Best heating type?

Hi depends on what you buy and where, personally I can't stand the cold so we have a log burner and also have central heating if its not too cold you can just flick heating on when it gets a bit nippy we have the log burner on in an evening and let it burn out overnight then just flick heating on as and when needed or if really cold on a constant temperature.

I am sure you will find the best option that suits you.

Much will depend on the villa itself and how much insulation is in the walls and roof because it does get cold here and today was the first time I didn´t sit on my outside terrace at 7.30 am and I will start closing windows a bit at night from now on unless it warms up again. We have just installed central heating with a combi boiler run on bottled gas as no mains gas where we are and we have chosen to run it off a bank of 10 small bottles. If it becomes cheaper in future to get a larger gas container, we have that option. My personal preference will always be a full central heating system to keep the whole house warm, not just pockets, and we have large heated towel rails for the bathrooms as freezing cold, fully tiled bathrooms are a misery.
We also have an old wood burner which is now looking for a new home because I never liked my parents old Parkray when I was a child because of the dust and work it created and many will disagree, but I don´t see much difference, you still have to get rid of the ash, clear up the mess and store the fuel somewhere dry whereas I can control individual radiators, set timers and over-ride them when necessary. One thing to note though is that unless you are prepared to have floors dug up for the pipework, everything would have to be surface mounted.

All the best for your new venture.

It´s difficult, but you will absolutely need heating as most properties are built to keep the sun out, not to keep heat in

What you may also like to consider is buying the extremely efficient thermostatic and timed Norwegian electric heaters. They aren’t the same as the old oil filled panel rads and are easy to fit, all you need is an electric socket. They are not expensive to run. 

We have hydronic underfloor heating, downstairs, but we put the heater in the bedroom as it’s freezing up there and it has solved the problem.

Sorry, no longer have the web link, but I think the firm is based in Moraira, if you do a search you should find them.

Try the Blyss glass panel heaters on Screwfix.eu, free delivery over 70eu, all electric heaters have similar efficiency as they have no flue loss www.screwfix.eu/white-glass-panel-heater-2000w.html

The most efficient form of heating is to use your air-conditioning in heat mode, for every Kw if energy put in you get 3Kw in return as heat is recovered from the outside air. 

Hi Ray

Just out of interest. How long do you have your radiators on and how long do the five bottles last.

That seems to me to be terrifically expensive compared to the cost of running our hydronic underfloor heating powered by an external heat exchanger. Our house is completely electric, heating, cooking, hot water also run by separate outside heat pump, avaialable 24/7. Last year when running heating bill for everything, bearing in mind don’t buy gas, was around 130 eu for a month; large open plan two storey 2 x bed house, 2 x bathrooms, huge kitchen and large sitting room. Just perhaps makes me glad I don’t have to bother with gas!!! And proves heat exchangers efficient!!

A split air-conditioning unit is a heat exchanger and therefore efficient. 

Hi

Thanks for that helpful post. We are thinking about a combi-boiler system as well. Out of interest, roughly what did your installation cost ?

I now every job would be different, but it would give me an idea.

Thanks, 

Kelvin