# Heating Cyprus Apt/houses?



## chrisjac (Jan 30, 2011)

Hi all from a very snowy UK!
Just a quick query, does anyone have any tips on heating Cypriot villas/apts please? We have stayed in various types of property over the years, all were the usual concrete box construction which seemed to cook you in the Summer and help you freeze to death in the Winter months!(They don't appear to do central heating in Cyprus!)
We are thinking about a longer term stay to try things out and would be intersted to hear from anyone here who may be able to advise.
Many Thanks 
Chrisnjac..


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## leesa13 (Jul 7, 2009)

chrisjac said:


> Hi all from a very snowy UK!
> Just a quick query, does anyone have any tips on heating Cypriot villas/apts please? We have stayed in various types of property over the years, all were the usual concrete box construction which seemed to cook you in the Summer and help you freeze to death in the Winter months!(They don't appear to do central heating in Cyprus!)
> We are thinking about a longer term stay to try things out and would be intersted to hear from anyone here who may be able to advise.
> Many Thanks
> Chrisnjac..


Hi there, although I don't move out to Cyprus for another 7 weeks (and counting) from what I can gather a lot of people use calor gas heaters with the gas bottles, air con is expensive to use, also electric blankets and hot water bottles at night. There isn't any gas in Cyprus which is why there isn't any central heating anywhere.
I'm sure someone else who lives there already will reply to you with advice too but this is what I can gather.
Lisa


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

leesa13 said:


> Hi there, although I don't move out to Cyprus for another 7 weeks (and counting) from what I can gather a lot of people use calor gas heaters with the gas bottles, air con is expensive to use, also electric blankets and hot water bottles at night. There isn't any gas in Cyprus which is why there isn't any central heating anywhere.
> I'm sure someone else who lives there already will reply to you with advice too but this is what I can gather.
> Lisa


I don't know anyone who lives here that does not have central heating - the problem is being able to afford to use it. The vast majority of homeowners have oil powered central heating - the big problem is an almost complete lack of insulation in local builds which means it costs a small fortune to keep most places even remotely warm in winter. The solution seems to be to retreat to a smaller room within the house/apartment and heat the place with stove heaters. My top tip would be not to buy or rent a concrete box. It is far cheaper (and quicker) in the long run to have an eco-friendly, well insulated house built (or rent one) - that will be heatable in the winter and cooler in the summer. There are more of these now being built by overseas firms (with, in my view, far better build standards than are available locally). It will save you a fortune on heating (and cooling bills). there has been a trend by local developers to install electric (or hot water pipe) underfloor heating. These are disasterously expensive to run (even more so than the oil central heating) and should be avoided (despite the 'trend').


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

As Kimonas says there are more and more eco friendly houses being built these days but very few of these are yet available as rentals.
We use calor gas heaters and find this adequate as we spend most of our time in our stud which is easy to keep warm and another heater in the main room if it is very cold, which keeps the chill off the rest of the house.
Electric blankets are a must though.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2012)

perhaps some unemployed builders should start an isolation company in Cyprus and start isolate houses. It must be possible.

At the same time they could sell real good fireplaces that can heat the whole house. Problem would perhaps be firewood

Only a thought


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

You can get multifuel burners where you can burn all your rubbish as well as wood etc.
Also there are some very good gas fires with external flues. Friends of ours had one installed and it is very efficient.
The problem is that the OP was asking about renting and not many rental properties have efficient heating systems.


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## Mdoertaro Verlo (Nov 9, 2008)

I have UK friend just arrived in Cyprus , in one of the villages, and shes Freezing !! shes moaning about tiled floors !! and crap heating on the ac units !! wood and coal is very pricey !!

shes got 5 jumpers on . never mind told her July is coming soon.


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

Yes, that is the problem unless you have lots of money most people have one or two warm/cool rooms in the house while the rest are freezing or boiling! We just used our split units for heat in winter and the fireplace and the split units for air in summer. It did cost a small fortune though. The house also had central heating which we never used. That house is now for rent so there are rental properties with everything you would need to stay cool/warm it is just finding them and being able to afford it!


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## chrisjac (Jan 30, 2011)

Thanks for the responses so far guys, sounds like there is a market for someone to start a business in home insulation or something! (The guy who markets the dehumidifiers out there is doing really well due to the effect of building techniques used and the popular problem of damp air build up and black staining/spores etc on walls..)

P.S.Our friends who live in Kathikas have applied a 2 inch layer of polystyrene insulation to thier walls and ceilings and plasterboarded over the top and are now as snug as bugs!

