Winter rentals and heating

Up, down, could be better? How to get more bookings is our number one obsession. Talk shop here.
la vache!
Posts: 11065
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:22 pm

Winter lets...

Post by la vache! »

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and have found some very useful advice - thankyou everyone and especially Paolo for setting it up! I just wanted to add something about the cost of winter lets - I get quite a few, mainly from French people (short stays) so it is definitely worth doing. I invested in some Acova radiators, which although a relatively expensive outlay, have been twice as economic and efficient as the old convector radiators. They have also saved me the sleepless nights of worrying about the electricity bills whenever people have stayed! Just from my experience, I had some French people from Monaco (obviously not used to the cool Brittany climate!)who stayed for 2 months (Oct & Nov). One of them didn't work, so I guess the radiators were on virtually 24 hours a day _ the electricity bill was 300€ incl the TVA, so I estimate about 30 - 40 € per week whenever I charge for winter lets now. Luckily there is a seperate meter so they paid for their electricity, which for longer lets is definitely the best way to do it. I still prefer to have someone in the gites rather than no-one in the winter, as long as I am not maling a loss!
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Susan,

Welcome to the forum!

Do you happen to know where I could find more information about Acova radiators? Sounds interesting... if you don't mind my asking, how much were they compared to traditional radiators?

Cheers,viewtopic.php?t=416
Brooke
la vache!
Posts: 11065
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:22 pm

Post by la vache! »

Brooke,
I got mine from my local plumber who gave me a good rate, approx. 200€ for a 750watt to 500€ for a 2000 watt (depending on where you live, the m2 to heat, insulation etc.)
I think they are expensive comared to other radiators, but they heat well and cheaply, and look good - I guess it depends on howmany winter bookings you get to judge if they are a viable expense or not. If you do a search on Acova on google.fr, you will find a number of suppliers.
Sue.
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tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

We're just in the throws of finishing off our project in our home...was meant to be a bathroom ensuite,,,but has grown to a whole barn conversion!

The heating we are having installed here is electric with ceramic insides...made by Mercedes in Germany...expensive to purchase but apparently very economicto run.

Remi who visited us with the sales pitch actually gave us names of other English people that have had installed - made some new friends which was nice! So we were able to see it insitu...the folk that have the system raved about it.

We tried to get comparison prices but it looks like only a few enterprises have the concession...if anyone does want to find out further info please do pm me...I'll be happy to give Remi's number.
centime
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:56 am
Location: Lisbon, city centre, Portugal
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Post by centime »

Tansy: Do you mean Heatwafers, we are thinking of installing them here in Lisbon, as a friend of ours has then in his Algarve villa and his houses in Lisbon. Anyone else know of this system - you can see the site at heatwafer.com, if you have can you let me know how you like them. I know I should not complain but it is even cold in Lisbon now and we seem to be having the best of the temperatures in Europe but when you are not used to it! We still have the roast chestnuts sellers in the street though! :wink:
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tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

No the appear to be called THERMIE-PRO in the UK
Warme - LHZ

The company we are dealing with is called AURIS in Caen...there was a company in London also dealing with them but I got no reply when I emailed them.

We looked at 4 different "revolutionary" electric systems... no gas here (we had an underground cistern at our last house incredibly expensive to run) Oil can also fluctuate as you all know & as France is nuclear at least they don't run out (at the moment!).

There was quite an interesting new idea from Sweden - oil filled radiators - but when we calculated the running costs we opted for the ceramic - as they hold the heat for much longer.

I'm happy to give numbers if you want...for London & Caen.
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