Unsure about moving - Page 2

I would just add that my late husband and I rented a small house on the coast in Almeria for 3 months, January, February and March, before we even put our UK home up for sale.   This was to find out if we liked living what had been his dream for a long time.   Coming for 3 months does take you out of the normal 'holiday mode' that just 2 weeks has.   It taught us that we didn't actually want to live on the coast - the noise and traffic levels between the beginning of January and the end of March were incredible, so it made us realise how bad it could be in the summer months.   We actually bought about 20 minutes inland from Torrevieja in Alicante Province.   This gave us the best of everything, inland prices are usually a little less than those on the actual coast, near enough to the actual coast for convenience but far enough away to not be inundated with tourists and also we were in the middle of lots and lots of orange, lemon and pomegranite orchards, as well as fields of vegetables.

At the moment, staying in the UK/making the UK your only choice is the risky option. Just my 2 cents.

Houses here are, typically, not well insulated, and they are built to keep heat out. So while it is generally warm outside in the winter  sunshine, I agree that it can be cold inside. But nowhere near as cold as in the UK.

This is our second winter in Spain, and we rely on a log burner. It keeps the sitting room toasty, but it only keeps the chill off the rest of the house. In addition, the log burner creates dust. 

Some of our friends get by using their air conditioners, but we aim to install central heating before next winter. We live in an area without mains gas, but there are various propane options enabling combi-boilers/radiators as used in the UK, or oil combi-boilers.

We have several friends with such setups. One couple pay less than 400 Euros for a year's heat/hot water for their 3 bedroom detached house, using oil. Another paid 400 Euros for the period Oct-Jan, using propane in 35 kg containers. 

If you buy a house without central heating, you might want to budget for installation of heating.

Hi again

I have oil central heating and we use 50lts a week on heating and hot water for 2 people. In winter heating on 5/6 hours a day at 78 cents a litre. €27.30 a week. So €109.20 a month to run 6 radiators. We could do with it on when really cold for longer but it's on timed and we try and keep it to 5 hours. 

In summer I've not really looked at how much oil we use as it doesn't add up to that much. So hope this gives you some idea.

Regards

The cheapest way to heat your home is with modern reversible air conditioning as you get more energy out in the form of heat than you put in electricity.

My husband and I live in Northern Ireland and most winters it is wet,cold and dismal. Although we have our heating on a timer,I am forever over riding it to keep the heating on. I have no idea how much it costs for oil but assume it is a fair amount. We started to come over to Torrevieja for longer periods to escape the cold of home.  Over the years,we have encountered different winters here. One year,it was sunny but dreadfully windy. Another year,we had quite a bit of rain and on most other years,we had wall to wall sunshine through the day. Once the sun goes down, there is no blanket of cloud to prevent the gold go ing through so the temperature can drop quite suddenly. We now dress like the Spanish! We have jackets, scarves,gloves and hats and would wear these items went going out for our evening walk. 

When buying or renting a property, look for one that doesn't have the stairs coming into the living room. Try to find a place where you can shut the door and warm the room. The aircon heating is a miracle and I am told,the cheapest form of heating available. You could buy a large oil heater to back up the heat if your room is bigger and harder to heat. I switch the electric blanket on and turn the bedroom aircon on before going to bed....the room is as warm as a toastie.  A wall heater in the bathroom soon heats it up and I turn it on in the morning and at nighttime when using it.  I realise that it looks like I am using a lot of electricity but compared with heating our house at home, it is a great deal less ( I think)  it is clear that I don't do the finances in our home but it is bound to be a lot cheaper as the house here is a lot smaller to begin with.

Eating out is very inexpensive here too. We go for a walk before lunch and often stop for a cafe con le he and toastada with tomato...yummy and costs around €4 for both of us. Menu del dia seem to be great value....3 course lunch for around €10   We prefer to eat out in the evenings. You can still get a wonderful 3 course set meal at a very affordable price. The Chinese restaurants are unbeatable and with give you 3 courses including a half bottle of wine from about €18 for two people!   Magic.  I love a Torrevieja ,  being so close to  the sea offers endless lovely walks. We are on the La Mata side of the town so do not have to cross the busy N332 to access the beach, it is all within walking distance.

The farmacia staff are superb, they all seem to speak excellent English and can advise on all types of medicines. There is a wonderful new hospital on the Playa Flamenca side of 

Torrevieja...only ever read great reports about it.  There is also a private hospital closeby called Hospital Quiron.....you can walk into it at any time and avail of wonderful health care...bring your credit card or travel insurance.

There is so much more I could tell you but that is enough for now.

Good luck and As I always say, welcome to the dream.

P.S our cousins left the UK last November and are now very well settled here in Spain....Spanish residents too!  They love it here.

My wife and I have lived in Spain for 30 years, made mistakes, but learnt from them, Spain is not perfect however if you apply common sense ,listen to other expats, but make your own decisions based on your own personal requirements then you will be fine.

I would suggest that the most important item on your list would be to find a good house ,in a good location, not isolated and within easy walking distance to amenities.

Good Luck.....

Regards,

               Gordon

I write this as I am sat in the house in England with the heating on which will be on until I go to bed and its still not very warm. It's about 2degrees today.

Knowing that our little place in Spain has a lovely sunny terrace where we can sit out without having big coats on etc.

Yes it is cold after 5pm so then you wrap up. Indoors we then put the air con on 23 and its lovely plus nice warm dressing gown and slippers.

So I

So we know where we would feather be.

€120 a month for electricity seems high?  There are many companies around you can look at options of Electricity and change to the better ones.  It is not all doom and gloom.

I had gas radiator central heating put in and it it great. For the couple of months really cold weather we have yes winter is expensive but no more than UK.  The prices in Spain feel higher as the stirling has dropped.

If you are living life on a shoe string best to stay in the UK but if you have monthly income/pension just see it as the Euro is similar to the Pound at the moment and go from there.

Who wants to stay in their house all day when it is lovely and sunny outside and you can walk and enjoy the sights.

It really is how people want to live their lives and we are all different at the end of the day.  So it may be good getting information but I agree, try it out and see for yourself as you are the only people that are going to know for sure if it is for you.

Best wishes to you both - Gilly

Be care full if one of you get ill there is no after care in spain it's expected that the family take on the responsibly think carefully about this we have many friends returned to uk because of this