Winter in Malta

colder indoors than outdoors mainly due to the walls being sponges for humidity and rainwater.

choices for heating - electric heaters, halogen heaters, gas fires 12kg bottles) or AC  - maybe even bio-ethanol or kerosene.

very few homes have central heating

I can second what Toon is saying, we came over to Malta & Gozo to have a look at what was available and everyone thought we were stupid coming over in winter BUT we didn't want to stay in a hotel, we wanted to live in an apartment and see what we would live like.
We opened the doors to let the heat in!
On a night we used hot water bottles and even bought a small electric heater for use while we were there.

Malta has a strange winter due to the humidity although the temp is quite warm it feels much colder and as toon says worse indoors as the houses are built to keep the heat out.

For us we would find a way round it and have been looking at using a PARAFFIN/KEROSENE INVERTER HEATER, they are said to have much less odour than the old heaters although expensive compared.

Im not keen on portable gas heaters as they give out a lot of water vapour and give me a headache.

Still its something you have to consider when moving but for us we could put up with it for a short term rather than have months and months of freezing weather.

Also for us we could not afford to live in an apartment with air-con, if you can afford that and afford to run it then i doubt you would feel the winters uncomfortable.

Hope this helps

"Malta has a strange winter due to the humidity although the temp is quite warm it feels much colder and as toon says worse indoors as the houses are built to keep the heat out."

but conversely the malta stone retains the heat built up in summer in summer months.... as well as retaining moisture in winter months and the wet days..... hence the problem...

Gas is the most popular but is not ideal
AC is better but can be expensive to run unles you are lucky enough to have the modern invertor type
Electric heaters  - expensive to run
Halogen  - i found to be a waste of time and money
Bio ethanol - great heat output and lovely warm feeling - but expensive to run
Kerosene  - no real experience of them - but id be concerned about the fumes after burn

"Kerosene  - no real experience of them - but id be concerned about the fumes after burn"

Yes thats what we were concerned about but the new inverter type is supposed to be much better BUT i can't find any reviews on them.
only one and its an older machine but the same make Corona, interesting watch though as he does say it smells, would want to read a lot more reviews first as the company do sell the new ones as odourless.
They retail in the UK for £249 inc postage so are expensive.

here is the youtube review Old Corona inverter

yes  - exactly  - i have come across a few people here in Cyprus who use them and they say  - running no problem but when the burn stops the smell is evident

my house in the UK was often colder in than out too but it was solid brick with no cavity wall (about 1840) I second everything on this thread. malta is like south Africa with houses designed to withstand the heat. if we had insulation and double glazing then the summer would be unbearable. I hope the summer dries the walls as its mould central in my flat

redders_61 wrote:

my house in the UK was often colder in than out too but it was solid brick with no cavity wall (about 1840) I second everything on this thread. malta is like south Africa with houses designed to withstand the heat. if we had insulation and double glazing then the summer would be unbearable. I hope the summer dries the walls as its mould central in my flat

Actually, cavity wall  and double glazing works to keep heat in during the winter and heat out during the summer.
Eco houses can be designed to require no conventional heating or cooling and retain a constant temperature all year round.

Maltese stone is unsuitable for house building but was used because it is local  and available.
Few Maltese houses or flats are built with anything in mind other than profit.

Terry.