During i coldest months of the year is scheduled forautomatic ignition of heating systems in many Italian homes, although with significant differences from municipality to municipality. In this case, the heating can be turned on between 15 October 2024 and 1 December 2024 depending on the climate zone in which you live. The heating will be turned off between 15 March 2025 and 15 April 2025, always depending on the climate zone. This is because in areas with lower average temperatures aprolonged on and a longer daily operating time. These differences are not arbitrary but linked to what is reported in the Decree of the President of the Republic 26 August 1993, n. 412 which divides the Italian territory into climatic zones. But how are these zones calculated? And when will the heating come on in each area?
How the climate zones for turning on the heating are calculated
To determine climate zones, so-called are used degree-daysoften abbreviated to GG or gr-g. It’s about the positive difference between the internal ambient temperature (fixed at 20°C) and the average daily external temperature. This calculation is done for each day of the year, all the results obtained are added and, depending on the value, each municipality is cataloged in a climate zone: the higher this value, the harsher the climate in that area.
Climate zone | Degree-Days |
---|---|
Zone A | less than 600 |
Zone B | between 600 and 900 |
Zone C | between 901 and 1400 |
Zone D | between 1401 and 2100 |
Zone E | between 2101 and 3000 |
Zone F | above 3000 |
Below is one map with all climate zones in Italy: the coldest colors are associated with zones with Higher DDwhile warmer colors in areas with lower degree days:
When the heating turns on in Italy: the 2024 calendar
Once the climate zones were obtained and all the Italian municipalities were classified accordingly, not only a different period of time was established for each ignition but, as anticipated, also a different number of hours of daily operation. The data is summarized in the table below.
Climate zone | Ignition period | Operating hours |
---|---|---|
Zone A | 1 December – 15 March | 6 hours per day |
Zone B | 1 December – 31 March | 8 hours per day |
Zone C | 15 November – 31 March | 10 hours per day |
Zone D | 1 November – 15 April | 12 hours per day |
Zone E | 15 October – 15 April | 14 hours per day |
Zone F | all year round | no limitations |
Currently they only fall into Zone A Lampedusa, Porto Empedocle And Linosa while the E zone it is the most populous one, with more than 4000 municipalities involved.
It is fair to point out that, although standard values exist, each municipality has the possibility of invoking some extraordinary changeslinked for example to waves of bad weather or excessive lowering of temperatures.