At the beginning of May, the so-called Operation Thermostat was started in Italy, an amendment contained in so-called “Price Cut” Decree.
Italy and many European countries are dependent on Russian gas, and the war in Ukraine has put supplies in crisis. To date, in fact, Russia contributes 38% of the methane consumed in Italy, but the threat of further cuts has led the government to launch measures to reduce this dependency ratio.
The limits of the Operation Thermostat
Waiting for the Country to sign contracts with new distributors, therefore, and to avoid a further increase in prices, both on bills and in gasoline costs, the Italian Government has decided to impose limits on the temperature that can be set for air conditioning and heating, only in public offices, with the exception of hospitals and nursing homes.
- The air conditioners cannot stay below 27°C, with a maximum tolerance of 25°C;
- The heaters, on the other hand, cannot be set at a temperature higher than 19°C, with a tolerance of up to 21°C.
With this foresight, it is estimated that methane consumption will be reduced by at least 4 billion cubic meters per year.
The measure will remain active until March 31, 2023 and the penalties for violators will be very high: from 500 to 3,000 euros for those who do not respect the new parameters.
Assotermica’s comment
The general secretary of Assoclima and Assotermica, Federico Musazzi, declared:
“Certainly a shareable measure has been adopted in the grand plan underway to break away from Russian methane and, all in all, there should be no significant repercussions. The reduction of one degree to the maximum temperature of the air conditioners, if associated with a good dehumidification of the internal environments, can maintain an adequate level of comfort. A further revision of the reference values would entail more disadvantages than advantages. It must be considered that good air conditioning is essential for the quality of life and that air conditioning systems, and more generally those with heat pumps, are not the problem but the solution because they allow at least three objectives to be achieved at the same time: energy efficiency, growth. renewables and development of a national production sector of excellence. We must therefore act with structural measures aimed at accelerating the redevelopment of the huge existing plant park, which is still very dated”.
As can be seen, in fact, hotels, shops, homes and other private structures are excluded from this Operation Thermostat, but a reduction in consumption can only do good for the economy, as well as for bills, and other measures will have to be implemented, such as replace obsolete appliances, invest in renewable energy and accelerate the decarbonization process.
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