11264 Needs

once our houses were completely finished and we had (in our hands) the certificate of habitability which confirms that the structure,the heating plumbing and electric systems all conform to E.U.and local/national norms we called our local insurance agent who came first informally we discussed various aspects of insurance then took out our policy thru him with Allianz.

stove/pellet/boiler systems are in continual change and advance,Italy is Europe's largest manufacturer of these.I know of wood/oil boilers i have not heard ,personally, about methane/wood boilers, but they may now exist, your best bet would be to go to a reputable sales point for this kind of thing and hear what they have to say, as it could be necessary to have two seperate boilers at that point, but i'm not sure

Your last point concerning government tax relief on fittings, which again have to conform to E.U. requirements, does not entitle you to any form of direct discount neither to any form of direct reimbursement basically what happens is that (this is in most cases for these things) your fitment plans,along with the written estimate from the supplier,along with the final invoice including V.A.T.signed off as paid are submitted and a small percentage of the total (excluding VAT) is deductable from your annual tax return for the next eight years.At which point many people Italians included don't even bother with the hassle,it is however your right to do so, often your local retailer or the company who made your fittings may be willing to help you thru this, otherwise you may require the services of a commercialista to guide you at which point the costs involved could start to be more then the benefits

[quote=redimp98;106506]Needs.....
1. Buildings insurance via Italian company
2. Caldaia..woodburner that can be switched from wood/pellets to metano/gpl
3. Serramenti...how do you get the 55% back (Govt offer) for fitted shutters/windows[/quote]
(1) We have used RAS and Allianz in the past (now merged to form one company) and I can confirm that our experiences have been good - when we had a claim it was settled promptly. That said, just signed up a building in progress that I am managing for a friend - with Aviva. Another large and reputable insurer who appears more competitive at the moment.
(2) Not aware of a dual fuel of wood and gas and would be surprised if they existed (would be a safety and engineering nightmare). Many people (us included) have two boilers, pellet and LPG (GPL) and some electrics to alow switch over between the two. There are more sophisticated (expensive) switches that will swap to gas automatically. Depending upon house size, it may be sensible to have a water heating solution for the summer that does not require running a large pellet system that is specified for central heating etc. There are many on this forum who have good experience of this side of life in Italy.
(3) I suspect Sebastiano is correct, but would love to hear of any special schemes for actual refund or "contributi" for windows etc. (There is a good scheme for electrical solar panels that I am aware of). Anything that does exist will require you to be resident and likely prima cassa. You should be able to get a reduced rate of 10% VAT (IVA) on materials and services.

Looks like we'll stick to the idea of a caldaia that runs on wood/pellets, dual system. Someone told me that the pellets are actually quite effective. I notice that a 15kg bag costs only 4 euro. What would the average 2-bedroom size house need per day or over the 3 Winter months? If its 1 bag a day, that's only about 400 euro for a whole year's central heating needs, assuming little need outside Dec/Jan/Feb.

How much should I expect to pay for the caldaia itself? What's the kw requirement for a house of 150 sq m?
many thanks for replies.

A good point earlier. Obv we wouldnt want a caldaia operating the whole central heating system March to Nov just to allow us to have hot water. So what are the best ways of getting hot water without having the CHS on? Sorry to sound thick.

"What's the kw requirement for a house of 150 sq m?"

Redimp.
There are so many factors relating to the requirements for the heating output.
Insulation level ........ roof, walls,windows etc
Heating system .......... underfloor, wall panels or radiators.
House type........ modern, old, brick or stone.
Altitude and location.
The possibilities and answers are endless. I would suggest you get your geometre or a thermal engineer to give you a thermal analysis.

[quote=redimp98;106625]A good point earlier. Obv we wouldnt want a caldaia operating the whole central heating system March to Nov just to allow us to have hot water. So what are the best ways of getting hot water without having the CHS on? Sorry to sound thick.[/quote]

I don't know if I'm thick - or have missed the point here, but my boiler supplies me with hot water [I][U]and[/U][/I] heating during the winter period and when only hot water is required I just turn a knob from the [I]winter[/I] to the [I]summer[/I] setting. This eliminates the radiator heating system entirely...

