Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

I often wonder why many do not fit Central Heating ?
Typical Spanish villa/house has an under-build (correct) so this makes for a very easy installation as you drill straight down to take the pipes into the under-build & run them all along the ceiling below.
Fuel can be either Gasoilo "B" (as we use) or Repsol Gas who will supply a storage tank, this will keep the ambient temp the same in all rooms & supply hot water as well, thus avoiding the room with the log burner being like an oven & the rest of the rooms freezing.
We use about 500 litres over the winter & a little more if we have Friends/family staying downstairs & the current price for "B" is about 68c per litre, gas is about 60c a litre.

Yes I know the other typical type are single story with thick walls, but still not impossible to do (IMO)

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

mumble grumble bag lady noises... then there are those of us living (yes by choice:blink:) in wonderful old molinos, cortijos, fincas, lagares etc., with no hope of an underbuild never mind drilling in the metre thick walls:eek: still there's always exercise:sneaky:

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

It can still be fitted with a litte thought & planning though ;)

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Ok you've got me interested. I'm acquainted with microbore pipe & know that we'd definitely want it inset in the walls to avoid looking like a submarine; we could consider LPG or woodburner with back boiler but have never heard of anyone around here even having, never mind supplying, either oil or ?:blink:coal.... only 4 rooms and a passageway in the entire house have perpendicular walls..... so exactly what is a little thought and planning relating to a big old house which is already reformed? nb if I sound grumpy it's nothing personal, it's just that we've thought about the possibilities so many times (virtually every day during the winter months!) I can only imagine how many noughts would be required to achieve a warm house - and now many 10s of weeks it might take!

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

For the past few years here in Spain we have been using convector heaters turned down to the lowest setting, and kept on 24hrs a day.
After about a week, the house feels quite warm. We found that using other types of heaters, and turning them off at night, the following day,
it takes a few hours to warm up again, thus,wasting electricity.

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

But you must have known all that before you bought the place. Colmenar is reasonable high, in Los Montes de Málaga IIRC, so no surprises that it can get cold!:confused:

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Most rural garages sell "B" as this is what tractors/JCBs use (red diesel)
You will of course need to house a boiler & deposito in the garage ? or simply build one (quite cheap, but about the only bit)
Look at where you would want the rads, then ask how can I get the pipe to them & not forgetting that you can run the pipe outside and pop it through the wall where needed (not the best option & would need to be heavily insulated with good kit)
Plastic pipe makes life a good deal easier of course, still all great on paper but can most justify the cost as I guess it would cost a good few grand to buy and install.

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Well we knew the weather could be cold - after all it had been -10 the year leading into when we bought. However I admit to not paying too much attention to questions about insulation, double glazing and the like so from that perspective I'll put my hands up. I don't think many people, though, from my experience, realise how ill-equipped so many Spanish properties - old or new - seem to be regarding low temperatures. It's not that the buyers don't expect the cold, it's maybe that they had unrealistic expectations of how the houses were built/reformed etc., or didn't ask all the right questions, or asked them but ignored the answers. Anyway the bottom line is I'm quite capable of putting on 2 layers, or 3, or more blankets, etc., and I am not complaining (nor surprised) about the temperatures in Colmenar & area. However with a child in the house & an OH whose house in the UK is centrally heated, carpeted, etc., it's not a crime to wonder what cost & disruption would be entailed if we bit the bullet & looked at 'proper' heating.

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Parafin smells and generates water vapour as it burns which can lead to condensation. You can get similar units fired by gas.

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

But how much water is generated by burning gas ? ;-)

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Yes, water is of course produced by burning paraffin or gas. Our gas heater doesn't produce appreciable condensation so I'm not too worried about that aspect. I don't know about paraffin......

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Isn't that that smelly stuff they used to burn in UK about 60 years ago?:) Paraffin, whatever next?:rofl:

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Even if you do have a decent heating system in Spain it is expensive to run. The heat does not stay in the house long and to keep a decent temperature the system needs to be constantly churning out a full blast. We do have double glazing too.

I am in the UK until Xmas and I am much warmer than I was last week in Spain although the weather was nice and it is rubbish here today.

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

I am presently in the UK too, but not through choice :wub:

When the sun goes down there is a larger drop in temperature in spain versus UK. I think it is this temperature change which makes it feel much colder than it really is:eek:

Re: Economical efficient electric room heating.... ??
 

Yes, you could be right:) When the sun sets behind the trees it's like opening the fridge door:rofl: