Malta - British Expat Forum

I have been looking at houses in Cyprus, where heating and A/C seem essential. There is little insulation, and there is high humidity. I received the following helpful comments on homes in Malta:

Regarding heating and A/C : a gas heater is the best alternative to using the AC in winters. A gas cylinder which lasts for around 3 months costs only 20 euros and these heaters are the best when dealing with big properties or Houses of Character. These can be purchased at 40 euros approximately from a hardware store.

In the summer, I hardly ever use the AC myself .. we always have a breeze here (except in August) and a ceiling fan would do less financial damage than an electric AC. Sometimes it is necessary - most times not.

Any other comments or ideas? thanks folks

I don't use gas cylinders for heating myself but three months on one cylinder seems a tad optomistic.

Hi Mr B: The quoted comments are a shade optimistic regarding gas cylinder heaters. The heaters themselves are normally 65 to 120€ and there is a bottle deposit - you'd need two for xover - about 25€ each. Gas bottles cost twixt 16 and 19€ and if full on each evening last only one week.
The answer - wrap up warm. Cuddle a human or even a dog (available from Gozo SPCA).
But hey! Just think about the misery of winters back in the UK.

Gas heaters generally have 3 "bars" - if you use a heater on one bar, a bottle will last for about 120 hours - 4 months = 120-odd days, so if used for 1 hour a day it would just about last 4 months, but realistically most people seem to get through a bottle a week or fortnight in the winter based on the empties in my town - I reckon we use 15-20 cylinders a year to heat our town house

For what it's worth, in an apartment just using two heaters in the combined Kitchen/dining/living and not being overly warm but comfortable. We have used:

23 x 15kg Gas for heating = €443.40 (inc. 2 price rises)

1 x 15kg plus 2 x 12 kg for cooking = €51.11

Red

ps Before any of the macho thermal multi- layer brigade comment - We didn't intend to freeeeeze!!

I would have sweated just carrying that lot around.

EU regulations mean they now come in convenient 6 packs as well, for ladies unab;e to carry 12 cylinders at a time

Nah , I leave that bit to the fellahs. Thanks guys.

Red