# How do deal with the heat and humidity?



## SonofanItalian (Aug 5, 2017)

Hello,

How does the heat/humidity in central Italy effect your life. I have been following the weather and the heat has been blistering. I read there are restrictions of electricity usage (AC) and if you go over the allotted amount the electricity gets really expensive. I have been to Rome and Florence in August as a tourist but not as a resident and it was quite hot and humid but doable. I was just wondering how expats that moved from a more temperate climate deal with the extreme heat and humidity. I guess if you are from Florida or the south of the US then it is not an issue. But U.K. Expats may have different point of view.

On another question, how does the water shortage effect your daily life. Reading about reduced water pressure in Rome and water battles in different regions sounds like an extreme condition. In California we went through a 3 year cutback and life still went on but had brown landscape. Not so bad. 

Thanks for your input!


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Humidity is a local thing. On the east coast I don't think it's that common. Also Rome never seems humid to me. Certainly not like the great lakes area in North America.

Most homes are built for the heat. You can also work around it. Do things early. Relax mid day. Do things late.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

What we do in Spain, where our temps have been in the low 40s for a couple of months is open the house (windows doors, etc.) first thing then close everything up at about 11 am so that it is like a cave. You can think about opening things again in the evening but that depends on local conditions.


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## GeordieBorn (Jul 15, 2016)

In the 8 summers we have been here the heat this year is very different in as much as it was so prolonged. Can't recall the year, but we did have 4 weeks or more of hotter weather one of the summers, this summer was more difficult to cope with, but far from impossible. Nick is absolutely correct in saying most houses here are built to cope with heat in the summer and cold in the winter (Italian style), but you do need to work on both heat management in the summer and cold in the winter i.e. shutters and window control. I'm not sure electric here is that expensive, but you do have a limited supply and pay more if you want above the normal 3kw. You manage this the same as anything else here and either have all the lights on or the air-con (if you have such). We have learnt to cook in the outside forno in the summer and now know why lots of houses have a "summer" kitchen. I'm sure there are water problems, but we have none here and no suggestion there is a problem, looking at the river, there is a problem... All of this is important when looking here for somewhere to live, along with road access, earthquake risk and several other important details


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

You also get to know how to cook economically (both cost and heat loss into the house.) We have a slow-cooker and can cook a one-pot meal (e.g. beef stew with dumplings) for just over 1.2 units of electricity and it doesn't heat the kitchen very much. A halogen oven enables a full roast for a family to be cooked for about 1.5 -2 units, again without a load of wasted heat into the kitchen (don't forget the oven of a stove discharges a lot of heat into its surroundings as well as consuming a lot of power/gas to get it hot enough to use in the first place. We have a gas cooker (runs off a bombona which also serves the instantaneous water heater when the sun isn't hot enough to heat the water via the solar panel) for normal stove-top usage which is always an economical way to cook because you have instant control over the heat. We also take the slow cooker and the halogen with us when we go away on our Christmas/New Year holiday since the apartment we rent only has a three ring stove top and a microwave.

With the halogen oven we can also air fry chips so no oil to heat up (healthier, too!)


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Around here the oven is the only real power user in the kitchen. A 2KW oven will run fine on a 3kw service. Reality is most of the time when the oven is on the only thing running is the light. At least after it warms up.

The average EU appliance is fairly power efficient. Unless a person has a workshop it's not too hard to manage.


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## SonofanItalian (Aug 5, 2017)

Thank you all for your responses. It seems that it is all about adapting and we are trying to budget the expenses. I am glad that the homes/apartments are energy efficient. Opening windows when it is cool and closing them when the heat rises and using a slow cooker rather than a stove/oven makes total sense! In California energy is abundant and reasonably priced which is why I am posting this question of energy.

I have seen on Apartment rental classifieds an energy rating going from “A” to “G”. Not quite how the owners come up with their energy efficient ratings but it’s a start! I will have to learn more about kw power consumption to gauge how much energy costs. 

All of your comments really helps in how you cook, deal with hot days in Spain, and letting me know it is not such a big deal to adapt. Thank you baldilocks, NickZ, and GeordieBorn for your insights of all your experiences. I live in the US and being a tourist in Italy to a resident is will be educational. I am retired and I am ready for change in my life. All of you took a different path for leaving your home country and it seems this was the right choice. I know it is not all easy and I won’t say there are not problems, but isn’t that half the fun? 

Thank you!!!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

SonofanItalian said:


> Thank you all for your responses. It seems that it is all about adapting and we are trying to budget the expenses. I am glad that the homes/apartments are energy efficient. Opening windows when it is cool and closing them when the heat rises and using a slow cooker rather than a stove/oven makes total sense! In California energy is abundant and reasonably priced which is why I am posting this question of energy.
> 
> I have seen on Apartment rental classifieds an energy rating going from “A” to “G”. Not quite how the owners come up with their energy efficient ratings but it’s a start! I will have to learn more about kw power consumption to gauge how much energy costs.
> 
> ...


Glad we have been of help


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> You also get to know how to cook economically (both cost and heat loss into the house.) We have a slow-cooker and can cook a one-pot meal (e.g. beef stew with dumplings) for just over 1.2 units of electricity and it doesn't heat the kitchen very much. A halogen oven enables a full roast for a family to be cooked for about 1.5 -2 units, again without a load of wasted heat into the kitchen (don't forget the oven of a stove discharges a lot of heat into its surroundings as well as consuming a lot of power/gas to get it hot enough to use in the first place. We have a gas cooker (runs off a bombona which also serves the instantaneous water heater when the sun isn't hot enough to heat the water via the solar panel) for normal stove-top usage which is always an economical way to cook because you have instant control over the heat. We also take the slow cooker and the halogen with us when we go away on our Christmas/New Year holiday since the apartment we rent only has a three ring stove top and a microwave.
> 
> With the halogen oven we can also air fry chips so no oil to heat up (healthier, too!)


We also use a halogen oven. Far more economical with electric than a normal oven. Also although our house has air con we have never used it in the 13 years we have lived here. We use fans which are more economical. We have ceilings fans in all rooms and if it is extra hot we will also have a pedestal fan for extra cooling. If anything Cyprus gets a bit hotter than Italy so if it  works here for us it should work in Italy.


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