# How do you handle the Spanish winter?



## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

I understand that insulation is poor and some (most?) houses don't have central heating, so...how do you do it? 

Also, maybe we can use this thread to share tips? 

Does anyone use snuggies?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

What are 'snuggies'?


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

http://www.snuggieblanketfortwo.com/snuggies/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-snuggie.jpg

These bad boys. For some reason I imagine lots of British and Germans in Spain with them on going about their daily lives. In winter, of course.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

We used a variety of electric and portable gas heaters, but no one should be fooled into thinking that Spanish winters are mild. It may not go below freezing often, but it does get very cold, wet and windy and the houses arent designed to keep warm - all those tiles, poor insulation, drafts and damp are meant for the hot summers

Jo xxx


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

As far as tiles go, I hope to bring some persian carpets when I go over.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Sirtravelot said:


> As far as tiles go, I hope to bring some persian carpets when I go over.


yes, lots of rugs help! A friend of mine sticks a hot water bottle under her jumper! I used to sit outside on a sunny day to warm up
jo xxx


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

jojo said:


> yes, lots of rugs help! A friend of mine sticks a hot water bottle under her jumper! I used to sit outside on a sunny day to warm up
> jo xxx


Jo, you struck a cord with me. I also go outside of my house to warm up in the winter, how very odd !!


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

>>How do you handle the Spanish winter?<<

Move to the Canaries!


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

virgil said:


> >>How do you handle the Spanish winter?<<
> 
> Move to the Canaries!


No thanks, I love my home exactly where it is.


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## stevelin (Apr 25, 2009)

Yes we use snuggies nothing better in winter than sitting in front of the fire with a snuggie a glass of something and watching the TV !


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sirtravelot said:


> http://www.snuggieblanketfortwo.com/snuggies/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-snuggie.jpg
> 
> These bad boys. For some reason I imagine lots of British and Germans in Spain with them on going about their daily lives. In winter, of course.


I have one - well 2 actually

lovely for snuggling up in my recliner with a book or watching TV in the evening


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## annfoto (Aug 19, 2012)

A decent wood burning stove will keep you warm as toast if you have a little land to store your logs. Get a good sized one that pumps out 10 or 12Kw


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

annfoto said:


> A decent wood burning stove will keep you warm as toast if you have a little land to store your logs. Get a good sized one that pumps out 10 or 12Kw


ah but with my snuggly I rarely have to use any heating


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

We've always had a log fire or a log burner and they're great. 

To heat a space up quickly and relatively cheaply we use a gas heater. They have a reputation for causing damp and they do indeed give off water vapour but in reality it doesn't cause a problem. 

I say cheap but bombonas are getting more expensive - I believe they are now around 17 Euros.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> http://www.snuggieblanketfortwo.com/snuggies/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-snuggie.jpg
> 
> These bad boys. For some reason I imagine lots of British and Germans in Spain with them on going about their daily lives. In winter, of course.


Oh, thanks. Every day I learn something new..

But I don't need snuggies...on one side of me in our bed is my very large dog and partner on the other...

Actually, it's not cold here although a couple of km inland I've seen traces of frost.
We don't need to heat in the day time as we're out and about or moving, doing housework and such like and after about 8p.m. we retire to the bedroom which is spacious and airy and has tv and room for a folding table. We heat that room when necessary with something I hadn't seen for years...a paraffin heater.
Paraffin stove technology has advanced mightily....the stove itself is quite neat and takes up less space than gas heaters and more importantly, paraffin doesn't smell.
It's also comparatively inexpensive.
Downstairs we have a fireplace which is useless as the ceiling height of our salon must be 8 metres, maybe more....It has a sort of minstrel's gallery and off it is a sort of 'tower' which is even higher -we're trying to work out how to remove the cobwebs! -so all the heat is sucked up there.
We rarely 'entertain' in the house in winter as it's not really done to hold dinner parties in your bedroom....


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

In Granada, I had an 'estufa', a little round heater thing. The traditional thing is to put it under a table and then cover your legs with the tablecloth  Brrrrr, I remember how freezing it used to get there. The houses really are designed for summer, not winter.


