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Oh you've done it now Becky! I can feel a Abruzzo vs Puglia weather debate coming on....[img]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

in answer to your question .... we have had the fire...wood burning stove going continuously since the beginning of october.... it has not been cold but have made the mistake in the past of not heating the house early enough and as it is quite big, quite old,, it takes a while to heat up the walls....

have still not put the central heating on...but.... the forecast for this week sees the first real cold arriving towards the weekend... days are fine but nights... cold...

last year we had the coldest winter ...like many others ... with more snow than normal... this year hopefully less... however abruzzo is a zone where you get seasons.... and winter is winter.... bear in mind that if you have olives growing nearby your house the normal temperature over winter will not be exceedingly cold...they will not bear fruit...so no point having them... however ... in general italian house feel much colder than uk or american properties... due mainly to the fact they have very few carpets...wood floors or curtains.... they are built more to keep cool when it is hot outside...some people will tell you thick walls keep heat out and that i have found true...when they also use that to equte to keeping cold out ... i have found that untrue... i suggest woolen hats and thermals until you get your place sorted out...

it took double glazing to make our house comfortable... we always had the central heating ... but the old single glazed windows meant we lost most of the heat....

funnily enough we have a largish wine cellar.... like most of our neighbours... you will find this is the warmest spot if you ave one in the winter...t maintains a year round temperature of 11-12 deg cel. which feels remarkably warm in the winter if you are having heating problems...

temps on the chart today had bolzano at 1 c ... aquila at 5 c... campobassso at 4 c it is getting cooler... and they are in general the coldest cities in italy

I agree with John that houses that are built to keep a house cool in summer can be bloomin' cold in winter. We're currently living on the Costa del Sol and have marble floors and no double glazing. The temperature outside today is probably better than inside the house. We switched on the electric heaters (cost a fortune in leccy) at the beginning of November.

[QUOTE=adriatica]in answer to your question .... we have had the fire...wood burning stove going continuously since the beginning of october.... it has not been cold but have made the mistake in the past of not heating the house early enough and as it is quite big, quite old,, it takes a while to heat up the walls....

have still not put the central heating on...but.... the forecast for this week sees the first real cold arriving towards the weekend... days are fine but nights... cold...

last year we had the coldest winter ...like many others ... with more snow than normal... this year hopefully less... however abruzzo is a zone where you get seasons.... and winter is winter.... bear in mind that if you have olives growing nearby your house the normal temperature over winter will not be exceedingly cold...they will not bear fruit...so no point having them... however ... in general italian house feel much colder than uk or american properties... due mainly to the fact they have very few carpets...wood floors or curtains.... they are built more to keep cool when it is hot outside...some people will tell you thick walls keep heat out and that i have found true...when they also use that to equte to keeping cold out ... i have found that untrue... i suggest woolen hats and thermals until you get your place sorted out...

it took double glazing to make our house comfortable... we always had the central heating ... but the old single glazed windows meant we lost most of the heat....

funnily enough we have a largish wine cellar.... like most of our neighbours... you will find this is the warmest spot if you ave one in the winter...t maintains a year round temperature of 11-12 deg cel. which feels remarkably warm in the winter if you are having heating problems...

temps on the chart today had bolzano at 1 c ... aquila at 5 c... campobassso at 4 c it is getting cooler... and they are in general the coldest cities in italy[/QUOTE]

nice to see compobasso being mentioned... so its true then, not just me.
always got the impression that even in summer, campobasso temp was
normally a few degrees less than benevento and foggia, which forms a triangle to where our place is.
when my cousin worked there he always had snowchains in his garage,just
incase..

John, it sounds a lot cooler there than here at the moment.

Can I ask, how long does winter tend to linger - is it mild by Easter or does the cold tend to stick around into May?

what you say about stone walls john is right the world over.i live in a very old house in the u.k with thick walls.when people visit on hot summer days they often ask if i have air conditioning.in winter however,the house takes ages to get warm and it has proved more economical and comfortable ,to keep the heating on low most of the time rather than let it get cold and start warming it up again.

I was on the beach in Lerici, Liguria yesterday. :)
Now I'm in Ireland, freezing. :(

[QUOTE=derekL]I was on the beach in Lerici, Liguria yesterday. :)
Now I'm in Ireland, freezing. :([/QUOTE]

I gather you missed the blackout last week?

... house warmth is a funny thing.... for the last 3 weeks we have all been out picking olives... the village that is... and its been sweaty work...get home and unless you have a fire on it feels cold.... picking olives involves pic nic lunches...3 course with wine... and sitting in a t shirt.... outside

so day times are warm or can be... as regards end of winter....you can have a fire on up to and after easter here... but last year...before the snow falls...i think february we had day time temps of 22 c ,... and then it changed.... the thing is here is not the temp...which in general depending very much on what part of a hill you live on or how far from the coast remain above freezing... but the grey days....you dont get weeks of them.... two or three days sometimes...again providing you do not live much higher than 450 m or too close to the mountains... or in a valley... ... so you always know a sunny warm week is on ist way....
...

