Hi,
I am planning a trip to Italy for February and am thinking of staying at an agriturismo for a week (specifically: http://www.agriturismo.it/en/farmhouse/tuscany/siena/GliArchidiCorsanello-9210900/index.html)
They charge 4 euro per cubic meter for heat (I assume this is cubic meters of gas). Is this a fair price? Is there a way I can roughly calculate how much I'm going to spend on heat?
Thanks!
I don't know where you are but in Florence the gas company charged less than 10 euro per month of fixed costs plus consumption by the cubic meter. The rate per Mc varies. The more u use in a month the more the rate rises. At the lowest level of consumption it's about 60 cents per cubic meter. The highest rate is under 1 euro per cubic meter.
How much you will use on a typical day depends on whether the water boiler (shower) is gas or electric and how much you crank the heater up and how long you shower and how many people in your party. Also the size of the villa you are renting will make a difference. At 4 euro a cubic meter I'm sure the landlord will make a nice profit on heating too. That's at least 4 times the rate the company charges him. These are charges for first residence. If it's a second home for the landlord (I'm sure it is) charges are higher (my uncle told me double but I'm not sure). For a typical villa you shouldn't burn more than 3 or 4 mc a day.
This is not uncommon. The agriturismo we used in May had a similar charge but we just wore an extra sweater. Don't think that would work in February. Ask the landlord what the average weekly expense would be?
Any apartment I've ever rented in Italy or France has always charged the electric bill to me. I'm pretty
conservative with the usage, and I've never been surprised by a large bill. We Americans have a bad
reputation for being wasteful with power, and I'm sure most are. All fuels are more expensive in Europe than they are in the U.S., so Europeans are more likely to be more careful with their consumption! Again, I've never been 'gouged."
