Are you ready to face the most expensive winter ever on the home front gas bills? The estimates developed by Ecco, the Italian climate think tankthey don’t promise anything good. On the contrary, it seems that we will have to prepare to spend very large amounts of money to heat our homes.
Forecasts indicate that the winter season 2024-2025 will be the most expensive everwith a significant increase in prices compared also to the gas cost crisis experienced in 2022-2023.
The price of gas
The price of gas reached €48/MWhan increase that is mainly explained by geopolitical instability in supplier countries. This, despite the fact that storage facilities in Italy are full and gas pipelines have operated at less than half their capacity in the last 12 months.
Unfortunately, the negative effects of this increase are far from being attenuated, and the weather forecasts are also having an impact: the winter that awaits us could be harsher than last year’s (at least until now it is), and this will inevitably increase consumption.
To further complicate the situation, it is added the inefficiency of the Italian housing stockamong the highest in Europe, which will further increase gas bills.
Milan, Rome and Palermo: how much will families pay?
Ecco’s analysis estimates the increase in the cost of gas bills for next winter, taking into account tre types of homes (38, 70 and 110 square metres) in three Italian cities: Milan, Rome and Palermo.
Let’s see the results.
In MilanAccording to forecasts, a family living in a 70 m2 house with energy class G will spend around €1,403 between November 2024 and March 2025, with an increase of €232 compared to winter 2022-2023 and a good €571 compared to to 2019-2020. If the house has a surface area of 110 m2, the cost will reach €2,143, while for a 38 m2 house the cost will be €788.
For the winter 2024-2025, too in Rome you will have to face significant costs for heating. A 110 square meter house will have a gas bill of 1,902 euros, while for a 70 square meter house the cost will be 1,398 euros. For a smaller house, of 38 square metres, the bill will be around 691 euros.
Compared to the winter of 2022-2023, the increase for a 70 square meter house will be around 430 euros, while compared to the pre-crisis period, the cost will increase by as much as 635 euros.
In Palermothe increase in heating costs will instead be more limited. For a 110 square meter house, the cost will be around 1,265 euros, while for a 70 square meter house the cost will be around 1,025 euros. For a 38 square meter home, the bill will be around 450 euros.
Compared to the winter of 2022-2023, the increase will vary between 50 and 210 euros. Instead, compared to the pre-crisis period, the increase could reach up to 420 euros for a 110 square meter house.
The importance of energy efficiency
However, there is good news for those who have invested in the energy efficiency of their home. Homes with a high energy class (Class A) save 60-65% compared to those with a class G, and in some cases this means saving up to €1,400 per year. Energy efficiency therefore represents the best solution to deal with price increases.
Investing in efficiency not only helps reduce bill costs, but allows you to contribute to the energy security of homes and achieve long-term climate objectives.
