# Utilities in Italy



## Danny2IT (Jun 8, 2014)

When I was first researching moving to Italy, I found it very hard to get good information about the cost of utilities. Now that I’ve been in Italy for over a year, I would like to share my utility expenses to anyone who is interested. Below I have summarized my monthly expenses, after which I’ve also included a brief detailed description for each expense.
Firstly, let me clarify that I live in a medium sized town in northern Italy (Veneto), in an approximately 160 m2 house. The house is in the historic center of town and its stone and concrete walls date back to the mid-1800s and vary from 65-45 cm thick. I point this out since I do think it contributes significantly to my heating/cooling needs, or lack thereof.

EXPENSE – Euro/month
Gas – 110
Electricity – 40
Water/Sewer – 5
Trash Service – 13
Internet/Home Phone – 30
Cel Phone – 12
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SUM – 210

Gas – Provider – Eni, Billed – Bimonthly
The gas is used for my range top as well as the hot water heater, which in turns provides the hot water, obviously, as well as the heat in the winter via the old-style radiators. This bill varies significantly from a summer low of 30 Euro/Mo, to a winter high of 300 Euro/Mo. The average bill includes approximately 9 Euro basic charge and 0.68 Euro/smc, and is broken down into many various line items which vary depending on your usage. “smc” is the unit of measurement and stands for Standard Cubic Meter. My total yearly usage was 1764 smc.

Electricity – Provider – Eni, Billed – Bimonthly
Electricity is uniform throughout the year with relatively small bumps in the summer for the electric fan that I use, and in the winter to run the hot water pump to the radiators. The average bill includes approximately 21 Euro basic charge and 0.16 Euro/kWh. Electricity is also charged differently depending on the time of day throughout the week. My total yearly usage was 1231 kWh.

Water/Sewer – Provider – Piave, Billed – Quarterly
Water usage is also relatively uniform throughout the year. Rates vary based on your overall usage, and an average bill includes approximately 1.3 Euro basic charge and 0.67 Euro/m3. My total yearly usage was 70 m3.

Trash Service – Provider – SAVNO, Billed – Yearly(?)
The garbage service charge is determined based on residency as well as family size. Currently I am not 100% sure how the billing will work out. At this time, I’ve been billed for all of last year (2020) as well as through the end of October of this year (2021). This bill was then broken down into two payments due in March and May of this year. Garbage in Italy is divided into 5 categories which are picked up on different days depending on where you live. The categories are biodegradable, paper, plastic/tin, glass, and dry garbage. The last category, dry garbage, is the catch all for everything else that doesn’t fit into the other categories. I mention this separately, because there is a limit to the number of pickups of this type you can have throughout the year before you will be charged additional fees. 

Internet/Home Phone – Provider – TIM, Billed – Monthly
A standard unlimited internet package with a Wifi tower included. I won’t expand on this item too much since these can easily be found online. I will say that the connection and speed has been extremely good with no issues.

Cel Phone – Provider – TIM, Billed – Monthly
Basic cel phone plan with 40Gb of data and unlimited minutes within Italy. Outgoing texts are an additional 0.29 Euro, but I, like most, use data-based messaging apps like WhatsApp and the iPhone based iMessage. A few things to note, prior to getting the internet installed in my house, the 40Gb was just barely enough for me and the last few days of each month I’d have to watch my usage so as not to go over the allotment. Now I barely use 1-2 Gb per month roaming. Cel phone coverage in my medium sized town is very good, however there are some dead spots in the old historic centers where the buildings are very tightly packed and you typically find yourself walking under archways where the buildings extend over the sidewalks.

Setup Fees
Gas, Electricity, Water, and Cel phone had some small setup fees ranging from 26-56 Euros. The trash service did not seem to have any setup fee and the internet/home phone activation is included in the price of the monthly package.

If there is any additional information anyone would like to know, just reply and I’ll attempt to answer it if I can. (Data as of July 2021)


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Looks like you're in a lower water cost area. Water prices can vary quite a bit.

You're using a boiler. A newer condensing? Or an older one?

In many parts of central or southern Italy these days installing some sort of heat pump makes the most sense. Moving everything to electric. Depending on the system it would handle summer cooling. Some systems can provide hotwater.


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## Danny2IT (Jun 8, 2014)

Yes, the water bill is somewhat of a local joke here. (Regarding how low it is)

I have an older boiler style caldaia. Which is a good point to bring up. It is approximately 30 years old and probably not working at its peak efficiency anymore. I'm thinking of replacing it, but honestly, its not high on my list. The wood pellet stove style is popular up here as well, but I don't really like the idea of being the one needing to add the pellets every X number of days.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

You'd be surprised how much more efficient a modern condensing boiler is. Assuming all your windows and doors are up to the latest standards it's likely the easiest change that will pay for itself.


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