Regards to all..
Chrisnjac.:clap2:


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## CanadianTraveler (Feb 23, 2010)

chrisjac said:


> Hi all from a very snowy UK!
> Just a quick query, does anyone have any tips on heating Cypriot villas/apts please? We have stayed in various types of property over the years, all were the usual concrete box construction which seemed to cook you in the Summer and help you freeze to death in the Winter months!(They don't appear to do central heating in Cyprus!)
> We are thinking about a longer term stay to try things out and would be intersted to hear from anyone here who may be able to advise.
> Many Thanks
> Chrisnjac..



I've lived here for about a year now, at the start (six months prior to the July 11th explosion that knocked out half the power plant) it was roughly 250 euros to heat our bedroom for eight to nine hours and the main section of the apartment (open plan livingroom, kitchen, dinning room, sunroom) for four hours out of the night. Now that price is almost at 400 euros per bi-monthly bill.

We don't turn on the heating till sundown which at the moment is at 5:30/6:00pm and rarely run more than one AC heater at a time apart from defrosting the bedroom about an hour before we go to sleep. No one likes an ice bed after all!

We run a 42 inch tv, two laptops, a media server (low power edition), 10L water cooler (which only turns on a few times a day to generally keep the water at x temperature) and occasionally a kettle or the coffee machine. 

Apart from that we don't use much electricity and heavily rely on the water tank's solar panels for day to day hot water. Best time to us it is typically between 12 and 1pm where the sun is at it's peak.

Some people on the Cyprus-Mail comment section have mentioned paying 800 euros for their bill but unless they run the heater's 24/7, use the immersion heater constantly and have far more appliances (or more power hungry ones) it's pretty hard to raise the bill that high.

Peak pricing hours seem to be from 9am till 7pm so it's best to avoid using the heavy duty items during that time. Set the wash at 7am, use the solar panels when possible and learn the value of a good rug.

Hope that helps!

Edit:

Forgot to add that the bills will be getting another 10% ish added on after March some time due to an EU regulation that has to do with green-power taxes and the like. I fully expect my next bill (due for me in April I think) to be 400-425 euros because of this.


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## CanadianTraveler (Feb 23, 2010)

Mdoertaro Verlo said:


> I have UK friend just arrived in Cyprus , in one of the villages, and shes Freezing !! shes moaning about tiled floors !! and crap heating on the ac units !! wood and coal is very pricey !!
> 
> shes got 5 jumpers on . never mind told her July is coming soon.


I'd call Harris who advertises in the Paphos post (if she's near us at all) who delivers wood right to your door nearly any day of the week. For regular pine it's 70 euros (used to be 80), for mixed hard wood it's around 80 (used to be 90) and a full truck load will generally last a month to three depending on usage. For us, a truck load lasts two months but our fireplace is very large and not sealed up by glass or uses any sort of a fan. 

Edit:
Hard wood comes with fewer baby logs, which are used to start fires and require more to get going due to their density. I like to add in a bag or two from SuperHome to kick off the fire when if get the hard wood. Pine burns much faster (nearly a full third faster) and is easier to get started.


You can get a micro wood furnace for 200 odd euros that increases the effectiveness and decreases over all usage of wood. We haven't because we enjoy the ability of having a large fireplace.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> As Kimonas says there are more and more eco friendly houses being built these days but very few of these are yet available as rentals.
> We use calor gas heaters and find this adequate as we spend most of our time in our stud which is easy to keep warm and another heater in the main room if it is very cold, which keeps the chill off the rest of the house.
> Electric blankets are a must though.


Certainly not, you wimp! I find a good woman serves just as well



Pete


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## migmogs (Feb 10, 2012)

this is our seccond winter here......last winter was mild and short......this winter has been long....cold, wet and windy...with lots of cloudy days
we have invested in a good gas fire........lots of rugs........electric underblankets..winter warmth quilts...warm fleecy blankets on the setees...and yet still some nights I have been sat here with 3 plus layers on and fingerless gloves on in the house frozen
the ceilings here are very high and the room open plan..and single glazed windows....it's nigh on impossible to heat the place up
<Snip>
happy house hunting
and remember to bring jumpers.......fleecy thick ones.....socks.....heavy soled slippers for these cold floors and a heavy warm dressing gown.....and be prepared to shower in freezing cold bathrooms...now thats the bit I really hate )......other than that you will be perfect ) xxxx
maggie


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## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

migmogs said:


> this is our seccond winter here......last winter was mild and short......this winter has been long....cold, wet and windy...with lots of cloudy days
> we have invested in a good gas fire........lots of rugs........electric underblankets..winter warmth quilts...warm fleecy blankets on the setees...and yet still some nights I have been sat here with 3 plus layers on and fingerless gloves on in the house frozen
> the ceilings here are very high and the room open plan..and single glazed windows....it's nigh on impossible to heat the place up
> we are looking for a new rental property as our lease is up in a few weeks time....but next time I would want a wood burner in the main room .....as the gas fire causes condensation everywhere....unless you leave all the windows open......brrrrrr
> ...


