Half of the Italian families (48.8%) have an air conditioning system;
diffusion is sustained in all areas of the country: 51.2% in the South, 49.1% in the North and 44.2% in the Center.
This is what emerges from the
latest Istat report on energy consumption in 2021
.
In the warm months, 28.5% of households equipped with air conditioning turn on the system every day or almost every day (in the warm months), 35.3% a few days a week;
a quarter of households (24.1%) use it only occasionally or never use it.
In summer, the air conditioners are turned on for an average of six hours and 17 minutes a day.
It is the families who live in the smallest municipalities (up to 50 thousand inhabitants) not in the mountains who turn on the air conditioning most often (31% use it every day or almost), while the families of the small mountain municipalities, 'Istat, they use it with the lowest frequency (24%).
Some characteristics of the family also seem to influence the frequency of ignition, such as the number and age of the members.
Daily use increases as the number of members increases, from families with only one member (25.5%) to families with five members or more (31.8%).
If in the family there is at least one child up to six years of age, daily use is higher than the average (33.5%);
in single-component families with an elderly person (65 years and over) it reaches 27.8% and reaches the minimum (23.6%) when the
the only member of the family is under the age of 65.
Looking at large household appliances, the most common are refrigerators and washing machines, present in almost all households (99.5% and 97.3%, respectively).
Half of households (50.2%) own a dishwasher, 15.2% also have a dryer (separate from the washing machine) and 27.3% have a freezer outside the refrigerator.
Energy-saving light bulbs account for the majority (80.7%) of light bulbs in homes
.
Although they are no longer marketed, traditional light bulbs still cover the remaining 19.3%: this is one of the figures contained in the Istat report.
Energy-saving light bulbs are 84% of the total light bulbs in families in the South, 83.1% in those in Central Italy, 77.6% in families residing in the North.
Methane is the most widespread source of power in Italy, both for heating (68%) and for the production of hot water (69.2%)
.
Compared to 2013 there is a slight decrease in traditional and non-renewable sources (methane, diesel, LPG) to the advantage of electricity and biomass.
Electricity systems account for 8.5% for heating and 16% for hot water.
Biomass feeds 15% of the heating and 5.5% of the hot water.
Solar has an emerging role for hot but still residual water (1.4%).