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

This is our second winter in Spain and so far so good, maybe a light jacket, but that´s all. We have a wardrobe full of winter coats brought from the UK, hats, scarves, gloves, etc, that we haven´t used since we left the UK and we doubt we´ll use them ever again. We have no heating at home, and thought we´ll be extremely cold last winter, but we weren´t at all. 

Mind you, I miss the electric blanket in bed... and the thick duvets... lol!


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Brasero is called. 

I much prefer the old ones, with coal. The electric ones are not the same!


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

Lolito said:


> This is our second winter in Spain and so far so good, maybe a light jacket, but that´s all. We have a wardrobe full of winter coats brought from the UK, hats, scarves, gloves, etc, that we haven´t used since we left the UK and we doubt we´ll use them ever again. We have no heating at home, and thought we´ll be extremely cold last winter, but we weren´t at all.
> 
> Mind you, I miss the electric blanket in bed... and the thick duvets... lol!


May I ask whereabouts in Spain you live?


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Valencia.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

Lolito said:


> Valencia.


Ah yes, good stuff! I want to check it out on one of these days.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

Spanish winter? a good log burner (the flue radiates heat into room as well, a portable gas heater, in the bedroom an aircon that can put out hot air as well as cold,(add wife to that and it's comfy)


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## el pavlo (Jul 4, 2011)

stevelin said:


> Yes we use snuggies nothing better in winter than sitting in front of the fire with a snuggie a glass of something and watching the TV !



A lot of people don't realise just how cold it can be here in the winter.
But we would draw the line at snuggies.  
They must be an aquired taste !!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

el pavlo said:


> A lot of people don't realise just how cold it can be here in the winter.
> But we would draw the line at snuggies.
> They must be a aquired taste !!


hello blast from the past!!!


I know it gets chilly up your way - I might just have to buy you a snuggy for x%&/





sorry, can't bring myself to even write that word before December........


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## el pavlo (Jul 4, 2011)

It certainly does...........and don't you dare !! 
(*that* time will be upon us before we know it)


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Many people in the UK don't realise that it can be colder in some parts of Spain than in the UK.
When we drove down from Prague in the first week of December we drove through snow in CR and Germany, then warm sunshine on the northern Spanish coast, then as we cut across to Granada snow again ...then on arriving on the CdS warm sunshine.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We live inland about 2200ft amsl. Our first winter 2008/9, I got frostbite in my toes. Winter 2009/10 it rained continually for months, water came through the walls and was running down the inside, we had landslides and roads washed away. Since then we have had capa fina put on the ousides of the walls, our heating now takes the form of a log burner in the lounge/diner with warm air draw off from around the cassette and fanned to the first-floor bedrooms, and warm air from the flue cavity to heat the attic. In addition, we have a couple of portable gas fires and now a/c inverters that provide heating (haven't tried them yet) plus we have electric blankets on the beds. Since SWMBO and I have our bedroom and my 'office' on the lower-ground floor it derives no heat from the log burner so I have a small electric footwarmer (Lidl).


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

Sirtravelot said:


> As far as tiles go, I hope to bring some persian carpets when I go over.


You will never stop hoovering if you do! I could sweep all day and there would still be a layer of dust everywhere five minutes later!
We've managed our first winter in an old house that hadn't been lived in for years with a log fire, a lot of door curtains, and warm dressing gowns and slippers! During the day it was warmer outside than in but nothing near as cold as in the UK.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

dream on said:


> You will never stop hoovering if you do! I could sweep all day and there would still be a layer of dust everywhere five minutes later!
> We've managed our first winter in an old house that hadn't been lived in for years with a log fire, a lot of door curtains, and warm dressing gowns and slippers! During the day it was warmer outside than in but nothing near as cold as in the UK.


If we hadn't been so spoilt in the UK by living in a two hundred plus year-old cottage with very thick walls and very efficient heating -small windows, thick old doors - we wouldn't notice it being cold here, tbh.

When I was a child I lived in an old house with no heating other than a small fireplace in our livingroom. I often woke up with ice on the inside of my bedroom window. There was no heating in any other room apart from an ancient Valor paraffin heater we used to take the chill off the bathroom.

When I moved into a centrally-heated flat I thought I was in heaven..