Good morning,

I do feel for you. It has been a really cold winter, we live way up in the mountains, and have double glazing, insulation, in the attic, central heating ( gas) and a log burner. I had to drive through snow to get home from Limassol yesterday. I tell everyone who is contemplating moving here that winters can be cold, even down on the coast, and to make sure that the house has the means to be heated. Unfortunately there has been so many mild winters that no one contemplates that it could be so cold here, I hope you find somewhere very soon.

Kind regards.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

This is one of the problems with renting, you can't do much to improve the house.
High ceilings are good in the summer but not a great idea in cold winters as all the heat goes up to the ceilings. Also it is rare for a roof to be sufficiently insulated to stop heat loss.
We intend to insulate some of our ceilings before next winter in case it is another cold one.
We don't have too much trouble as we have a small room which is our office and is easy to keep warm. We have a TV and a comfy couch in there so in the winter we tend to stay in there rather than going into the living room which is open plan and a bit to chilly to say the least.
As for cold bathrooms, we have an electric heater on the wall in our smallest bathroom which we put on before showering to warm the room up and again no problems.

It is all a matter of adapting to how you use your home, but as I say when you are renting there is little you can do.
For anyone who has a downstairs bedroom which they do not use, it is a good idea to adapt that to use as a snug in the winter, rather than trying to keep big open plan spaces warm.

Veronica


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## MacManiac (Jan 25, 2012)

What an interesting thread! All my visits to Cyprus in the last twenty years have always been in the Spring, Summer and Autumn - and I never really thought about winter and warming a property. We are still on track to visit in October to have a really good look at where we would like to live, and I think perhaps another visit in January/February 2013 might be sensible.

Strangely I am writing this on the balcony, and Bexhill on Sea is bathed in sunshine. It is as mild as Cyprus appears to be cold.

As we shall be renting a villa when we come out, at least for the first couple of years, then log-burning stoves/fireplaces and the like (as well as the indispensable gas heaters) will need to be on our wishlist.

2013 and counting …


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## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

MacManiac said:


> What an interesting thread! All my visits to Cyprus in the last twenty years have always been in the Spring, Summer and Autumn - and I never really thought about winter and warming a property. We are still on track to visit in October to have a really good look at where we would like to live, and I think perhaps another visit in January/February 2013 might be sensible.
> 
> Strangely I am writing this on the balcony, and Bexhill on Sea is bathed in sunshine. It is as mild as Cyprus appears to be cold.
> 
> ...


Hi
I am sitting in my living room, in the Troodos mountains watching the snow fall past my living room window, the temperature outside is 2 degrees and my hanging basket ( empty) in full of snow. The log fire in burning well, and the house is warm. I can't imagine the summer at the moment, haven't dared look at the pool temperature!!


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## migmogs (Feb 10, 2012)

fab posts
we where battered by storms again last night in Peyia and Paphos area....Gales gusting and howling aroung everywhere.....trees are down again
and of course I am dressed in my obligitary 3 layers lol
one of the things that we did later in the winter which we should have done earlier....was we moved out of the main bedroom into the much smaller one with more internal walls.....that made sleeping a lot better...we will definitely do that again next time....and if our next house we rent has got a smaller snug type of room...move ourselves into there as well

living a winter here....reminds me of years ago before we all got central heatingand double glazing in the uk.....you are only warm when in front of the fire )

but on the positive side....winters here are much shorter than back in the uk....and although this unusual bad weather has lasted from xmas till now.....sunshine and warmer weather is around the corner

it just helps to have a fuller picture of what the weather can really throw at you so that you can be better prepared

we are looking to keep our next rental for many years.......so will be definitely looking into economical and efective ways to stay warmer for the winters

keep warm and safe especially in snowy troodos mountains brrrrrrr glad you are snug and warm

maggie


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## MacManiac (Jan 25, 2012)

Mycroft said:


> Hi
> I am sitting in my living room, in the Troodos mountains watching the snow fall past my living room window, the temperature outside is 2 degrees and my hanging basket ( empty) in full of snow. The log fire in burning well, and the house is warm. I can't imagine the summer at the moment, haven't dared look at the pool temperature!!


