Keeping warm in winter???

The buildings are not properly insulated, and there is no central heating in apartments.
Workmanship often allows breezy drafts through closed doors, windows. In summer this is ok, in winter its hard to warm up as the cold and damp are difficult to overcome, unless you spend high on heating.

Thanks for your reply, looks like we´ll be paying high heating bills as I hate being cold ha ha x

You will! Make sure you try and get on the Residential Tariff for energy - see other threads for details...I wrote a long post about what you need. It will save you a lot of money.

Tim

plus it would be better if you can find a newly built one. I tried both and happy with the newer

Thanks, we will go for a new build apartment. I never thought of this as a problem as its easy to heat our flat in Spain and thought the workmanship would be about the same. Thankfully heating is only needed for a couple of months

if you define a couple as being 4 or 5 (at least in our case).

Good point ha ha its more wishful thinking

check for double glazing on windows for the new builds, some do have it

Yeah that's what we´re going to do. Fingers crossed we can find something like that as with a little one to think about don´t want her getting cold at night xxx

As I think others have said already, because the Summers are so hot the buildings are not built to retain heat, which you'll be thankful for in Summer, but during the colder months it generally feels colder inside the flat than outside!

I've not found it too much of a problem though, my boyfriend and I live in quite a big 2 bedroom place, not especially new, we used an electric heater for a while whilst his grandmother was visiting but generally a blanket, some thick socks (cold uncarpeted floors!) and a hot water bottle have done us ok!

I certainly wouldn't see the chilly (inside) winters as a discouragement to moving here though.
Good luck!

Hi,
Thanks for all the replies. I´m hoping we can get somewhere with double glazing and a fab heating system lol. I´ve been in Spain too long can´t stand the cold now. Failing that I´ll have to get those long johns on, sure the hubbie will love that ha ha xxx

in my experience having lived here for three years - the properties are built with blocks and some are maltese stone - they retain heat in summer and dampness/humidity in winter...not a lot you can do about it - theres no insulation and the walls are not double skins as in Uk. no cetnral heating here either. try not to have too many outside walls it will feel warmer....and invest in some electric blankets for the winter months as the humidity does get to the bedding and wardrobes - believe me it does. gas heaters are the norm method of heating here. air con heat is too expensive - approx 50p per hour - doesnt sound  a lot but can mount up....

The trouble with Gas heaters is that they ADD to the humidity...so you really want a de-humidifier too...at least that's what I'm told by my Maltese friends.

Tim

Now that the price of gas is no longer subsidised, the cost advantage of gas over a modern aircon/heater has reduced massively - gas's big advantage now is that you know exactly how much you are spending.

very true about the gas creating humidity - well water vapour...lots of it.....plus it stings your eyes after a while - and yes the cost advantage with gas has vastly eroded.

toonarmy9752 wrote:

.plus it stings your eyes after a while

sounds like it needs a service

toonarmy9752 wrote:

very true about the gas creating humidity - well water vapour...lots of it.....plus it stings your eyes after a while - and yes the cost advantage with gas has vastly eroded.

Charles from Ontario Canada.  When you say "Gas" I assume it is the propane type in Malta ?  The sting in your eyes is from the fumes of your appliance. That's a health hazard. You should have your appliance looked at by a service guy.  Actually it should be vented out. Fresh air should be brought in. The high humidity is coming from the warm inside air coming in contact with the Maltese cold walls.  When you have high humidity inside your home (in the winter times especially) you'll actually feel much colder.  Removing that humidity by a dehumidifier (someone mentioned) is the right way to feel more comfortable.

About 10 years ago when we had a flat in Mosta my wife and I decided to come in March and spend a few weeks. It was the most coldest place on earth. We had no means of heating the place. It was like living in an igloo. Both of us were born and raised in Malta, but left Malta in 1962 right after we got married and my time with the Royal Air Force was expiring and was going to be shipped back to the UK., but instead we emigrated to Canada.  I guess we forgot those younger years living in Malta  how cold it used to be, but we survived the winters. One cannot compare the Maltese winters with the Canadian harsh winters, but at least homes are more comfortable in the winter time.  But honestly after 49 years we still miss and love Malta. The Last time we visited was in 2010 when we had to attend a family wedding in May.   As always, home is were the heart is, but we will never forget our Mother land.

Take good care of our homeland, enjoy and treasure her and always keep her traditions going, it's the only way the Maltese culture remains alive and well. Don't let the rest of Europe change her heart and its colourful traditions.

Charles.

we have both a new one and an older one and both sting our eyes. If you feel the cold i defo try and find a building that is built without maltese stone, is new, has a form of heating other than bottled gas, as few outside walls as possible, good ventilation and fully opening windows, dehumidifiers as they do make a big big difference as they effectively dry out your rooms and bedding etc thus warming it up.....some air con units have deumidifiers within them.

This has been really interesting for me as didn't realise it would be such a problem. Surely if we can find a new build apartment with heating that will be fine???? Or is the workmanship that bad x

Personally, I don't think it is any different to Spain.  There too the houses can be cold in the winter, and damp, and draughty. 

The workmanship levels seem similar.  The only real difference here I have found is the level of humidity.

I did 5 winters in Spain and several here so have quite a good comparison.  Utility costs here however are more expensive!

Jules
x

its not the build quality but the way its built.

Maltese stone tends to retain heat in the summer and the humidity in winter and as such your property will feel colder. its not so much a problem more of an inconvenience..if cash isnt a problem put the heating on.....whether it be gas heaters or air con on heat or electric convector heaters on full......

Thanks think I´ll get a dehumidifier as well seems like thats the answer. I´m not worried about us its more my little girl she´s grown up in a warm climate and when we took her back to the UK one winter the poor little thing hated it x

well definitely invest in some electric blankets for the bedding to keep it dry of humidity...... and the dehumidifier for general drying - we used tog et between 5-10 litres per day just in the air