:DHave you ever noticed that, since in Italy driers are not as common as back in the USA, when the heating season starts, every single 'termosifone' in your house turns out to be a pot of gold?
The bed sheet drying out on the living room's heater, table cloth in the bedroom, a pair of socks on the bathroom heater (termosifone too small for anything else), underwear in the hallway (not very 'Buckingham Palace' style but look at it on the practical side!)
The picky problems start when you get over excited, that the heating hours are in progress, and wash everything you got (probably days and days of a variety of clothes, sheets, towels etc. that only God knew you had) only to realize, horrified, that you RAN OUT OF 'TERMOSIFONI'!! A standard apartment has about seven of them... you needed seventy!! You start wondering around the house, wobbling like an pregnant water buffalo, with your arms spread out holding wet laundry (very indicated for your rheumatisms). Then a bright idea strikes like thunder: your next door neighbor... only to find out that the poor moron is in your same exact pitiful condition and had the same wise ass idea: asking you!
I suggest: start using chairs and... the best of luck!!

An interesting view of the winters here, but I agree. I come from the UK, a traditionally wet country, but a country where my washing dried quickly :confused:
The reason for this I realize now is the high level of airborn humidity that exists here (I happen to live 300 metres from the sea) and the fact that the houses are not insulated or ventilated. This leads to a battle against keeping the house dry and trying to get my clothes dry before I run out of clean ones. For my part my radiators are not covered in linen because it is too expensive to pay for the gas to run the central heating. So here I sit, with my clothes horse, next to my wood burning stove trying not to set fire to everything! :(

Caro Sardoman,
I was in the UK (London) a lot of times but, thanked God, always in the summer time!!

Um, don't they have clothes dryers in Italy.....the ones which look like washing machines but actually use hot air to dry clothes?

Um, don't they have clothes dryers in Italy.....the ones which look like washing machines but actually use hot air to dry clothes?

Can't say I've actually seen one! :confused:
Next time I go to the electrical shop I'll have a look

They do have them and are not that hard to find, but... think of the light bill in Italy (outrageously expensive). Would you add a drier to all the rest of your appliances??
Anyway the prices range from € 300 all the way up to € 1,090,00
Good luck!

Well, I can see that dryers are very expensive to buy and run in Italy.:eek:

Here in Singapore, we got the dryer and the washing machine(as well a microwave oven, refrigerator and TV) as a normal part of the rental agreement. Every landlord who rents out 2-3 room apartments has to provide these as a minimum.

Plus dryers are not really environment friendly, because the sun can replace all that electrical energy. But since I travel too much, it is difficult to find a day for all the washing and drying, whereas a dryer can do that even at night!

One of the problems with living in Italy is electricity. As Italy does not have any nuclear power plants (such as the UK or France) it has to rely on alternative methods for producing it, or getting it from other countries. This creates two problems: the first is that it is expensive, the second is that the network infrastructure isn't as solid as it could be, especially outside the main cities.

ENEL (the Italian national electricity company) restricts the maximum wattage you can use at any one time, thus avoiding sudden peaks on the network. The basic domestic wattage allowance is 3000 watts. You can obviously get higher limits but you pay more for the priviledge. What this means is that you cannot run two major domestic electrical appliances at the same time, such as the oven and the microwave, the kettle and the toaster and so on. Go over your allocation for more than one minute and the electric meter turns itself off.

The first few times this makes you really angry :mad:, but after a while you learn to live with it and you check to see if the washing machine is on before doing the ironing! (yes, I iron!)

Actually the best way to heat your apartment/house, in Italy, would to buy a wooden stove/furnace those heavy ones made of cast iron...very heavy (wood or charcoal, many people do have them). It heats up the house like a furnace besides you can even cook on it. All you need its a good place to storage wood.
Most of the old families have it in Rocca Priora, small town outside Rome, and have been satisfied for generations.

Actually the best way to heat your apartment/house, in Italy, would to buy a wooden stove/furnace those heavy ones made of cast iron...very heavy (wood or charcoal, many people do have them). It heats up the house like a furnace besides you can even cook on it. All you need its a good place to storage wood.
Most of the old families have it in Rocca Priora, small town outside Rome, and have been satisfied for generations.

I bought one a couple of weeks ago. A fabulous investment! I have also discovered logs made with compressed wood chips collected from wood mills so it is as environmentally friendly as possible. And it only costs about 1 euro a day to run:)

I have actually heard about them but they have some burning problems (various gasses)... as far as I heard. Is it true?

Do you get those logs at the 'ferramenta'?
Someone told me they have some problems with gasses while burning?
Let me know... I aways forget to buy wood for the winter. Either that or I'm out of 'bread'! (Wow it rimes!!)