We really could survive winter in our house with no heating at all if we put on an extra layer, watched tv or read in one of those snuggy thingies or just a warm blanket....but I really have got used to having warmth around me.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I often woke up with ice on the inside of my bedroom window.


Of course you are referring to "ice on the glass" - you were lucky - we had to depend on a hard frost at the start of the winter to make a sheet of ice to put into the window frame to keep out the cold East wind straight from Siberia via the Steppe, Poland and the North Sea. Paraffin heater? Fire? They lived in such luxury down in the west country especially *after* the war. We never had any electricity (Grandad had to pedal his bike and use the dynamo to put a glimmer in the house), no sewers, and the only running water we had was down the walls!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Jo xxx


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## spanish_lad (Sep 18, 2012)

insulate the draughts, the windows, close doors to rooms you are not using, wood burners or gas heaters (leave some air gaps etc). 

blankets on the beds. 

if you have an "old" house imagine being in a castle in the medievel times... hahah the houses are made to be cold!


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## neddie (Jun 11, 2012)

...i don't see any mention of using splits. They may come by another name in Europe but it is an A/C unit that is placed on a wall just under the ceiling. I used one in a small hotel in Puerto Rico to cool the room in summer and elsewhere for heating. I thought they were very efficient and quiet......used a remote to control the settings. I don't know what the price would be in Spain though.


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## Naythan (Sep 18, 2012)

Typical Spanish...They have "brassiers", or something like that, a round electric heater, that gets placed on a shelf under a table you all sit around. A big heavy tablecloth-blanket thingy holds in the heat. 
Use curtains to seal off smaller spaces to heat. I like paraffin heaters better than electric or butano.


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## livoshka (Sep 19, 2012)

I did without heat (I live in the north) and it was miserable and I suffered a lot. Get a portable radiator, or calefacción


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

neddie said:


> ...i don't see any mention of using splits. They may come by another name in Europe but it is an A/C unit that is placed on a wall just under the ceiling. I used one in a small hotel in Puerto Rico to cool the room in summer and elsewhere for heating. I thought they were very efficient and quiet......used a remote to control the settings. I don't know what the price would be in Spain though.


I think we just call them aircon units 

that's where ours are - just below the ceiling

come to think of it where else would they go :confused2:

I do use the one in our living room for a few mins to take the chill off first thing in the morning & in the evening sometimes in the winter - but that's just about all I use

we have underfloor heating too - & I set it to 'kick in' at below 16º C - it rarely does & we rarely feel cold enough to need anything else


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## Tippy (Nov 1, 2010)

I hate the cold , hence living in Spain. So winters have been a trial. I am bringing some new type electric radiators from England. They give out the same heat as traditional 'wet' types, they can be mounted on the wall , look pretty, cheapish to run and just plug into a 13 amp socket. I use them in england and you can't tell the difference.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

I believe that these radiators are widely available here in Spain and are called "Blue Heat" radiators I think.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Trubrit said:


> I believe that these radiators are widely available here in Spain and are called "Blue Heat" radiators I think.


Can you give me a link as I have googled "blue heat radiator" and nothing came up.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Yes, I had the same problem, All major DIY stores sell them and I know that Leroy Merlin do a good deal but you would be better going to these places personally if you can. I am sure that the Spanish speakers on this site will know what they are called.


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## Tippy (Nov 1, 2010)

Try economy-radiators.com. That's where I got mine from. They're not cheap , but compared to fitting a boiler etc. they are.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Trubrit said:


> Yes, I had the same problem, All major DIY stores sell them and I know that Leroy Merlin do a good deal but you would be better going to these places personally if you can. I am sure that the Spanish speakers on this site will know what they are called.


look for "Calor Azul" or "Calefaccion electrica"

either will bring up a number of websites


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

The comparison with a medieval castle is accurate (and the reason they wore layers of long clothes then) but why all this rush to bump up the electric bill? One of my reasons for moving to Spain was to avoid huge bills! Our calor gas cooker has been on the same gas bottle since March despite having four lots of visitors, and we still have a pile of logs left over from last year. OK you do get a cold back if you don't wrap up on a cold night but there's nothing quite like gazing into a blazing log fire is there, and frying eggs in a pan on the hot ashes in the morning! Aside from that, all the work involved with log fires warms you up and keeps you fit.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I'm not judging or critising by any means - but it is interesting that people who move to Spain are more willing to suffer/slum it etc to live in Spain than they would in the UK. Few of us would buy/rent a house in the UK with damp issues, no carpets, insulation or central heating. Ok, so the summers are hotter, but that only accounts for three months of the year and during the days.