This [URL="http://www.expressshop.lv/en/heating_equipment/natural_gas_bowlers/junkers_euromaxx__zwc_28-1_mf2k.htm"][B]>Junkers Euromaxx<[/B][/URL] is the model I have, it was fitted in 2005 and is great - I just turn the knob when I only need hot water - it's as easy as that. The only other task is to ensure that the 'water atmosphere pressure' (shown on a little dial) is correct, and that only takes about a minute or two every couple of months. Ideal for a 'non techie' like me!

I agree..................just switch to rads AND water on the dial and you get heat in radiators and hot water, pretty simple stuff me thinks? Turn the switch towards the tap only and hey presto.............no radiator heat but hot water only!:nah:

Has anyone thought of installing a caldaia a sansa.... one that burns 'sansa' (processed olive waste) or pellets.
We have one which runs in conjunction with solar panels for hot water and it is superb and cheap to run. We pay 1.9 euros per 20 kilo bag of the stuff and during cold periods we use just over a bag a day to heat a large four bed house and provide hot water.
The main point to consider first though is accessibility to a supply of sansa.
Worth enquiring about with local plumbers!

I may have missed something but I don't think it possible to have Wood/pellet stoves as the two seem to work on different principles ie with pellet there is forced air and a hopper driven by electricity plus a very small "hearth" and the whole gizmo is rather tall - I would be fascinated to be proved wrong

[quote=chris renzo;106870]Has anyone thought of installing a caldaia a sansa.... one that burns 'sansa' (processed olive waste) or pellets.
We have one which runs in conjunction with solar panels for hot water and it is superb and cheap to run. We pay 1.9 euros per 20 kilo bag of the stuff and during cold periods we use just over a bag a day to heat a large four bed house and provide hot water.
The main point to consider first though is accessibility to a supply of sansa.
Worth enquiring about with local plumbers![/quote]

I am very interested in this idea. Did you purchase a caldaia a sansa from a local manufacturer? I have noticed there is a factory near Acri (Fratelli Lavia) which isn't too far from us.
And where do you source your sansa? Can you get it delivered in bulk?

Yes you are right. the 'caldaia' is a boiler which burns the fuel with the aid of a fan and is fed from a hopper attached to the burner and heat exhanger. Not something you would want in you living room, nor is the fuel store! You need a garage or other outbuilding to house this type of boiler.

[quote=iwanttobeinitaly;107379]I am very interested in this idea. Did you purchase a caldaia a sansa from a local manufacturer? I have noticed there is a factory near Acri (Fratelli Lavia) which isn't too far from us.
And where do you source your sansa? Can you get it delivered in bulk?[/quote]

We bought the caldaia through our plumbers who did all the installations. There is a processing plant very close to us in Calabria on the Ionian coast which receives the waste from many of the frantoios in the area. Although they don't deliver themselves, It is possible to get on of the local farmers to pick it up in a trailer which can be weighed on a weighbridge before and after loading or just bought by the number of bags. As I mentioned in the first post, it would be necessary to check in your area about the availability of the sansa before going any further. If there is a frantoio nearby, it may be worth going in and asking where they send their waste. If there is a nearby source, again, we would highly reccommend this type of heater not only from an economical point of view but we're told it's good environmentally so when anyone tries to preach to us about the harm we're causing the environment by taking so many short haul flightrs to Italyeach year....Yawn, we can hit them with our 'caldaia'!!

I service a number of Sansa boilers for clients and would recommend them to anyone, so long as you dont mind the in use maintenance ie feeding the hopper clearing the fire box etc.

CMD just south of Pescara do a range of Biomass boilers you can view there products on there wbsite [url=http://www.cmdcaldaie.com]CMD - Costruzioni Termomeccaniche Service S.r.l.[/url].
The Marina is the one that will burn Sansa amongst other things.

Just to answer a previous question, you can buy dual fuel boilers that burn wood or gas/oil, but they are rather pricey and it would be cheaper to link a Termocamino to a gas boiler system or vice versa.

Also Sansa is selling for 10 euro per quintale (100kg) ot the moment or slightly dearer in sacks.
Not all presses sell sansa as it requires processing first and drying out before it can be burnt and not many presses will go to the trouble.

Regards