We are already a couple of weeks into autumn and the trees are starting to change into beautiful shades reds and golds and browns. Temperatures are already dropping in Rome and I’m already moaning about summer being over. At this point of time in writing, its about 3 degrees celcius. Brr …
It might not be such a big deal to people living in the temperate zones. Cart himself prefers the cooler temperatures, but having lived in sunny, equatorial Singapore for most of my life, I’m still trying to get used to this. And in temperatures colder than 25 degrees, I start to shiver, and hide underneath the comforter, the flannel blanket … anywhere warmer!
Like this nice and thick comforter that stick rinaz is on, which she tries to run me over while I’m asleep. Its thick enough to probably make one layer for the princess and the pea 
I guess, on the other hand, one of the nice perks about living in colder regions is the ability to wear nice coats and jackets and boots, which would just be unrealistic, as well as a little insane to be wearing in tropical Singapore.
Nevertheless, the house was starting to get unbearably cold. And while the comforter, my flannel pyjamas and my favourite hippo slippers were helping, it’s still quite cold!
Yeah, I look unglamorous in this bideo, but as friends you wont be judgemental
Anyway! It got to the point that it got uncomfortably cold that we called up the boiler man to have the riscaldamento start again.
I’m not sure if its the same for other parts of Italy, but here in Rome, if you own a personal boiler, you’d need to have it checked by a qualified employee before restarting it. Cart told me that one risks to have a fine or worse, have an accident if there is something defective in it after being unused for some months.
This is what a boiler looks like. I left the bottles there so you could compare the size of the thing. Basically it works by having water flowing into a valve and the boiler heats up the water. And this heated water flows around the house through radiators which in turn warms the surrounding air.
And this is one of the radiators that saved my life during cold winters. On the side there is this little ceramic container that you’re supposed to pour water in because air gets drier as the riscaldamento works.
In any case, like I mentioned, not all houses have their own personal boilers. My friend Lynn was mentioning that for her condominium, its a shared boiler and to save money, the majority of her neighbours only wanted it turned on in November!
Till then, poor Lynn would have to bear with the cold!
I wanted to take a picture while the boiler-men were working but I chickened out in the end :p
In any case, I was being a busybody and was looking at the boiler-men as they checked the pressure, the heat, the flow and others to make sure that it fits to the European standards and in about 15 minutes or so, if it passes the test, the thermostat will be started and in a while, the house will be comfortable again.
And when that’s done,then another 15 minutes for doing the paperwork. What’s quite incredulous to me was how much bureaucracy that went into this, asking me about codice fiscale, needing an official libretto thingmajig that Cart had to buy himself in a separate location (how come these boiler-men don’t sell it directly?)
Thank goodness, Cart managed to get home from work in time and rescued me from having to go all Indiana Jones and the temple of doom-like trying to find something that’s close to impossible to find
In any case, the house is nice and warm again! My feet doesn’t feel ridiculously cold now! And I feel comfy! Whee! Hug radiator!
Toon-rinaz herself is crying tears of joy
Brrrrrrrrr it’s cold!! I’m glad you’ve got the heating back on, it’s definitely needed now!
My feet especially, was freezing! It got so cold that I had to go around the house wrapped in a flannel blanket. And yes, thank goodness for the heating, at least now we have respite 🙂
I think Milan would be colder than Rome since its far North!
I kinda miss the cold weather while i was in melbourne too! Will hardly break a sweat haha.
I guess that’s one good thing – everyone is fresher :-p
Oh that reminds me, I tried to jog during winter/spring and after a few minutes I couldnt breathe anymore and I got really worried. My body couldn’t adjust to the cold air I suppose. Have you ever tried to go jogging during this time?
Are you kidding? If its that cold I might just want to sleep ahahah. I have a history of asthma so am kinda afraid to try also.
Ahahaha this is a post for singaporeans only..unfortunately for Italians it is not a change to have to fight against cold weather! And especially true for the northern part of Italy, when I come to Rome I always leave at home a part of my clothes
You’ll never find anything like this in Singapore :p
Even at peak Malaysia like Genting Highlands or Cameron Highlands, most to most they would have a portable heater, well that’s what I noticed anyway 🙂
Are you saying that Rome is warmer compared to other parts of Italy? How cold is it there for you?
Exactly, when I come to Rome I normally find a warmer temperature, between 2 and 4 C° degrees more than my place. Probably also because it is a big city, and centers of big cities are normally hotter than the countryside
Funny you should post this today. I just got a pair of fingerless gloves I ordered from Amazon… for use inside the house, without fingers so I can type. It gets so dang cold here and at this time of year the heat is unreliable. The boiler gets turned off every day for a while for maintenance to make sure it’s ready for the long haul through the NYC winter. That means not hot water and no heat.
It’s still 12 C here, 54 F. It gets a lot colder than that, but when I first got here I was freezing. I’m still acclimating back to NYC weather. I got used to that tropical heat in Singapore and the Philippines.
Oooh! That would be useful! I tried to type with gloves on, and nope, its no go, being so clumsy and all. Does it help warm your hands though? I hope to see one of those for sale soon 🙂
How come the boiler needs to be checked everyday? I mean if its done properly, it doesnt really need multiple times. Such an inconvenience when you’re showering and then suddenly, COLD WATER!
And I think I’m going to be an inverse you when I go back to Singapore and not get used to the heat. I was already starting to feel a bit uncomfortable last December. Oh boy, I is sads.
The gloves I bought are just gloves without fingers, but there are other gloves for sale here in NYC where there’s a flap that stays laid back on the top of your hand. When your fingers get cold, you fold that part down and tuck your fingers in and it becomes mittens. I was impressed when I saw them. I want a pair but the only ones I’ve found for men so far are 20 bucks. I’m sure I can do better than that!
I’m not sure why they have to spend days and days working on the boiler. The only thing I can figure is that because it also heats the hot water for the sinks it runs all year round and they choose this time to do the yearly maintenance. The boiler is a really big one, like in the Stephen King movie about that hotel, The Shining. So it probably needs repair parts and stuff like that and they do it now to make sure it doesn’t crap out in the middle of winter. This is just the beginning of the cold season for NYC. I think it stays cold here through April usually.
Have fun dealing with the Singapore heat! It took some getting used to when I first got there, even though I was coming from a fairly warm climate.
In Turin, the guy who comes to check the heater provides the book.