# heat/AC needed in Nerja rentals?



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hi all: As I posted before, I think I've found where I want to be, and today I started seeing some rental properties. Most of them don't have AC and the heat in them is a wood fireplace. Estate agent says I don't need AC (not hot enough except in July and Aug., he says...but what do I do during this months, I wonder?) and that the best way to heat is with some sort of gas heater. Makes me very nervous.

Could some of you more experienced folks comment on this? I don't mind some heat, if there's a breeze and I can live with chilly nights in bed, but I don't want to be miserable on winter evenings. Will I be? What should I be looking for?

Melissa


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> Hi all: As I posted before, I think I've found where I want to be, and today I started seeing some rental properties. Most of them don't have AC and the heat in them is a wood fireplace. Estate agent says I don't need AC (not hot enough except in July and Aug., he says...but what do I do during this months, I wonder?) and that the best way to heat is with some sort of gas heater. Makes me very nervous.
> 
> Could some of you more experienced folks comment on this? I don't mind some heat, if there's a breeze and I can live with chilly nights in bed, but I don't want to be miserable on winter evenings. Will I be? What should I be looking for?
> 
> Melissa


Jojo and Thrax know about this.
I went to Nerja in August and hated it. The climate is very humid. There was no A/C in the house we rented and sleeping was a problem for all of us. Then again we are from Bilbao and Madrid where the climate's very different.


----------



## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

You would certainly need some form of heating. Central heating is practically unknown so you should consider gas bottle heaters (cheap to run and very effective but condensation can be a problem in some circumstances), free-standing electric (can be expensive to run) and log fire.

A/C is a personal choice. In the five places we lived in Spain only one had it and we never used it. Some people can cope with heat better than others I guess.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I agree you would need heating. We rented apartments in Nerja for holidays in the winter many times before moving here, which had no form of heating, and sometimes it was so cold I went out and bought a cheap electric fan heater and left it behind when we went home. 

The gas heaters the agents will be referring to are butano gas heaters which can be wheeled around. We use one to heat our house, but not everyone likes them. The gas cylinders are heavy (13kg) and attaching them to the heater is a knack that has to be learned. In properties which aren't well ventilated they can cause condensation and some people say they find the fumes unpleasant. To gt them delivered to your door you would need a contract which involves a safety inspection before they will issue it, unless the property has one so if you want to go down that route I would ask about that.

As Jimenato says, the need for aircon will depend on your personal tolerance of heat. We have lived not too far from Nerja, but 5km inland where temperatures are a little higher than on the coast in summer, for almost 9 years and never felt the need for it. We find floor standing fans and open windows at night quite adequate, but the construction and location of your property will also affect this. We don't find the summer climate particularly humid either, most of the time it's under 50% which isn't high.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I personally dont like air con, so it wasnt ever a priority for me - although we had it and my husband would put it on in the bedroom before bed.... and then I'd go in, turn it off and open the windows lol. We used to have a midnight swim prior to be which cooled us down

However, heating is a must. We used the air con units to heat the room, but we also had a portable gas heater and of course a fire. Central heating is rare in Spain as is mains gas. But even if its not cold as such, the tiles make it feel cold and the houses tend to get quite damp

Jo xxx


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Thanks all. So it sounds as if the portable butano heaters are the way to go, as the agent said. The houses did also have wood burning fireplaces or stoves, but the agent said that wood (unless you have your own source of it) is very expensive. 

As for AC, well I lived through the humid, hot Washington DC summers for 10 years without it, but I was younger then, going to an air conditioned office 5 days a week and would escape to a cool movie theater on a weekend if it was miserable in midday. So far, I've found the climate to be hot, but quite pleasant in the shade and often breezy. I guess I'd be fine without it...at least for one summer's rental!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Melissa58275 said:


> Thanks all. So it sounds as if the portable butano heaters are the way to go, as the agent said. The houses did also have wood burning fireplaces or stoves, but the agent said that wood (unless you have your own source of it) is very expensive.
> 
> As for AC, well I lived through the humid, hot Washington DC summers for 10 years without it, but I was younger then, going to an air conditioned office 5 days a week and would escape to a cool movie theater on a weekend if it was miserable in midday. So far, I've found the climate to be hot, but quite pleasant in the shade and often breezy. I guess I'd be fine without it...at least for one summer's rental!


