stevesainty

We have been browsing lots of property sites on the internet to give us a feel for the market. We have found lots of properties that we could afford when we are ready to buy in around 3 year's time if prices remain roughly the same.
However a lot of the properties do not have either ac and/or heating both of which I feel are essential at some point in the year in the type of properties we are considering.
My question is how much does it cost to install them. A handyman friend of mine who regularly visits Spain tells me a single ac unit would cost around £400 fitted.
As for heating it depends on what form we choose.
Hot ac
Slimline convector heaters
Slimline infra red heaters (the kind that can be disguised as pictures)
Portable LPG heaters
Wood burning stove
Apart from the installation costs there are the running costs to consider.

May I have your thoughts please?

bil

Like anything else, it all depends on what you get and what you want to do with it. Portable LPGs, not for me because they are bad for condensation. Woodburners are great if you are only wanting to heat a small area. If it's a big house, then you have the problem of moving heat around.

Electric heating is always going to be expensive, IMO. I haven't ever seen bills going down.

A/c well, the more expensive are cheaper to run, but will you amortise it? Ours was about 200 to buy, 200 to install.

I'd always start with passive means to keep the place cool, we have our flat roof painted white, and there's a sprinkler system up there.

Keep windows and doors closed in the day, windows open at night. tricks like that really help.

angiescarr

There are only 3 months of winter here, so the running costs are a little less important for heating, and not much more for cooling if you take a siesta and have a fan. Just a thought. I was sure I was going to need aircon. I bought a mobile unit but only used it for one day last year. But then it doesn't usually go above 37 here.

anonimouse

I have two air con units, a cheap one €400 ish and an expensive one about €800 ish, Not much difference in them, unless one is cheaper to run but That I can't tell.

Any form of heating will cost you, my wood burner heats most of the house it's that hot, but wood isn't so cheap either. I love the air con as it does three things, Heats cools and Humidifies, it's not the best heater but it does take the edge off, it's best job is cooling, in July and August I wouldn't be able to sleep without it.

Them slim line heaters sound ok but you must have a socket for them and your electric supply must be adequate to run them.

megmet

That is an important thing to remember here, especially if you move inland as the power supply is not like you are used to in the UK.
If you were to be running electric heaters plus an oven and were to plug in the kettle, the chances are you would trip the power switch.

We also have two air-con units, we seldom use them for heating, when they are used it's mostly for cooling in July and August and only for a short while in the afternoon.
We tried using gas heaters in our first winter, but like Bill said they produce too much condensation. We now have a wood burner which because our house is on one level by leaving all the interior doors open the fire heats the whole house.

The first year is a learning curve for us all, but you soon work out for yourself the best ways of keeping either warm or cool, and for either the shower can be your friend.

bil

Bear in mind that if you want to move heat around, that means air or water needs to be moved round. That would mean retrofitting a system which can be very costly.

Lynn R

I use a gas heater in my old town house and it doesn't cause any condensation problems - but the layout of the house is quite open, no door between the sitting room and the kitchen/diner, and the staircase goes up from the sitting room, which may be less likely to cause condensation than using one in a room with the door closed. This winter we have used 6 gas bottles and are unlikely to use any more until next year now unless the weather takes a turn very much for the worse - did not need to put the heater on until 10pm last night. The gas bottles now cost 13.20€, so it's an economical method of heating.

With regard to woodburners, I have a friend nearby who has a very big town house (5 ensuite bedrooms, huge sitting room and large kitchen/diner). She has the biggest inset woodburner I have ever seen (no idea how much it costs her in wood over the course of a winter!) and the flue, which looks to be at least 12 inches in diameter) goes up the side of their open staircase right through the house and out to the roof terrace. It is so warm in her house that I have to take my cardigan off as soon as I go in, and warm right through as well.

I don't have aircon in my house and in 4 years have never needed it - in fact last summer there were only about half a dozen nights when I had to put a fan on in the bedroom either. I agree with Bil's point about keeping windows closed and blinds down in the daytime in summer, and opening them as soon as the sun has gone down. The opposite applies in winter when the temperature outside is often warmer than inside! Our roof terrace is well insulated, we have windows on all sides of the house as it isn't attached, and it's in an elevated position so we get good cross currents of air.

I have some supplementary electric heaters for the upstairs (a heat/light fitting for the upstairs bathroom, or oil filled radiators/fan heaters for the bedrooms).

angiescarr

Agreed.
We chose to put the underfloor heating pipes in at build stage, even though we can't afford the accumulator tank, Solar panels or proper woodburner with backboiler yet. Didn't cost a lot because it's not the most expensive part anyway, and because of of a generous friend. But the screeding work was backbreaking! Now though, at any time in the future we can connect to either or both of the above heat sources, and/or to electric or even air source.
No retro fitting problems for us...ever. But if and when we'll be able to afford the rest is anybody's guess!

bil

Now that IS sensible.

Fred James

We did much the same when we built our house. I had not even considered UF heating but the builder quoted only €2200 for 150m2 of electric UF heating in 10 separate zones, each with thermostats. It was probably worth that for all the floor insulation!

That was a stunning good deal and it works really well apart from the huge cost if you run it all the time.

For selective heating in conjunction with other heating such as a wood-burner and A/C heating it works well and doesn't cost too much, especially on an off peak tariff which we can use up to 12 noon.

stevesainty

Is the Spanish equivalent of planning permission required for completely new ac units installation?

snikpoh

In theory - YES

In practice - NO