Just as observation

Jo xxx


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

My stance is that we have become too reliant on electricity. We don't need half the so-called necessities of life. I wanted to escape carpets and central heating i.e. bunged up noses, headaches, and asthma! I hate hoovering, so gave ours away. I won't have to have a pet destroyed again because advanced years were resulting in accidents on the carpeted floors, our stone flags can take anything you throw at them. Yes we like our internet, the telly and being able to phone the kids, but if your house is so labour-saving what do you do with yourself all day? Sitting on the terrace swigging cheap wine has got to get boring after a year or two. I am pretty confident that I will be slapping 'mortero seco' at our walls for years to come and then there's the garden to sort out! Whatever I'm destined to die from, it won't be boredom!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

jojo said:


> I'm not judging or critising by any means - but it is interesting that people who move to Spain are more willing to suffer/slum it etc to live in Spain than they would in the UK. Few of us would buy/rent a house in the UK with damp issues, no carpets, insulation or central heating. Ok, so the summers are hotter, but that only accounts for *three months of the year and during the days*.
> 
> Just as observation
> 
> Jo xxx


Hey Jo. How long were you here? 

Summer (i.e. sun, blue sky and temps >25C) start at beginning of May and go through to end of October which by my schooling equals SIX months (sometimes it last for even longer such as last year). Here the lack of carpets and nice cool tiled floor is so nice when it is hot and all I can say is if you bought/rented a house with much in the way of damp issues, then more fool you. We have a small amount of rising damp as do most people in Spain because they don't usually build with a dpc but they have ways of coping with that. The situation here is very much as it was in UK seventy years ago (no dpc, no insulation, no d/g, no central heating, no aircon, no cavity walls and in some cases no electricity and no running water or sewer) and when you look at Spain's history over the last couple of hundred years, it is hardly surprising that they have a lot of catching up to do.


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

One point also most of us (me for one) grew up in mostly unheated homes (one gas fire in the sitting room), with no DG, central heating etc, and with a bath once a week (whether we needed it or not!) and the sad thing is our generation are healthier than our grandchildren who have all these so-called benefits. Modern is not necessarily better!


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

jojo said:


> I'm not judging or critising by any means - but it is interesting that people who move to Spain are more willing to suffer/slum it etc to live in Spain than they would in the UK. Few of us would buy/rent a house in the UK with damp issues, no carpets, insulation or central heating. Ok, so the summers are hotter, but that only accounts for three months of the year and during the days.
> 
> Just as observation
> 
> Jo xxx


And ... who would even entertain the idea of using a paraffin heater in the UK?

Good grief! - that takes me back to a 1960's council flat in sowf lunden


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## spanish_lad (Sep 18, 2012)

Tippy said:


> I hate the cold , hence living in Spain. So winters have been a trial. I am bringing some new type electric radiators from England. They give out the same heat as traditional 'wet' types, they can be mounted on the wall , look pretty, cheapish to run and just plug into a 13 amp socket. I use them in england and you can't tell the difference.


you can buy those in leroys / akis / any local electrical shop here in spain. ive fitted a fair few to other peoples houses while working with a local electrician. they do come recomended, but it depends if you like paying bills at the end of the month or buying logs and having no more to spend out?


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## spanish_lad (Sep 18, 2012)

virgil said:


> And ... who would even entertain the idea of using a paraffin heater in the UK?
> 
> Good grief! - that takes me back to a 1960's council flat in sowf lunden


i bet you could list 20 things that you would never dream of doing in the uk.. that you´ve done or seen people doing on a daily basis here in spain. 

makes me sad.

how many people would drive about in illegal cars, not pay their council taxes, knock down a wall or two on a sunday afternoon, have 10 beers then drive home (its ok, cos paco does it  ) etc etc etc. 

most people that live here need a good kick up the back side. 

but thats getting off topic, sorry.


