We are looking at two possible apartemnts in Perugia. One is in centro (right where we want to be) but the utilities are not included. The second is in Monteluce (.8 of a mile from Centro) the utilities are included. The rent for both is the same.

They are both approximately 45 sq mtrs. Can ayone give us an idea of what we can expect utilities to cost per month and what it will cost (in Euros and headaches) to have them turned on in our name.

Is there a website that lists utilities for Perugia that with our very limited Italian we could look at utilities?

Hi,

I know a little about utilities. The electric company is called Enel. You pay the bills at the post office. When you set up an account many times you need to pay a deposit. You do need to sign a contract.

If you have an italian bank account you can set up to have your utility bills paid directly through the bank account. It makes it easy for when you are out of the country.

Setting the accounts up are a little cumbersome. If you can find an apartment that includes the utilities you will definitely safe yourself alot of headaches.

If you have any questions feel free to email bdissel@netzero.com. My wife and I just bought an aprtment in a medieval village in Italy and we are learning the ins and outs of everything.

Ciao,

Bill

It all depends on what you use for the cost. If you can get away with having them included though I would go for it as they can be a pain to get turned on. Since you haven't seen the apartments yet and don't know if this will be the right place for you, I would use the utilities included as a hurdle to avoid. Then if you want to move you don't have to deal with disconnecting and reconnecting.

Utilities normally though is not phone so a few weeks before you move you should try to get a phone line set up. You will need to have a legal codice fiscale first though so be prepared.

[quote:3c511d4c71="Conner"]
If you have any questions feel free to email bdissel@netzero.com. My wife and I just bought an aprtment in a medieval village in Italy and we are learning the ins and outs of everything.[/quote:3c511d4c71]

While I am very appreciative of your willing to help Bill, I think it would be great for others if questions and answers happened here on the board (that is what it is here for). I know that emailing can be quicker sometimes but then loads of people miss out on helpful advice.

I know from our experience the final cost of your utility bill can make a large difference if you're autonomo or centralizzato. We have autonomo (autonomous) and we pay probably 12 Euro a month on gas (heat), 8 Euro/mo on water, 10 Euro/mo on electricity. Our apartment is like an oven in winter and never cold! So, we're never cold. When my parents lived in Italy for 6 months last year they had centralizzato (centralized) and they paid something like 199 Euro/mo on heat and electricity was crazy!! It was absolutely ridiculous because their apartment wasn't even warm in the winter. My mom always had on a sweater and leg warmers.

The difference is great, from my experience. My husband and I are looking to buy an apartment in Milan now and we're not even looking at apartments with centralized utilities, only autonomous because of the costs involved.

I don't know if you needed this kind of info, but it may make a large difference for you & your monthly expenses. If your utilities are included that's really good!

~ Tami

Thanks for the quick reply. The information was helpful. How large is your apartment (in square meters). The apartments we are looking at are around 40-50 square meters.

There are so many questions!! With such a small apartment and no obvious storage available what do people do with things like suitcases and winter clothes?

Our rental apartment currently is 65 sqm. My parents had one that was around 80, but they could close doors and shut off certain radiators to make one room warmer and the others less warm (freezing essentially).

The costs between the central and autonomous systems makes a big difference in your monthly expenses. My parents were even paying the actual reading from the meter and not the projected by Enel. They would call it into Enel every third or fourth week I think so that they would pay what they were using versus what Enel expected them to use based upon the previous years usage.

Perugia is fantastic! Antonio and I looked at buying a rustico outside of Perugia, but in the end it was out of our price range. Really beautiful area - you're sure to enjoy!

~ Tami

:question:
sorry to be completely green...but...what is autonomo and centralizzato ? there seems such a vast difference in cost.....as we will be in our own house what am i looking at here for utility charges.......

Electricity could be about 50 Euros for every 2 months -
to hook it up in your name it costs money - the price depending on the situation - is it just a name change or has it been cut off and they need to turn it back on again

Find out what kind of heat is used for water and warmth - any fireplaces or wood stoves?

The houses are probably heated by either gas or methane - maybe oil.
Probably not ( and gosh I hope not electric)

central system is when the whole dang palazzo is connected together so you either get to freeze or sweat together

autonomous will give the chance to have your own little knob to turn on and off as you like

That is basically - as usual there are a lot of ifs and buts about it.

:headbang:
thanks kel,
all this info is really valuable as we are going out to look at more houses ( and a couple of second visits) in september and these are all the questions i need to ask before we sign on the dotted line.
THANKS VERY MUCH...ANY OTHER TIPS....KEEP 'EM COMING

Many places in Italy are now turning to "teleriscaldamento". I don't know if Perugia started it, but if you happen to find a house that offers it, it's great: it has all the advantages of being on a "autonomo" heating system, but it's much cheaper and less polluting. Basically, there are centralized strucutres that produce ultrahot pressurized steam, but the steam is a byproduct of some other plant so that no extra enery is used. This steam is distributed with underground conductures to the nearby houses (with nearby I mean in a long, long range) and it's used both to heat water and to heat the house. The steam conductures are not in your house so that you don't have to fear to be steam-boiled by a jet of ultrahot pressurized steam, and the water can be really very hot! I don't have it because in Sesto San GIovanni the teleriscaldamento program reached the area where I live after my house was built, and so far they are only building the network and hooking on the new buildings, but my aunt has it in her new house and it's really very cheap and very good.