1108 Problem installing central heating

Hi! We have been subscribers to Italy for well over a year but have only just started visiting the website - which seems excellent, and conveys a real sense of an active community.

My wife Antonia and I live and work in London but for three years now we have also been fortunate enough to own a house in Roccasecca (Thomas Aquinas country) in Southern Lazio, which we visit five or six times a year (including Christmas).

We have vowed that we will not spend another Christmas without central heating BUT we are having huge problems finding a workman who will do a really good job at a realistic price. We have just returned from spending three weeks there during which, with a lot of effort and expenditure of time, we finally obtained a quote for 10k euros plus IVA.

The job involves connecting to an existing mains gas supply above ground nearby in the street and bringing the gas into the house, installing a good quality combi boiler for heating/ hot water, and installing piping and radiators. The house has a floor area of approximately 1,800 sq ft, with high (plastered) ceilings.

Two questions:

- can others who have had central heating installed fairly recently advise on the quoted price (which was considerably higher than we were expecting)?

- can anyone recommend someone to undertake the work? (We are roughly halfway between Rome and Naples, a little north of Cassino, and five kilometres from the autostrada.

Grateful for any advice - it was very hot when we were there last week, but the house is in the foothills of the mountain range and it gets pretty cold with one log fire, however romantic, in the winter!

Category

Building/Renovation

That seems expensive, but, it might be related to the cost of bringing the gas into the home, have you maybe considered a pellet burning stove as an option, they kick out tons of heat, but may not supply hot water, easier to install not as much knocking around of the house ??

I would certainly go down the wood burning route which would be cheaper, although you would still have the cost of pipework to the rads.
On the subject of central heating and yellow pages - I need to arrange for a service of my boiler. What do I look under in yellow pages and is there an online version?

Linda

Italian yellow pages online is , I think, [url]http://www.paginegialle.it/index.html[/url]

There is an option for an english version to the left below the red cerca clickable button.

Not sure of the Italian terms for boiler or central heating etc but this might be a good start point.

Hope it helps, Lesley

Thanks Lesley - I'll look straight away! The word for central heating boiler is caldaia - but don't know about the spelling.