Heating the home

Cheryl wrote on Fri Jun 10, 2022 4:22pm:

Spanish houses are notoriously hard to heat due to single skin construction, little or no insulation and poorly performing windows. If the sun is shining it will often be warmer outside than in and every winter there are numerous posts asking how on earth people keep warm without spending a fortu...

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...ne.
If you have air conditioning then it is usually cheaper to run them on heating than cooling but is still going to up your electric bills but could be worthwhile in areas of the house which are furthest from the fire. New style storage heaters are simple to install and will take advantage of cheaper overnight rates if you have that tariff. For a quick burst of heat then portable bottled gas heaters can help but do produce a lot of moisture so need to be used only in well ventilated areas. You will definitely want to sort out some kind of heating for your bathroom/s because unless they lead off the lounge they will not get much heat from the fire.
Temperature charts are misleading, it will feel much colder without your cavity walls, lofts stuffed with insulation, great windows, carpets and central heating.

You are wise to start thinking about this well in advance but I would stock up on warm slippers, socks and lots and lots of layers. Those images of heat loss in houses would all be bright red for most Spanish houses, just look at the EPC rating.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pellet+burner+installations+costa+blanca+south&rlz=1C1CHBF_enES811ES811&oq=pellet+burner+installations+costa+blanca+south&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l3j33i22i29i30.10619j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Hopefully someone with experience of wood or pellet burners in larger properties will give some helpful information with recommendations.

Stephanie86 wrote on Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:28pm:

We don’t have a huge property but downstairs is completely open plan and we are miles out in the campo, so suffer badly with winter cold.

We replaced the existing log burner which was sited in the wrong place, all the heat went straight up the stairs!, with a more modern efficient version sited more appropriately. We admit it was very efficient, German brand, but after three years of it had had enough. It is not my idea of fun to s...

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...tack 6 mt of logs dumped on the drive and attempt to keep them dry as well. No matter how efficient the stove, it still at times can emit smoke if the door has to be opened to refuel, we had to have the sitting room repainted. Then one has to clean the ashes daily, etc etc. Plus faffing about getting the damn thing to catch and burn!

So we gritted our teeth and replaced the new log burner with a pellet burner. Although it does not seem to emit quite as much heat as the log burner (this is because the iron carcass does not retain the heat in the same fashion) it works immediately at the press of a button and warms the area nicely. Doesn’t need daily cleaning and no smoke problems.

Yes it was more expensive and we did not buy a cheap model, but it runs silently and is very economical in pellet use, friends with other brands have commented on its apparent efficiency and lack of noise from augers etc. We think it does cost more in pellets than the logs cost, especially if very cold, but it’s not a huge amount, sorry we can’t be more accurate, I don’t do spreadsheets for this kind of thing!

You do have to ensure that the heat ratings are appropriate for your size of property.

Hope this helps, any more queries just ask.

Cheryl wrote on Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:59pm:

Hello Stephanie, can I ask if this is the only form of heating you have, as in does it reach all rooms upstairs and down?

Stephanie86 wrote on Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:28pm:

We don’t have a huge property but downstairs is completely open plan and we are miles out in the campo, so suffer badly with winter cold.

We replaced the existing log burner which was sited in the wrong place, all the heat went straight up the stairs!, with a more modern efficient version sited more appropriately. We admit it was very efficient, German brand, but after three years of it had had enough. It is not my idea of fun to s...

Read more...

...tack 6 mt of logs dumped on the drive and attempt to keep them dry as well. No matter how efficient the stove, it still at times can emit smoke if the door has to be opened to refuel, we had to have the sitting room repainted. Then one has to clean the ashes daily, etc etc. Plus faffing about getting the damn thing to catch and burn!

So we gritted our teeth and replaced the new log burner with a pellet burner. Although it does not seem to emit quite as much heat as the log burner (this is because the iron carcass does not retain the heat in the same fashion) it works immediately at the press of a button and warms the area nicely. Doesn’t need daily cleaning and no smoke problems.

Yes it was more expensive and we did not buy a cheap model, but it runs silently and is very economical in pellet use, friends with other brands have commented on its apparent efficiency and lack of noise from augers etc. We think it does cost more in pellets than the logs cost, especially if very cold, but it’s not a huge amount, sorry we can’t be more accurate, I don’t do spreadsheets for this kind of thing!

You do have to ensure that the heat ratings are appropriate for your size of property.

Hope this helps, any more queries just ask.

Kimmy11 wrote on Sat Jun 11, 2022 2:03pm:

Hi Shamil65,

We removed our chimney a couple of years ago - I think you'll find that the rounded chimney breast is just cosmetic, concealing a steel chimney pipe.  My husband removed ours, including the stone side cupboards, hearth and mantle in a couple of days, but we were surprised to find that the ch...

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...imney pipe did not go straight up, it went off at an angle, so he ended up cutting it out and sealing it off at chimney level.  An issue I see with yours is that the coving is shaped around the chimney breast, so that could look odd if you remove the chimney - unless it's on an internal wall, in which case, the pipe for a pellet or log burner would probably route the same way, rather than to an outside wall.  On a positive note, the flooring should have been laid before the chimney breast was installed, so it should be intact.

Whether you install a pellet burner or log burner, you're going to need somewhere to store a supply of pellets or logs.  We had an inset gas fire, but replaced it with a stand alone pellet burner, which is much more efficient and is cleaner than a log burner.  If you decide to keep the chimney breast, you can buy inset pellet burners and, depending on where the chimney routes through your upper floor, you may get the benefit of some radiant heat upstairs.

In the rest of the house we have storage heaters, which charge overnight on the cheap rate electricity, and also aircon inverters, which are useful for either cooling or heating during the season changes, when the weather is less predictable.

I'd recommend looking at all the options and deciding what's best for your circumstances.

We bought our pellet burner from La Marina, they also supply and fit log burners:

https://budgetburners.com/

These are the storage heaters we have:

https://www.elnur-global.com/electric-storage-heaters/

Kind regards,

Kim