9132 Central Heating in Calabria???

You will need heating in winter as your not from Italy.I say this because the older Italian people of this region stay bundled up in outdoor clothing while inside thier unheated homes & you are not use to this way of uncomfortable,confining way of living.If the gas line is already in your area sign up for service or get gas delivered by tanker truck.

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the reply, I will have a chat with the builder and see if they can fit me a couple of radiators, worst case I'll get some electric space heaters fitted.

Thanks
Andy

stay away from anything electric if you can.Go with gas for heat,hot water etc.Drinking water by the bottle will also cost 300 euro a year per person but a water filter costs about that much & your set for life.

all people that live in calabria under 90... will have good central heating cause its freezing down there in the winter and also open fires... you know there is quite a bit of snow and it gets damp too...

if a summer holiday home for July and august then skip it...

electric... make sure that you are not going to trip everything out when you turn on your heaters...

to my mind... get pipes laid to all areas... have a proper assessment of volume versus radiator size made ....and install them where you think fit...and if you are planning to save on costs just have the other pipes capped... fitting a radiator that way will be easy later if you feel you want a bit more heat... and cost less too...

and make sure you have good double glazing and shutters... best way to keep warm is to stop cold coming in... i hate cold ..but some people can cope with a few less degrees or want more... i can never believe in the middle of winter here when we get clients walking around in t shirts and shorts..even sandles ...when we...meaning all the italian population along with us are still wearing overcoats and gloves...

[quote=adriatica;86004]i can never believe in the middle of winter here when we get clients walking around in t shirts and shorts..even sandles ...when we...meaning all the italian population along with us are still wearing overcoats and gloves...[/quote]

Good old Brits :bigergrin: The property is a new development on the side of an old building in Amantea town centre, so it should have all the pipework needed but I don't think the builder will be putting them in unless he has to I suppose.

Thank you for the advice, I will try to go down the route of gas/water heating instead of electric.
Thanks for the water filter tip Frank:winki:

Cheers
Andy

If you have a chimney fit a wood burning stove. You are at Amantea by the sea, friends north of Cosenza rented a place before building their own house. No central heating, in winter biggest problem was damp and subsequent mould. They have central heating and wood burning stove. It can be very damp in Calabria in winter as well as cold. If starting from scratch there are now all sorts of heating options, many of which are listed in these Forums.

Hi Noble,

No chimeny, it is a new build apartment from scratch so hopefully shouldn't suffer from any damp or mold (not to say that couldn't happen in the future though!) I will discuss my options with the developer to see how much he can fit me a cntral heating system for.
I will have a scan through the forums to get some ammo before I ask the question.

Thanks
Andy

We are in the process of buying an off plan villa in Zambrone - near Tropea and have provided a spec for the builder to include gas central heating and an open fire. Temperatures do not normally drop below zero, but we felt that even if we only use it occasionally it will be worth the investment.

We have a wood-burning stove which kicks out a terrific amount of heat, and does make winter visits bearable in northern Calabria. We also have five radiators run off a gas boiler. Problem is that we don't have mains gas, and bottled gas can be expensive. But it does help to keep overall temperature comfortable.
We paid about 3,000 Euro to get a new gas boiler and radiators fitted, plus about 1500 Euros for the stove. If forced to choose between the two, I think I'd vote for the stove.
rgds
Eddie B

thought this link might prove helpful as regards weather and decision making .... in respect of heating...

its the regional weather site...looks like snow this weekend with rain and wind...but getting better..

am sure if you click on various things it will give you maybe an average temp type bulletin somewhere

[url=http://www.calabriameteo.it/]CALABRIAMETEO - METEO CALABRIA[/url]

dont discount chimeny options in new builds... most italian apartments have this as standard still as they do like their grilled meat...
or at least a balcony grill thing... could be worth checking out the chimeny thing......although am not sure where you would store the wood...

finally and i think this applies to basically the hwole of Italy ... and ok when you go that far south you tend not to think of heat...but all italian houses feel freezing without some sort of heating system for a good three to six months of the year...depending where you live... its the way they are built i guess...or more to do with internal finsih...

eddie b ... i tend to agree with... and if i was going to attempt a wood fired solution i would go for a pellet stove...which pumps out hot air and a balcony would be able to hold the supply... although check availabilty of that supply...and also i guess in an apartment rules regarding installation

What about air conditioning for the winter months and a gas boiler for heating water? You'll only need heating for 5 months maximum! We've had temperatures reaching 23°C recently!

I have just checked through my legal contracts and it states that I get central heating & pre installed air con. Woo'hoo :bigergrin: