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I had my oil fired boiler replaced by a gas one when I had my place done up 2 years ago.

If you want details on pipe sizes, dimensions etc - just look at Brochures of boilers here in the UK - sizes etc are basically the same

[I had an Ideal Standard boiler fitted in Italy - but downloaded the Instructions from the English website , as the instructions provided were in ½ûÂþÌìÌà and German]

Boilers seem pretty constant across Europe, with only minor differences in the controls - for example, the boiler in Italy wasn't fitted with the time clock that the UK version was - everything else seemed the same.

(I didn't notice any difference in UK and ½ûÂþÌìÌà pipe sizes - are you sure French oneas are different?)

Costs are comparable to the UK - or a bit cheaper, and you can buy boilers in some of the Hypermarkets if you want to do it yourself. [The boiler I had fitted would have cost me 75% of what the plumber charged if I had bought it from the Carrefour in Milan]

Heating costs are definitely lower than oil

when a gas bolier is fitted here in italy it has to have a certificate attached..... and a technician from the bolier company should also check it.... each year it then has to be checked by a registered gas engineer and a certificate of safety obtained from the commune.....

there are large fines for anyone not conforming to these standards and because the initial fitting has to be registered with a safety certificate the commune will have a record of the appliance and will fine you for any late certification....

as regards changing we changed the burner part of the oil fired system as it was new..... so just converted it...... well the engineer did..... and then we have a new boiler in an apartment we converted..... both have been through the above process...here i think the anual service is about e70...or so and the certificate another e10.....

they also have a different way here of running the pipes...each radiator has a feed and return pipe...... back to a central pipe close to the boiler.... i still cannot work out why...it means lots of pipes and lots of work to install in this way....

anyway its complicated ... i also think last year they changed the size of the thickness of the walls of the gas pipes....increased it...i know of some plumbers that are still try to get rid of old stock....but the stuff is too thin now to conform to standard... and should not be used.... one thing is that mains gas is a lot cheaper than fuel oil....but still the most expensive in europe.... and at the end of a cold winter you really notice what that means...

[QUOTE=adriatica]
they also have a different way here of running the pipes...each radiator has a feed and return pipe...... back to a central pipe close to the boiler.... i still cannot work out why...it means lots of pipes and lots of work to install in this way.... .[/QUOTE]

weird system you have! - mine was installed in the same way as it would be in UK - one feed and return, with tappings off to each boiler.

Thanks for the replies Lads.
I did not know anything about installation or safety certificates annually so I must do further investigation here. I does make DIY installation a bit difficult!
Anyone know a good certified engineer in the Lanciano (Abrusso) area?

My system appears to be connected as in U.K. but with a very large 2" diameter flow pipe acting as a "manifold" with all the returns coming back on their own - a little strange. I still would like to find out what the thread used is on the existing pipes ( not presumably B.S,.P. !), in order to make up some adaptors, remembering this system is quite old.Thanks for your help.

I've just had an engineer fit my air-con, he also fits central heating system.
I sure he live near us and we are only 15 mins from Lanciano if you want his number let me and I PM to you.
He done a great job and the cost wasn't to bad.

Anyone out there know of a central heating engineer based in or near Vejano (VT) Nearest places are Oriolo Romano, Manziana or Bracciano.
Thanks
Linda