Green Energy and Restoring Properties in Le Marche

Environmental and price concerns about the use of gas and fossil fuels for heating properties have been prominent in the UK for several years now. In Italy, especially in the more rural regions there has been no real emphasis on green energy until the past year or so. But this situation is slowly starting to change, and a lot of the change is being driven by foreign property owners who are restoring old country properties and taking advantage of the new clean energy alternatives.

While rebuilding and restoring a large farmhouse or country house many owners are now considering other heating sources other than gas. In Italy electricity is rarely used for heating purposes, and gas, both town gas and LPG are the common fuel used for heating in most homes. But the cost of  gas for supplying heating and hot water has been rising rapidly over the past 18 months and shows no signs of  decreasing over the medium to long term. So other alternative ways of supplying energy are increasingly being used, these include ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, wood burning stoves with back boilers supplying radiators and of course solar panels.

Livinginlemarche has been involved in supplying alternative energy solutions to clients for some time as well as its more general involvement in the organic and slow food movement both in the UK as well as in Italy. We are constantly on the look out for efficient alternative energy sources to offer clients who are interested in more sustainable and low carbon solutions for their heating and hot water needs in their new homes in Italy.

In the use of solar power for heating water and providing small amounts of electricity Italy has the advantage over the UK in that it has many more hours of sunshine throughout the year and the strength of the sunlight is so much stronger than in the UK all year round.

We are finding that a combination of either ground source or air source heat pumps coupled with under floor heating systems are now becoming much more popular in new builds and also in major restorations of  all types and sizes of country properties.
Of course owners of village properties can also take advantage of most of these alternative forms of energy except for ground source heat pumps which do require an area of land which is normally not available in most villages in Le Marche.

A complete system for a large house might typically now be a combination of either a pellet stove or wood burning stove with a back boiler to provide heating through radiators. Pellet stoves have long been used as a very efficient form of heating in Italy and are still not very common in the UK.
Together with an air source heat pump linked to under floor heating for kitchen, bathroom and living areas and solar panels to provide hot water many owners find that there is no need to use any other form of heating, but some still use bottled gas for cooking.

Any excess electricity of which is generated can be also sold back to the electricity company to be fed into the grid, much the same as in the UK. Grants are now available toward the cost of solar panels and I see these type of installations becoming more common in the future, both as a green solution to the problem of excess CO2 and also because the economics of heating houses using imported gas which will continue to increase in price year on year.

If you have recently bought or are thinking of buying a property in Le Marche Italy then green solutions to your energy needs should rate highly in your plans.
In Le Marche there are still thousands of farmhouses and country properties that have sat empty for many years waiting to be purchased and then lovingly restored. Thinking out of the box and opting to use alternative ways to provide electricity and heating for any new restoration project will pay off both financially normally within ten years. But as well as the financial savings that come from using new alternative forms of energy, these low carbon  sources will benefit the environment for many years to come.

I am very enthusiastic about using green energy sources in one of the most beautiful parts of Italy and hope to be involved in supplying and promoting their use for many years to come.