How to adapt your house for winter in Italy 2018
How to adapt your house for winter in Italy 2018

Winter is coming and that mean the fuel bills can start to ramp up. To make sure you don’t pay too much to stay warm in your house when the temperatures drop in Italy, it's important to know how to regulate the heat in your home. Here are 9 practical tips on how to keep your property warm in winter:

  1. Check the windows and insulation: Go all around the property looking for where the heat is escaping from the house. Any cracks or holes you find in the window frames or other fittings can be plugged using silicone or a similar product, so that hot air can’t get out and cold air from outside can’t enter.
  2. Weatherstrip the doors: To stop draughts of cold air coming in through gaps in the doorways and to improve the insulation, use weatherstripping tape or material underneath and around the doorjambs. It’s available to buy from any DIY store, but it’s a simple and effective trick to help you maintain a suitable temperature throughout the house.
  3. Choose the right heating system: In modern times, many Italian apartments have either modern gas boilers or heat pumps, which is often the same device that you use to keep the place cool in summer. Whatever central heating system you have in your property, remember that all types of boilers and air conditioning units need servicing every now and then. If you're thinking about changing or installing a new machine, first check whether you need to have a special permit for making changes to the property. If you’re renting a flat, you must check with the landlord before changing anything. Electric radiators are also pretty popular in Italy, especially in homes where there isn’t a permanent system installed, since all you have to do is buy the portable heater, plug it in and away you go. It’s also a good idea to install automatic, adjustable thermostats in each room so that you only ever heat the spaces you use.
  4. Use radiators properly: Before turning on your radiators for the winter, you might have to bleed them to let out the air that has accumulated inside. It’s a simple procedure: just turn a small key on the side of the radiator, and when you stop hearing air come out and see a couple of drops of water, close it before all the water comes gushing out. When you do turn the radiators on, be sure not to cover them with anything or place furniture in front of them. In this way, you can take full advantage of the heat circulation.
  5. Maintain a medium temperature: Don’t raise or lower the temperature of the apartment too much, but rather try to keep a constant, moderate temperature, helping both your home and your wallet.
  6. Hang curtains in the windows: The thicker the curtains, the better they insulate. Even though it’s not always common to find curtains in Italian properties, you can put some up yourself to minimize heat loss from the windows. Open them during the day so that sunlight heat up the place naturally, and then draw them again at nighttime so that the heat doesn’t go right back out again.
  7. Put down a rug or carpet: Fitted carpets and loose rugs can both help you maintain a reasonable temperature in your house over the winter. Bare wooden floors and flagstones are an enormous source of heat loss in many homes, and the easiest and most cost-effective way to stop this is just to put down a rug, preferably with a pretty pattern.
  8. Light the fire: If you're lucky enough to have a fireplace in your home, light it! A fire in the hearth is a cosy and comforting way to warm those long winter nights, and is sometimes cheaper than central heating. Just be sure to clean out the chimney and the hearth and get someone to check them for damage before the first use of the year.
  9. Ventilate the house: Having said all that, it’s still important to air out the house every day even if it’s a bit chilly out. Just by leaving the windows open for 5 minutes a day, you can get some fresh air in and ventilate the property, keeping both you and your house warm and healthy this winter!