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Last year, the first day we went sunbathing and swimming (beach) was the 24th April and the last day was 19th November... so that´s 7 long months!! 

This year I remember sunbathing in the attic (suntrap) most of the month of February, my mum came to see us and we started ´lunching´and dining in the garden in March... 

We don´t use any heating at all here, if we get cold, we use a nice blanket while watching telly, but this is a new built house, so maybe it is insulated properly, although it hasn´t been THAT cold in the winter, we do have a chimney but we use it as a bed for the cats.... they love it there!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lolito said:


> Last year, the first day we went sunbathing and swimming (beach) was the 24th April and the last day was 19th November... so that´s 7 long months!!
> 
> This year I remember sunbathing in the attic (suntrap) most of the month of February, my mum came to see us and we started ´lunching´and dining in the garden in March...
> 
> We don´t use any heating at all here, if we get cold, we use a nice blanket while watching telly, but this is a new built house, so maybe it is insulated properly, although it hasn´t been THAT cold in the winter, we do have a chimney but we use it as a bed for the cats.... they love it there!


last winter wasn't especially cold - except for a few days in Feb I think


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

The Siberian cold... in February.. I think the minimum temp this year so far was -0.7 back in February. Unlike Pamplona (my hometown), where we have that most days in the winter!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

spanish_lad said:


> how many people would drive about in *illegal cars*, *not pay their council taxes*, knock down a wall or two on a sunday afternoon, have 10 beers then drive home etc etc etc.
> 
> most people that live here need a good kick up the back side.


and that's just the immigrants!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> last winter wasn't especially cold - except for a few days in Feb I think


You say that but we recorded -10c one night and all the farmers around us (and us as well) lost our lemon trees.

A lot of orange trees were also 'tickled'.


Having now replaced all the plants we lost (despite trying to protect them), I'm hoping for a milder winter this year.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I think for some strange reason, for the four years we were in Spain we had record bad winters. Certainly by October we needed heat in the evenings in the house, we had the torrential rains, floods, landslides, high winds that 2009/10 went on from mid December to April. Other winters found me scraping ice off the car windows in the mornings and we certainly had the fire in the evenings and radiators on to dry the washing from October til end March. I have noticed that this last winter wasnt as bad as it had been when we were there - its me isnt it lol!!

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> You say that but we recorded -10c one night and all the farmers around us (and us as well) lost our lemon trees.
> 
> A lot of orange trees were also 'tickled'.
> 
> ...


come to think of it we were in the UK for the month of February - so missed the coldest time, I seem to remember there was snow on Montgó - & by the time we came back here we'd become so used to the snow, rain, sleet & frankly freezing (to us, anyway) grey weather, that it seemed really warm


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## livoshka (Sep 19, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> last winter wasn't especially cold - except for a few days in Feb I think


Yea it was terrible. I hope this year is better. It rained for literally a month straight where I live, and I was waiting and waiting to go to the Cies islands, and I never got to go because it was always too cold


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## livoshka (Sep 19, 2012)

livoshka said:


> I did without heat (I live in the north) and it was miserable and I suffered a lot. Get a portable radiator, or calefacción


I want to correct this. LAST winter was terrible, the winter before that was comfortable enough


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Inland Valencia tends to get much colder than coastal Valencia.

Same way it gets hotter inland than by the coast in the summer.


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

I remember when we went to Ontinyent last month (for the day) and it was like 42 degrees, arrghh! then we came back to the coast where we live and it was a nice 32 degrees!


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

I am looking forward to the ´Gota Fria´... see if it is all true! We arrived here at end of January so we didn´t really see any floods and torrential rains... or is it just a myth?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lolito said:


> I am looking forward to the ´Gota Fria´... see if it is all true! We arrived here at end of January so we didn´t really see any floods and torrential rains... or is it just a myth?


it's a myth that we get one every year

it's also a myth that it always brings floods


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

jojo said:


> we certainly had the fire in the evenings and radiators on to dry the washing from October til end March.
> Jo xxx


Blimey! - sounds just like Cornwall


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

virgil said:


> Blimey! - sounds just like Cornwall


 lol! It didnt help that it was the year of snow on the runway at Gatwick and of the ash cloud and my commuting husband was stuck in the UK for weeks

Jo xxx


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> it's a myth that we get one every year
> 
> it's also a myth that it always brings floods


pah! I was so looking forward to non-stop rain for hours.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

I would be very wary of claims that any particular 'resistance' electric heater is 'cheaper to run' or 'more efficient' than any other. A kilowatt electric heater is just that - no more no less. It is worth getting radiant heaters rather than convecting types if you have a high ceiling but apart from that they are all much the same in terms of efficiency.