[QUOTE=Sano]I gather you missed the blackout last week?[/QUOTE]

Blackout? What blackout?

[QUOTE=derekL]Blackout? What blackout?[/QUOTE]

Much of north and west Dublin, and Ashbourne, were without power on Thursday night - was on a bus on the Navan Road at the time - no street lights, no traffic lights...

[QUOTE=Sano]Much of north and west Dublin, and Ashbourne, were without power on Thursday night - was on a bus on the Navan Road at the time - no street lights, no traffic lights...[/QUOTE]

I assume it had something to do with the stormy weather? We have a micro climate up here in Navan. Almost mediterranean! ;)

[QUOTE=derekL]I assume it had something to do with the stormy weather? We have a micro climate up here in Navan. Almost mediterranean! ;)[/QUOTE]

As opposed to the arctic microclimate in Ashbourne?

Some glitch at a substation apparently...

Hi
This is just as I feared!!We only put the heating on here on 1st Nov! Now its around 11/12 degs and we will have heating on at 5pm not earlier.

John what you said about temps of 22 in Feb worry me as we are booking to ski in Roccaras then! Will there be any snow? I like what you say about only 1 to 2 grey days. In Cornwall we get 14 grey days then 1 sunny one from Oct to May this is one reason to buy in Italy...also even if the houses are a bit colder inside if its sunny outside you can get out work in the garden/walk etc wheras here you are stuck as its pissing down and blowing a gale.

ciao Becky

Feb can be sunny and not ideal for skiing as the snow gets all packed up and not ideal when round 11am starts melting ...beginning of Feb will ok thought in recent years jan-feb are colder then they used to be, last year i went skiing in roccaraso at easter !! :o) the good thing about skiing in italy is that you can get amazing days (sunny and warm ) and ski in a t-shirt :)

sure you will have a brilliant time !!

Becky

What's with knocking Cornwall?

Just because the ground glows and radioactive gas comes under your floors and you have the privilege of paying to clean hundreds of miles of public beaches and have to pay to get out of it. :D

Aaaaah now I see :rolleyes:

Dave (in very grey Liskeard, soon to complete in Marche) :cool:

It's snowing here today!!

:) Hi Frank, you said its snowing in Montreal, my son lives in Winnepeg, expect it must be really cold there, perhaps snow too now at this time of year, He lived in italy for a good while, but guess what, met a lady in italy and has been in Canada past 4 years, He loves it there!!!!

[QUOTE=Frank]It's snowing here today!![/QUOTE]

you live in Montreal ;)

Now come on Frank. Suss up. You're not really the President of Canada are you ;)

[QUOTE=Susan P]you live in Montreal ;)

Now come on Frank. Suss up. You're not really the President of Canada are you ;)[/QUOTE]

Yes I do. And it is terrible today. Rain and Snow. Abruzzo type weather.
I guess by conversing on these forums it kind of makes it warmer here.

By the way we don't have a president in Canada. We are like Britan. We have a Prime Minister.

[QUOTE=FRANTIANI]:) Hi Frank, you said its snowing in Montreal, my son lives in Winnepeg, expect it must be really cold there, perhaps snow too now at this time of year, He lived in italy for a good while, but guess what, met a lady in italy and has been in Canada past 4 years, He loves it there!!!![/QUOTE]

He left Italy for Winnipeg. WOW!! That took guts!! Other than Winnie the Pooh there is not much there. You freeze in the winter and get chewed alive in the summer by mosquitos and black flies. She must be some lady to follow her to Winnipeg.

Yes Frank, she sure is, the lady in question is native american, trying to tempt them back to Italy, when house gets restored in Le Marche, Gary my son adores italy,loves the people, loves the culture, and the italian people he met loved him too, however he loves the native americans too :cool: so who knows.........

[QUOTE=Frank]Yes I do. And it is terrible today. Rain and Snow. Abruzzo type weather.
I guess by conversing on these forums it kind of makes it warmer here.

By the way we don't have a president in Canada. We are like Britan. We have a Prime Minister.[/QUOTE]

Hope he's not as bad as ours ;)

[QUOTE=Susan P]Hope he's not as bad as ours ;)[/QUOTE]

He's worse. They are trying to vote him out. They say the party is corrupt. I think it's an American conspiracy. George Bush and Paul Martin don't get along. And they say ½ûÂþÌìÌà politicians are corrupt.