Space Heating

There are two Heat-recuperators, one in the Private Side and one in the Banana Salon.

That in the Banana Salon heats just that room and the master bedroom, and is usually only used during April, some of May and October – bearing in mind that the Quinta is closed November to March.

That in the Private Side is a different beast altogether as it is far larger, and the heat produced is piped to seven different rooms – basically the whole of the private side and two kid’s rooms. Thus one fire keeps the Quinta's staff and family occupants warm all winter.

Andorinha has a small but efficient Wood-burning Stove.

The wood necessary to feed the Heat-recuperators and Wood Burner comes for the most part from the Quinta’s own land and therefore costs nothing apart from a little petrol, chain saw blades, some sweat and a little time – it’s a decent-enough way of keeping occupied during the winter and working off the excesses of the summer. Every third year or so the Quinta buys in about 4,000 kls of dried Oak should this be necessary.

As the Quinta is closed for the three colder months, it has very little need of any heating system for the “West Wing”, (the block of seven rooms closest to the guests’ car park), but sometimes there is a coldish snap right at the beginning or end of the season, so for these occurrences the Quinta has gas heaters using bottled butane. Due to the design and insulation of these rooms, very little gas is used.