Heating Systems In Ibiza
Heating systems in Ibiza are one of the “hot topics” among winter residents, even if winter in Ibiza might not be as cold as in other countries. The high humidity and the absence of central heating in many houses will make the cold feel colder when you’re inside. Properties in Ibiza were not built with winter in mind, as many houses were built to keep the interior cool during the hot summer, because during the mild winter a big open fireplace was enough to heat the place.
It’s now the norm that houses constructed in the last few years have been built to new specifications. Insulation is now used, to keep the house warmer in winter and cooler in summer and many new villas or apartments have the luxury of an underfloor heating system or central heating.
However, if you live in an older house, for the whole year, there are a couple of things you should consider in winter and some tricks you should learn to avoid feeling cold indoors. If your house has a fireplace, it’s a good option to keep using it! If you never had a fireplace before, it might take some time to learn how to use it and keep the fire going. Once you learn the tricks, it provides you with a very good, more natural option to warm up the whole place all day! If you can’t cut your own wood, there are plenty of places where you can buy it. Pallets are very cheap and overall 20/25 kg of good olive tree logs (which last longer than other types of wood) can cost up to 7/8 euro.
Portable (plug-in) electric heaters are inexpensive to buy, but costly to use. These include ‘radiant’ bar fires, warm air heaters, oil-filled radiators, fan heaters, and halogen heaters. They are popular options among islanders, when there is the need to heat a room quickly or for a short period. If you go for this option you should take into consideration that the electricity in some properties can’t cope with having more than one heater, a dehumidifier, the laptop, the TV, and the washing machine all on at the same time. Power cuts are frequent and you should check first the power supply of your house. The cheapest to run are halogen heaters and oil-filled radiators; the most expensive is bar fires and fan heaters.
If you are looking for a long-lasting solution, you may wish to install air-conditioning.
Blowing out hot air, in a short time can warm up the place enough. If the AC is left on for a long time, this option could come a bit expensive when the electricity bills are coming every 2 months. There are several types of air conditioning, and overall very good. As you can use it also in summer to cool the house – Window AC, Split or ductless AC, Portable AC & Central AC.
Another option is the gas heating system. These include traditional gas fires, convector heaters, open gas fires, and bottled-gas heaters. Gas bottles (bombonas) are delivered to homes by Repsol Butano, for which a contract is required. You must pay a deposit of around €25 and an exchange bottle, medium size, costs around €12.80. You must change your bottles at a local supplier, which luckily are located all around the island. A bottle used for heating the house can last up to 3 weeks.
Want something more eco-friendly?
As Ibiza is one of the sunniest countries in the world, solar energy is a viable option. If you have the chance to switch to solar energy to heat up your house, you should go for it! There are several companies on the island who can help you with this. Except for the initial cost of installation, the advantages are no running costs, maintenance-free operation, and no (or very small) electricity bills.
To cut completely the cost of your energy bills you can combine solar energy with the innovative heating system from Infratec. Compared to conventional heating solutions, Infratec offers a solution with several advantages such as low costs and high energy efficiency, plus the fact that it will instantly warm your room without leaving any cold areas or damp.
As we mentioned previously dampness and high humidity are common problems in Ibiza and it’s worthwhile installing de-humidifiers ( deshumidificador), especially in the bedrooms, to prevent clothes and linen from going mouldy. You should check one of our previous posts “Fighting Damp and & Mould in Ibiza” to learn more about it.