I mentioned the disadvantages of the butano heaters in my earlier post, but in their defence they heat up a room quite quickly and are also a cheap form of heating. The gas cylinders have just been reduced in price (again) and are now €12.76 each, and each cylinder would probably last you at least two weeks. I wouldn't use one in a room with the door closed, we find it best to leave doors open (except the ones to the spare bedrooms) and let the warmth spread around. Otherwise, not only do you increase the risk of condensation but when you come out of a warm room the rest of the property will feel like an icebox. I'd advise an electric overblanket or electric duvet for your bed, too. We have an electric duvet and it's wonderful. I don't keep it switched on after I get into bed, but it's very cosy.


----------



## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Yes - gas heaters can cause condensation problems but they never did with us as we lived in old pueblo houses which were well ventilated (to say the least). In a modern apartment they might be more of a problem.

Incidentally here in the UK 15kg bottles are £33.75. 

We bought quite a small gas bottle (holds 2.72kg gas) for the BBQ in the summer - £30 to refill .


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> I 'd advise an electric overblanket or electric duvet for your bed, too.


Electric duvet? I'm familiar with electric blankets, but not an electric duvet. Once I understood that winter evenings would be quite cold, I mentally planned to try to bring one of my down duvets over from the states (yes, perhaps a silly use of my luggage space, but I've been carting things over in dribs and drabs for months now and I think I can spare the room this time and I'm rather attached to it!). But I'm intrigued by the idea of having the bed actually warmed up BEFORE I get in it. Is it essentially just like an electric blanket only puffier? It's hard for me to imagine electrifying the down things I call a duvet!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Melissa58275 said:


> Electric duvet? I'm familiar with electric blankets, but not an electric duvet. Once I understood that winter evenings would be quite cold, I mentally planned to try to bring one of my down duvets over from the states (yes, perhaps a silly use of my luggage space, but I've been carting things over in dribs and drabs for months now and I think I can spare the room this time and I'm rather attached to it!). But I'm intrigued by the idea of having the bed actually warmed up BEFORE I get in it. Is it essentially just like an electric blanket only puffier? It's hard for me to imagine electrifying the down things I call a duvet!


Yes, I suppose it is similar to an electric blanket but moulds itself to your body much better and keeps you warmer once it's switched off! Electric blankets are widely available to buy here but I haven't seen electric duvets. I took mine to the local lavanderia to be washed (yes, they are washable) and he was quite intrigued. We bought ours via Amazon.uk, it is manufactured by a company called Sleepwell, but I'm sure they must be available elsewhere too. They come in single, double or kingsize and the larger ones have dual controls so you can have just one side switched on, and variable heat and timer settings. Not particularly cheap, ours is a kingsize and we paid just under a hundred pounds for it, but one of the best things we ever bought for the house. It seems to use very little electricity but I only put it on for about 30 minutes before going to bed and don't need to keep it switched on after I get in otherwise I'd be too warm.


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

So Lynn, I just checked into electric duvets and the Sleepwell/Dreamland site says that they will only fill orders in the UK, because the duvet comes with a UK standard plug and is only meant for use there and they won't warranty use elsewhere. I take it you bought yours in the UK and brought it to Spain, using an adapter plug? You're happy with how that works?


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Melissa58275 said:


> So Lynn, I just checked into electric duvets and the Sleepwell/Dreamland site says that they will only fill orders in the UK, because the duvet comes with a UK standard plug and is only meant for use there and they won't warranty use elsewhere. I take it you bought yours in the UK and brought it to Spain, using an adapter plug? You're happy with how that works?


Must have changed since we bought ours, as we ordered from Amazon online and had it delivered to Spain. Yes, we use it with an adaptor, with no problems.


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

One advantage aircon units can have is that they can be incredibly cheap to use to heat a room. We keep toying with the idea of getting this type especially as we just experienced the hottest July on record. They cost around 8 cents an hour to run and will warm a reasonably sized room in about 20 - 30 minutes. Right now we use one gas heater and one oil filled electric heater and an open log fire for fun!!


----------

