Economic Heating in Spain?
 

Hello everybody,

We have bought a house in Spain, it doesn't have central heating as there is no gas supply in the street. I am wondering now what could be used as alternative.

Does anybody here have suggestions? I have been looking into infrared heating, I know there are suppliers in Spain. Worten has thermal heaters, but I can't find any information about running costs?

Whenn we lived in Portugal years ago we used calor gas heaters, but as I remember they were not the most efficient solution.

I would be very grateful for suggestions!

:confused:

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

The cheapest form of electrical heating is an Aircon unit. It is far more efficient than any other electrical option.

It can cost between half and a third of the equivalent cost of any other electrical unit.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

You could use bottled gas. We prefer a combination of heating sources.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

If you have bought a house in Spain then I would think your first course of action for heating efficiency will be to install some wall and roof insulation.

Concentrate on preventing the heat from escaping before planning on pumping more heat into a room.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

We used the stand alone bottle gas heaters in our first house, they were quick to respond and the room heated pretty quickly. BUT, Spanish homes are very poorly insulated, so any heat will soon disappear once it is turned off. We also used the aircon as you could set the temp you wanted.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

How would you recommend doing that?

Our properties are built using the "bricks with holes" and no cavity. The roof is concrete with "valencian arches".

For the roof, I know we could pull all the tiles off, spray foam it and then replace the tiles but that's quite an expense.

The real issue are walls in Spain.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

There are lots of systems available in UK for insulating the old non-cavity solid walls of Victorian houses either internally or externally. I would think one of the external systems would be ideal for Spain since it would help to keep out the heat in summer better.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

:goodpost:

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

Infrared is a great alternative(depending on brand), but only makes sense when the house is well insulated. There are two good suppliers from Austria and Germany that we have in our bathroom and guestroom. Otherwise I can recommend what Fred James said: We use Aircon units (Heatpump) as main heating and running costs are a minimum. It also depends what type of property you have (bungalow etc.). A decent wood burner (Kaminofen) can heat your whole house. What you can do is redistribute the heat through the house if the wood burner is big enough.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

You could do external wall insulation, but that's not cheap either.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

It is a terraced house, plus sun roof on top. I think I will stay in it one winter and decide about insulation next year!

Thanks:thumbup:

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

Wine´s cheap. Drink plenty! You won´t feel the cold :drinkingwine:

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

:drinkingwine:Decent wine is not so cheap :unsure:

Marques de Caceras Crianza is one of my favourites :drinkingpals: > Marqués de Cáceres -

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

A good electric blanket and thick thermal lined curtains to cover windows and doors, and anywhere such as staircases to prevent the heat rising and escaping into the abyss...works wonders, Oh and open oven door after cooking.

Re: Economic Heating in Spain?
 

[QUOTE=casa del sol;11434879]A good electric blanket and thick thermal lined curtains to cover windows and doors, and anywhere such as staircases to prevent the heat rising and escaping into the abyss...works wonders, Oh and open oven door after cooking.[/QUO

Thermal lined curtains are a winner both summer and winter:thumbsup:
We had no idea that Spain could be so hot and yet so cold. Good curtains make life a pleasure.