I avoid them anyway and use a log fire and gas heaters. I'm starting to get interested in paraffin as well having read this thread...

ETA using reversible A?C for heating *is *efficient.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Lolito said:


> pah! I was so looking forward to non-stop rain for hours.


Me too!

As I sit here in our upstairs study I can see ominous dark clouds massing over the sierra...I can hear thunder....I'm not going to water the geraniums..

Fingers crossed it will p*** down....but only overnight as it's my kennel day tomorrow and there rain =a lot of mud mixed with the excrementos in the outside runs...


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Well, the weather ´people´ (those that are always wrong!), said it was going to rain all day long today, at least 85% probability of rain.

There I was last night, making sure all windows and doors are closed and things in the patio put away and parasols down and pool covered... and not rain at all so far... and it is 8.07pm.... pah! 

I should have gone to the beach instead!


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## eliz.r.morgan (Sep 17, 2012)

Sirtravelot said:


> I understand that insulation is poor and some (most?) houses don't have central heating, so...how do you do it?
> 
> Also, maybe we can use this thread to share tips?
> 
> Does anyone use snuggies?


Feet are your main receptors of cold. Just get some slippers. I love the ones from REI


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lolito said:


> I should have gone to the beach instead!


The weather people assumed you *were *going to the beach that is why they said there was an 85% chance of rain. YOU are the one who screwed up the forecast by making all those preparations and then staying home. You have only yourself to blame!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

eliz.r.morgan said:


> Feet are your main receptors of cold. Just get some slippers. I love the ones from REI


and decent socks/leggings and those electric footwarmers from Lidl


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

eliz.r.morgan said:


> Feet are your main receptors of cold. Just get some slippers. I love the ones from REI


I thought it was your head
When it was minus 25C in Prague you couldn't go out with your head uncovered.
Of course you needed good warm boots too.


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## spanish_lad (Sep 18, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> and decent socks/leggings and those electric footwarmers from Lidl


thermal undies. imagine you are 80 years old and slip them on, you´ll never feel the cold again


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## annfoto (Aug 19, 2012)

Spanish Lad
80 is only 20 years from now . . . so as I said at the beginning a good wood burning stove and there will be no need for thermal knickers.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

annfoto said:


> Spanish Lad
> 80 is only 20 years from now . . . so as I said at the beginning a good wood burning stove and there will be no need for thermal knickers.


depends on your gender - some 40+% of the population have less natural insulation on their derrières and less of a thatch on the roof so thermal pants and a hat become more essential as one ages. and some of us are nearer 80!


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

These are what we use to take the chill orf the ole cottage prior to firing up the multi-fuel stove later in the year:

Dimplex CDE2TI Cadiz Eco Electric Oil Free Radiator,2 Kilowatt: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (Amazon)

9.45am - 13.7c on the out, 20c on the in


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

virgil said:


> These are what we use to take the chill orf the ole cottage prior to firing up the multi-fuel stove later in the year:
> 
> Dimplex CDE2TI Cadiz Eco Electric Oil Free Radiator,2 Kilowatt: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (Amazon)
> 
> 9.45am - 13.7c on the out, 20c on the in


Our 12noon (your 11 a.m.) 27 out 20 in sunny blue sky not a cloud in sight.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Our 12noon (your 11 a.m.) 27 out 20 in sunny blue sky not a cloud in sight.


11.30am ... soared to 16c, quite bright (bright grey!) might even wear a bikini later.

(unless my wife is wearing it)


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

virgil said:


> These are what we use to take the chill orf the ole cottage prior to firing up the multi-fuel stove later in the year:
> 
> Dimplex CDE2TI Cadiz Eco Electric Oil Free Radiator,2 Kilowatt: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home (Amazon)
> 
> 9.45am - 13.7c on the out, 20c on the in


That's probably a good compromise. You can move it about - better than one fixed to a wall.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

jimenato said:


> That's probably a good compromise. You can move it about - better than one fixed to a wall.


