When will the heating be turned on in2023-2024? Dates, time, districts and rules.

After a very long summer, the cold has arrived in Italy, and Italians are starting to wonder about the heating start dates for this autumn-winter 2023-2024. As in the previous heating season of 2022-2023, the government has decided to reduce the total number of days and the operating hours of heating to cut down on gas consumption and cope with the high cost of energy bills (the cost of energy has further increased after the Israel-Palestine war). Here are the different zones in Italy with the corresponding heating start dates, time intervals for operation, and other rules that need to be followed. The heating start dates and times for 2023-2024 for each zone.

Zone F

This is an area that includes the coldest cities (like Trento and the Alpine regions, Belluno and Cuneo), so they should be the first to turn on the heating.

Zone E

Cities where it gets cold in winter will be able to turn on heating from October 22, 2023, to April 7, 2024, for 13 hours a day. This zone includes cities such asMilan, Turin, Bologna, Aosta, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Bolzano, Modena, Parma, Padua, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Trieste, Gorizia, Piacenza, Ravenna, Venice, Udine, Verona, Perugia, Rieti, Frosinone, Campobasso, L'Aquila, and Potenza.

Zone D

These cities (includingRome, Pescara, Ancona, Genoa, Florence, La Spezia, Livorno, Grosseto, Lucca, Macerata, Pisa, Pesaro, Viterbo, Avellino, Siena, Chieti, Foggia, Matera, Teramo, and Vibo Valentia) will be able to use heating from November 8, 2023, to April 7, 2024, for 11 hours a day.

Zone C

This region includes relatively warm cities (such as Naples, Caserta, Latina, Salerno, Bari, Brindisi, Benevento, Catanzaro, Cagliari, Lecce, Ragusa, Cosenza, and Taranto), where heating can be kept on from November 22, 2023, to March 23, 2024, for 9 hours a day.

Zone B

The following cities (Palermo, Trapani, Syracuse, Reggio Calabria, Agrigento, Messina, and Catania) will be able to turn on heating only from December 8, 2023, to March 23, 2024, for 7 hours a day.

Zone A

Finally, zone A includes the three warmest cities in Italy: Lampedusa, Linosa, and Porto Empedocle. Here, heating will operate from December 8, 2023, to March 7, 2024, for 5 hours a day.

What influences the turning on and off of heating?

The dates and time intervals for turning on heating for those who use a central heating system and live in an apartment building depend on: the current legislation (the table contained in Appendix A to the Presidential Decree of the Republic dated August 26, 1993, No. 412, abbreviated as "D.P.R 412/93"), which defines the zones or climate belts into which Italy is divided; the decision of the majority of owners in the apartment building; and possible municipal measures in the event of extraordinary weather conditions that lead to an extension of the heating system activation period.