Not sure what you're meaning re the new fire prevention rules EMR?

There are now very strict rules regarding trees being too close to homes , roads etc following major fires and fatalities..
Thousands of trees are being cut down.

We have had a few days this winter where the humidity has been 98-100% a pea soup fog or mist just like “Liverpool Bay” so be warned that is not unusual up 7km from the coast.

We paid €196 for 2tonne this winter of excellent logs but the late bad spell in March has caused us to buy extra as required costing another €50 for just 5 weeks worth in bootfull loads however we have a closed inset fire which we run 24/7 over the winter to air and warm the house.

In my experience over the last 15 years, the Algarve coastal plain gets an average of 5 hours sunshine per day in the winter months as the guide book says. Some days are cloudy and showery but then some days you get 10-11 hours of sunshine. Overall, the daytime maximum temperature is usually a good deal higher than in the UK and I have never registered a minimum temperature less than 3 degrees Celsius where we live South of Moncarapacho.

Yes but! A clear sky at 3* after sitting out on the south terrace at 24* for lunch and having to move into the shade to avoid sun burn feels sooo cold but then it is a 27* difference a bit like the Sahara.

You get used to it. Never skimp on heating is my moto now that I am retired.

After 10yrs us too!

Ok, here's my take on It for what its worth.

We came out to Lagos to a winter rental in Nov 2016 thru to end of May 2017. We we were in a ground floor apartment with apartments above us and either side. Garaging beneath. No heating or aircon but wood burner in the sitting/dinning room. We used the woodburner maybe 12 times but then we are happy with 19 degrees. No mould whilst we were there.

Next rental was a top floor penthouse exposed on three sides and the roof. Front line to the sea. Huge roof terrace but exposed on east, South and west sides. We moved into it in september 2017 and left in december 2017 to move in a house we purchased. We found it cold from end October until we left. I had an electric blanket on the bed and would race from the sitting room, where the reverse cycle aircon was pumping out heat, to the bedroom every night.The roof terrace was untenable most of the time when the north wind blew.

Moving on to our latest property. We bought a 3 story mid townnhouse front line to the sea. The house sits on a north/south axis. The sitting room and our bedroom are south facing. The kitchen and other bedrooms north facing. The kitchen is cool and i have occasionally (3) put the reverse aircon on. But mostly i just put a thick woolly on. The sitting room gets the sun during the day which helps warm it up for the evening and on cool nights we out the shutters down. If the thermometer drops below 19 we fire up the woodburner. We last used the woodburner 3 weeks ago. We bought 100kg wood which was delivered and stacked for €75. We have used 80% of it. I think we benefit from have houses on either side and the living areas are on the first floor with rooms below and above. No mould before we moved in, and we have an internal shower room with no window, and no mould now. If the sun is out and there is no south in the wind then we sit out on the terraces (south facing) even if the air temp is only 15 degrees. We have no need for central heating but we may need the aircon in summer -we shall see. Although our plan is to cruise the European inland waterways during the hot summer months. Partly to avoid the high temperatures here but also the crazy busy summer tourist season.

😀👌👍

This winter was cold and wet, locals tell us. This was our first winter in our townhouse in Portimao. The house is attached at both sides and is facing south. We hardly used the heating in the living room. Only during the evenings we heat about 2 hours.

Because the house is facing south we open all the sliding doors a couple of hours a day. Our heating costs for the last 7 weeks were about 40 EUR. That is nothing!

We have experienced 14 winters here near Moncarapacho / Olhão and they range from dry to wet, cold to reasonably warm. One thing is for certain, winters are better than we experienced in the south of England. They are not grey and miserable, and generally the daytime temperature is a lot higher in the Algarve, sometimes by as much as 10 degrees Celsius because of the amount of sunshine we see on average. If it gets cold in the house, we put the heating on; we didn't save and invest for our retirement to then scrimp on the electricity. We're not going back to the UK in the near future; we love it here.

I agree what ever the temp, however many rainy days, the Algarve days are longer, sunnier and the light so much better than we experience during a grey ,cold, soggy UK winter.

Are some houses in the Algarve not sufficiently insulated or have adequate type of heating because of economising due to the short winter?

Would houses further north in Portugal have better insulation and gas central heating?

Houses in Portugal don't seem to be insulated but new houses now have to be insulated when built.
When I moved into my house I started in the kitchen stripping out down to the bare brick and starting again. I first put 35mm thick battens on the walls and then insulated plasterboard. By having an air gap I was able to run all the Electrics up from behind the plasterboard.

Now as I move through the house I do the same in each room, batten and then plasterboard. By having an air gap it make installing the electrics easier for me this was the answer to constantly cold walls in the first winter.

Peter