one (although poss. noisier)
Visit the chosen flat a few times at different days and times, noise can be a big problem in flats (unless you like canaries chirping all day and dogs barking)
AC is pretty good and very efficient form for heating, but can be expensive.
DO not buy oil filled radiators, instead convector heaters (2kw max) are cheap to buy, easily movable from room to room, and quick to warm a space. (lets face it you dont need all rooms to be heated all of the time) .
South facing will of course give benefit during day and anyway much nicer for light and terrace rather than shaded dingy one. But no help at night.
The mid north of Portugal is wetter and cooler than the Algarve. but winter is winter.

You thought about the Canary Islands?? Much warmer esp at night than Portugal

riv

Judging by how anxious you seem to be about this the first q. that springs to my mind is WHY do you want to live in Portugal anyway, given that it is not a year round sunny location yet such places do exist ( Caribbean / Florida / Cabo Verde and so on ) ?

You have to balance the negative ( yes , Portugal has a winter and lots of homes really feel cold during it ) with whatever else about Portugal you find positive.

Budget determines a lot. If money is no object then you can rent somewhere with efficient electric heating and also a good logburner.

What work will you be doing at home by the way ? Could it be done at a desk in a public library just as well as at home ? If so, then inspect carefully the Libraries in your possible destinations : these could be your salvation : as well as taking care of day time heating costs, you will have to at least say Bom Dia to the staff and others which may help stave off depression ! They will also have notices up advertising concerts / talks and so on. A good selection of newspapers and magazines to read also. And they should be QUIET places ( if you are unlucky with your rental you may be plagued by barking dogs yapping in the street / cocks crowing all the livelong day / traffic noise .)

I have had occasion to visit three libraries now : Olhão, Tavira and Vila Real de Sto António. I was impressed by all of them. So you really do need to check this resource out in your various possible locations.

Returning to the heat issue : I feel that NOTHING will solve your anxiety about your home 'feeling' cold and depressing OTHER than a logburning stove. You definitely need to rent somewhere which has one, plus, of course, a place for storing the logs. It's not just the actual heat they provide, it's the atmosphere. Make sure you bring a decent carbon monoxide detector though and follow its instructions. And check before signing when the chimney was last swept.

GeniB

There is no way around your health problem other than to rent a very modern property with good insulation and central heating. It really doesn't matter where in Portugal you live, winter is winter. Damp is prevalent. Our villa was built by an English man with English ideas about damp course's and under floor heating etc. We put in a huge log burning stove and put in new ( read expensive ) German french doors throughout ( 8 in total) All floors in Portugal are ( usually) tiled which makes it feel cold in winter. YET we still have days where the wind blows from a certain quarter and we feel the cold and damp of living by the ocean. It's a fact of life here. Maybe you can arrange your holidays for a couple fo weeks in the winter instead of the summer! Fiddling around with space heaters, relying just on a log burner isn't enough believe me. We rented a villa with only that source of heating through one winter. We got mould on the spare clothes hanging in the wardrobes, and damp in every room.Its not worth risking your health