Cheaper Heating in Italy

Winter is rearing its ugly head again and heating costs spiral out of control, so it seems prudent to give the floor to Patrick Littlehales of HEATING ITALY.

Over to you Patrick…

“Heating in Italy is so expensive that a typical retiree using gas heating could burn over €200,000 of their pension pot in 20 years. The cause will be exceptionally high, and escalating, gas and electricity prices. This will come as a shock if you are used to the relatively low energy costs of the UK. Fortunately it is possible to construct systems in Italy that can be ZERO GAS and maybe even ZERO COST and they are as green as Kermit too. Installation costs for these systems can be less than with conventional systems – so one can save the planet and save money at the same time.

OK – now you are feeling €200,000 richer how is all this done?

The chart shows how much energy you get for every €1,000 spent and a big arrow for the typical annual household energy requirement. You can see immediately how €1,000 worth of efficiently burnt wood can replace €6,000 worth of gas, so that’s a good start especially if the energy can be taken away and redistributed by connecting a back boiler on a wood burning stove to a heat bank. Using more than one heat source works well and the chart shows how an air source heat pump (starting at €4,000 these days) can almost match wood for cheapness and knocks all the other sources into pointless oblivion. So there is plenty of scope to mix and match cheap heat sources to cut down the bills, and by stacking them up there are powerful solutions even for very large houses. Solar energy works well in Italy so some solar-thermal panels can fill in the summer hot water duties, although don’t be surprised if a heat pump bumps them off the shopping list.

All this energy needs to be pooled and distributed to radiators, floors, swimming pool and domestic hot water. This is easily achieved with a heat bank which is just another name for a large tank full of water – not exactly rocket science. After many installations in Italy the ‘Italian Job’ heat bank has been specially developed to make all inputs and outputs work optimally and as it comes with all the pumps, regulators, controls and wiring all done, it can save thousands in installation costs. Just connect 10 pipes and a minimal amount of wires and the job is done in about a day. Actually the ‘Italian Job’ is made in England and is probably the best of its kind. See www.heatingitaly.com for more details.

Going back to the ZERO COST idea, this is done with photovoltaic solar panels installed on your roof, as a carport, or on the ground. While production tariffs have been falling the cost of panels has fallen too so that the return on capital, of a shade under 14%, has been maintained. As the power to cost ratio has risen there has never been a better time to go PV. Apart from killing off one’s electricity bills the income from the panels is what pays the wood bills; hence the overall ZERO COST. Installation costs can be as low as €18,500 and there are already several houses in Umbria with absolutely no net energy bills at all.

The mix and match concept extends to energy distribution too. Ideally under-floor heating in living areas, radiators in bedrooms and – when a heat pump is fitted – a few fan coil units can replace radiators and produce air conditioning for minimal additional cost.

So there we are. Paying huge energy bills is entirely optional and the alternatives are pretty cheap, easy to apply and very simple.

If you need help with planning and supply of carefully matched components don’t hesitate to get in touch on www.heatingitaly.com or better still come to a seminar in lovely Umbria.”