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OMG… this little tiny box on my wall is about to change my life. I haven’t had central heating since I lived in Bristol (1990-1992) and today I finally bit the bullet and turned the thing on. I’ve been wanting to save money but we’re going through a cold snap here, and I decided I have enough to deal with having a painful sprained ankle without also sitting here shivering away as I try to get some work done. So hang the expense! At least for today.
I’d much rather have this kind of aircon/heating system, with just one unit in the livingroom and another upstairs, but oh well. I am hoping that the double-glazed windows in the livingroom and my bedroom will help conserve heat (and cold air in summer). And anyhow, if the heat was shut off upstairs it would probably just go up the stairwell, so there is nothing for it but to heat the entire apartment. I was talking about this to Agustín last night (who has the wall unit system) and he said that if I set my thermostat to a low but comfortable temperature it should be cheaper to run it all day than to keep turning it off and on again. Given that it’s taken an hour for the temp here to go from 14º to 18º he could have a point. Once the place reaches 20º it’ll take less energy to maintain the heat than to turn it off and start from scratch again. I’m actually already feeling more comfortable at 18º but I guess it’ll be a question of trying out various combinations of space heaters and the central heating to see which is more economical, but right now I’m very glad to have this option.
Though I recall my friend Paco telling me how he hates his central heating because in summer cockroaches come out of the vents (!!!!!). But I already have a plan for that. One apartment I looked at during the search also had central heating and I noticed they had attached plastic mesh screens over all the vent openings, which was all I had to see to walk away and not take the place. So here’s hoping this won’t be necessary. According to an engineer friend who works for the water company, each and every house in the old centre of Sevilla is stuffed full of roaches. He had a few horror stories of breaking open walls to get at the pipes… but apparently they usually stay where it’s dark and damp. We’ll see what happens here.
But it’s such a fabulous place. Every day it feels a little more like home. Wish I could walk though…
casa azahar 
My brother & his family keep their central heating on 18 permanently (they have 3 kids under 4) and it always feels comfortable in their house.
Cockroaches would give the cats something to play with, I suppose!
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I’ve just switched the temp from 21 to 20 … may lower it to 18. But I don’t think I would never leave it on at night, which means cranking it up every morning.
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Turn it down to something quite low at night, perhaps 12…
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Absolutely just keep the heat on at a prudent level as long as it remains cold out; turning on and off is more expensive. If you are comfortable keeping a stockpot full of water over the lowest heat on your stove (depending on what the cats might do — mine don’t bother the pot), the little bit of humidity will make a lower temperature feel warmer and spare your skin and sinuses too.
Strange as a fan may sound in winter, a low-speed fan positioned to move warm air toward cold spots can help a lot. Try aiming one down the stairs, or positioning it in any dead air space where heat seems to build up.
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We have thermostatic valves fitted to our CH radiators – which means we can turn down (or off) in any room that’s not being used.
Glad to hear the new place is feeling like home – and I hope that ankle feels better soon.
xx
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I’ve asked if shutting off the vents in different areas of the house (like, for now, the extra bedroom) would help conserve energy, but nobody has been able to come up with a definitive reply yet.
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We have (or had because the Co-op replaced it when the old one broke) computerized thermostats so that you can set the temp for waking, sleeping, mid-day, when you are typically out of the house, weekday or weekend…. a full range of times so that it isn’t a case of “cranking it up”. You can set the night temp lower and set it to warm up before you get out of bed, turn down mid-day when you’d be up and around, down when you’d be typically at the office, up for when you’d be getting home, down when you’d be cooking, and down if you are away for a few days.
Sadly, when the old one broke, the co-op replaced it with a manual one (with control for central air which we have in this unit).
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…And I find that the upstairs is ALWAYS colder than the downstairs. I haven’t found a way to balance the heat.
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My upstairs is always warmer, for some reason, but I leave all the doors open downstairs to allow the dog free access so that could be why. My bedroom radiator doesn’t even work, which I actually like as I have an electric blanket on the bed. I love rushing through the cold room to jump into a toastie warm bed!
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Thing is, I don’t mind bundling up and wearing three layers in winter (the scarf is because my neck always feels the cold) but during most of my time in Spain this has still meant that I’ve been shivering and uncomfortable all winter long. Today has reminded me of how I used to live … you just pay for heat. And I have no problem with that as long as I am able to pay the bills when they arrive. But man! It’s been so amazing all day, not feeling cold or uncomfortable, and even having to remove my scarf a couple of times!
New life…
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