Had them one year now - they look the part as well 

We live in an olde granite cottage with 2 foot fick walls and low ceilings so it soon heats up but, they would be expensive to run, me thinks, in a poorly insulated home.

I've had positive results using those cheap halogen heaters in the past but, they only heat the space directly in front of them.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

Err, I check out Meteoxabia most days, and I haven't seen el sol for about dos semanas, is that correct, or is the weather site telling porkies?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

virgil said:


> Err, I check out Meteoxabia most days, and I haven't seen el sol for about dos semanas, is that correct, or is the weather site telling porkies?


it's been sunny today, and pretty much every day for the past several months - certainly since April, and we've had no real rain since Easter

we have had a few cloudy days recently though, and a storm was threatened a couple of days ago, (yellow alert from AEMET) which never appeared

it has been up to about 28º today with a current realfeel of about 35º

Meteoxabia


btw - it's now officially autumn - as of about half an hour ago


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

35 here outside and what's rain, I've forgotten?


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> it's been sunny today, and pretty much every day for the past several months - certainly since April, and we've had no real rain since Easter
> 
> we have had a few cloudy days recently though, and a storm was threatened a couple of days ago, (yellow alert from AEMET) which never appeared
> 
> ...


Thanks chica, 28c sounds better than the 14c here 

We're about to get a 'decent' storm over the weekend in blighty, and the Canaries will feel the tail end of "Nadine" 

But I doubt if the earth will move for us like it has for Hepa (up to 5 centimetres!)


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

We need rain! Blooming hot here, 33ºc had to come inside the house, my forehead was leaking into my eyes. Once again will have to water the plants!


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> it's been sunny today, and pretty much every day for the past several months - certainly since April, and we've had no real rain since Easter


That'll be Easter 2011 I reckon - here at least...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jimenato said:


> That'll be Easter 2011 I reckon - here at least...


yes, come to think of it last winter wasn't so very wet


must be cos jojo took it all back to the UK with her


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

Hepa said:


> We need rain! Blooming hot here, 33ºc had to come inside the house, my forehead was leaking into my eyes. Once again will have to water the plants!


33c!! - it's only 21c indoors here, and I've got the eating on


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

virgil said:


> 33c!! - it's only 21c indoors here, and I've got the eating on


25ºc indoors, we have a very old house, 150 years, with big thick walls, keeps us cool when we get these hot spells.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

Hepa said:


> 25ºc indoors, we have a very old house, 150 years, with big thick walls, keeps us cool when we get these hot spells.


Still 21c in here, 18th century detached granite cottage up on the moor, I had this ere idea that it would be warm n' snuggly, which it is when I fire up the multi-fuel stove layder in the year but, without heat, olde cottages are a tad too cool at the best of times, in the Northern hemisphere!


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

Of course the old houses were built to cope with the climate, not for looks or economy. We also have the thick walls so its 25 inside when it's 35 outside so we don't need aircon. Only got a bit uncomfortable inside when it was 40+ outside and we have a fan to use then but only for visitors as a rule. We can suffer a bit of heat after ten years in the cold and wet of Wales! Our bones are still drying out!


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

dream on said:


> Of course the old houses were built to cope with the climate, not for looks or economy. We also have the thick walls so its 25 inside when it's 35 outside so we don't need aircon. Only got a bit uncomfortable inside when it was 40+ outside and we have a fan to use then but only for visitors as a rule. We can suffer a bit of heat after ten years in the cold and wet of Wales! Our bones are still drying out!


_Hehe!_ ... it's been raining all day here in the Wet Country 

I always used to wonder how come peeps had their Rayburn going even in the 'summer'.

Course, now I know the answer to that one


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## dream on (Sep 26, 2010)

virgil said:


> _Hehe!_ ... it's been raining all day here in the Wet Country
> 
> I always used to wonder how come peeps had their Rayburn going even in the 'summer'.
> 
> Course, now I know the answer to that one


As a Spanish acquaintance was heard to say, "I went to London in August and it was winter!"


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