The ironies of the weather never cease to amaze me. My interest in Cyprus was fostered after I watched one of those BBC holiday programmes years and years ago. There was a weather forecaster on the show and I can remember him saying that, in his opinion, Cyprus had the best climate for an island in the world.

Now Mycroft is sitting in snowy Cyprus, in front of his log fire and I am struggling to remember how to switch the central heating off and the balcony door is open. Two years ago, when we moved to Bexhill, we were told that it hardly ever snowed on the coast and within weeks we were literally cut off with the stuff. Last winter was even worse and we even noticed the sea freezing on one or two of the coldest days.

So we have decided to move to Cyprus (and the South-east of England has had one of the driest and mildest winters on record) and I read about the rains, the storms, the wind and the low temperatures. Is the whole world going mad? 

Roll on 2013.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2012)

But it also amazing that you still in 2012 build houses with this standard. As someone said before in this forum, winters like this is perhaps more normal for Cyprus.

Then you can pay 700000 for a Viila and you cant really use it during winter. Horrible


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Vegaanders said:


> But it also amazing that you still in 2012 build houses with this standard. As someone said before in this forum, winters like this is perhaps more normal for Cyprus.
> 
> Then you can pay 700000 for a Viila and you cant really use it during winter. Horrible


Anders it is only the big greedy developers thatstill build to these standards.
The smaller builders are now far more aware of the need to build better insulated houses than in the past. The builders that we recommend to clients are very much more forward looking than the big boys and will insulate, put in double and sometimes triple glazing and also put in central heating of one form or another.
The big boys just refuse to come into the 21st century because it affects their profit but the smaller builders are far more aware of having to give clients what they want.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

OK now I know the world has gone mad.
Here I am sitting in Konia, just outside Paphos and what do I see outside my patio doors? ITS SNOWING BIG FAT FLAKES OF WHITE STUFF


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Now we've got HUGE HAILSTONES


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Is that all? We've had rain, snow, hail, thunder, lightning and sunshine all at once here!

Pete


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## exup (Feb 13, 2012)

I don't believe any of you - you just want to keep Cyprus to yourselves!


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## migmogs (Feb 10, 2012)

hi veronica
don't know how to PM you back?
as can't see reply button or PM button?
probably a blonde moment
help )
maggie


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

migmogs said:


> hi veronica
> don't know how to PM you back?
> as can't see reply button or PM button?
> probably a blonde moment
> ...


Don't worry maggie, another couple of posts and you will get pm rights


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## kim1967 (Feb 26, 2012)

Veronica said:


> OK now I know the world has gone mad.
> Here I am sitting in Konia, just outside Paphos and what do I see outside my patio doors? ITS SNOWING BIG FAT FLAKES OF WHITE STUFF


oh no I hope it brightens up for the weekend as we are coming over for 2 weeks and was hoping for a bit of sunshine for a change. seen enough snow lately


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

kim1967 said:


> oh no I hope it brightens up for the weekend as we are coming over for 2 weeks and was hoping for a bit of sunshine for a change. seen enough snow lately


The snow didnt last long and then after the hailstones the sun came out


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## kim1967 (Feb 26, 2012)

phew lets hope it last lol.
Did I reply to your pm correctly Veronica? Like Maggie I was unsure


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## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

Veronica said:


> The snow didnt last long and then after the hailstones the sun came out


We have about 3 cms of snow here at the house and it is still snowing, the outside temperature is -0.2 and set to fall lower. Luckily we have a good supply of logs and food in!!


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2012)

Good to be in Frankfurt then!
+15 and sun all day


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## migmogs (Feb 10, 2012)

it's freezing cold tonight in Peyia
if I could transport my lovely,uk, well insulated, double glazed, centrally heated house here right now....I truly would
brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


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## Monty (Jun 9, 2008)

migmogs said:


> it's freezing cold tonight in Peyia
> if I could transport my lovely,uk, well insulated, double glazed, centrally heated house here right now....I truly would
> brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr[/QUOTE
> 
> Just spent the day here in Kabul, the Snow is a couple of feet deep in places, Went to the Heli pad to go back down to Helmand as the planes can not take off, It was a bit comical watching some of the local standing on the plane wings brushing the snow off, no double glazing for us or central heating, I was wearing me long johns the other night. now that was cold


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## sjg-uk (Jan 11, 2012)

migmogs said:


> it's freezing cold tonight in Peyia
> if I could transport my lovely,uk, well insulated, double glazed, centrally heated house here right now....I truly would
> brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


We are back in Ukraine for a few days business . It is thick snow and ice everywhere , but inside lovely and warm . Much nicer than our freezing place in Pafos !!!
Where is the reasoning in that ??


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