I think I saw them in a 'ferramenta'. Are there any side effects like for combustion or others??

hi mmccain,

I buy the logs in a local "brico" centre. They come in 20kg boxes and cost 6.90 euros. As far as I am aware they are not harmful but I am no expert. They seem to burn just as well as solid wood and appear to leave slightly less ash. Here is the link for the brand I use http://www.latiesse.it/

where do you get them? Ferramenta?

oooh buddy
does that take me back in time when we lived in ostia w/the inlaws......
yes, every heater had clothes on it. since we lived in the projects, the heat went off at 10pm!! and came back on in themorning... and my fahter inlaw liked to air the apt out all night because they smoked cigarettes. freezing!

where do you get them? Ferramenta?

Sorry for the delay in replying. I get them from the local Do It Yourself (Brico) store.

In Norway where it's by far more common having wooden stoves/furnaces as primary source of heating (even when the electricity is cheap, because most of it comes for free from hydroelectricity) than tiny electrical ovens the law demands that you've got a catalysator fitted to the pipe of your stove/furnace - thus eliminating harmful gases and ensuring a complete combustion (thus maximizing the effect).

I would still believe that the clothes would dry faster if hanging outside, even during winter. If they freeze, you simply finish the drying inside afterwards (but of course rain or snow would ruin that plan) - there's a tad more ventilation outside of those four walls and you're not going to breathe all that extra humid air yourself. Oh well, guess I'll get to try out my plan soon enough.

The more I hear about the scandinavian countries the more I want to go there.

Here in Sardinia we have been quite lucky with the weather so far this year so we have been putting the washing out to dry. The main problem is the humity in the air, which I don't think you have in Norway as the air is so cold at this time of year.
I did go to an electrical store recently and found 4 tumble dryers, the cheapest at 530 euros. Factor in the cost of running one and replacing the clothes I would undoubtedly shrink in it I think I'll stick to what I have!

Where do you buy them?? Ferramenta store?

Where do you buy them?? Ferramenta store?

As I said in my previous post I get them in the local hardware (Brico) store. A box of 20kg costs about 7 euros and lasts me about 5 days.
Hope this helps...:)

Great information!!!! When I was a child (in North Carolina, USA) we used a wood burning stove and a kerosene heater. I love the smell of the wood burning stove. It came in useful when ice storms hit and homes lost power. Cooking a large pot of pinto beans and corn bread was very comforting on those cold winter days.

Thanks again all for your great thoughts.
Cheers,
Gigi

oh my god, u all buy woods fr the fermenta shop. They are ladro. All u have to do is make trip to the nearby mountain or hills. U will see a mountain of cutted wood(log) laying on the roadside. sometime u will find the telephone number.(If not, u just go to a farmer and ask them for info) U have to call them n ask them to deliver to yr house. U can burned the woods for the whole winter. I remember my father in law order300kg for little $...provided u have space to store them.We burn the whole winter n still have balance for next winter. Of course u can check with them the min kg for sale. For me, it is cost saving for the whole winter.

In Norway where it's by far more common having wooden stoves/furnaces as primary source of heating (even when the electricity is cheap, because most of it comes for free from hydroelectricity) than tiny electrical ovens the law demands that you've got a catalysator fitted to the pipe of your stove/furnace - thus eliminating harmful gases and ensuring a complete combustion (thus maximizing the effect).

I would still believe that the clothes would dry faster if hanging outside, even during winter. If they freeze, you simply finish the drying inside afterwards (but of course rain or snow would ruin that plan) - there's a tad more ventilation outside of those four walls and you're not going to breathe all that extra humid air yourself. Oh well, guess I'll get to try out my plan soon enough.


U are right, try not to dry yr cloth in the house. My experience when i come fr a hot country n dun understand much of the ways in winter. My 1st winter, I dry my cloth in the house, it produce more humity n these humity almost ruin my house.I found some green moses growing in the corner of the rooms. After checking ard with the expert, i use bleach to remove the moses. So now i dry my cloth outside or garage. The other suggestion is to buy more cloth n dress.

oh my god, u all buy woods fr the fermenta shop. They are ladro. All u have to do is make trip to the nearby mountain or hills. U will see a mountain of cutted wood(log) laying on the roadside. sometime u will find the telephone number.(If not, u just go to a farmer and ask them for info) U have to call them n ask them to deliver to yr house. U can burned the woods for the whole winter. I remember my father in law order300kg for little $...provided u have space to store them.We burn the whole winter n still have balance for next winter. Of course u can check with them the min kg for sale. For me, it is cost saving for the whole winter.

You're right about getting the legna da ardere from the wood merchant, it costs between 15-20 euros for 100kg. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to store it other than the trunk of my car, so I have to buy it as I need it. Maybe this summer I will sort out some storage so I can buy it during the dry season and get more for my money;)

Today we called out the heating engineer as our hot water failed to rise above tepid. After a quick check of the boiler, he decided the gas pressure was too low, and went to check the gas tank - empty! We filled the tank up on 17th December with 700 litres, at a cost of 635 euros, and now, less than two months later, it's empty :eek:.

Is this normal? Seems excessively expensive compared to UK mains gas. Is Italian mains gas cheaper as opposed to the bulk delivered variety?