First upgrade – new heat pump
The first major upgrade was undertaken earlier in April. We replaced the pellet stove with a heat pump. The pellet stove worked well, but in order to keep it running, we had to add 4 to 5 bags of pellets each day. While this might work fine for homeowners, interrupting our guests on their vacation to add pellets is not something we want to do.
We’re open from April through October so heat isn’t that much of a problem although our April and early May guests did appreciate a bit of extra warmth. The new heat pump not only provides heat but also ensures hot water and we are now set up for air conditioning if we want to add it at some point in the future.
In order to install the heat pump, the workers had to drill a hole in the wall of the villa. It was 90 cm long! We knew the walls were reported to be almost 1 meter thick, but now we have actual confirmation. This thickness helps maintain the year-round internal temperature so that not much heat nor cooling is needed.
