French Recommendations

[Nicos]

Hmm..tis a dilemma isn't it?
I'd certainly say don't go for the aerothermic- they're far too expensive for what they do ( often need a secondary form of heating even with the more expensive type) and it'd cost a ridiculous amount for a seperate system for the water...noisy/ugly too.
We're opting to change our 25 yr old boiler for a new condensing one which is much more efficient- should save 30% on the fuel bill .
If you earn over here- you'll get tax relief on the new boiler ( I think)
You'd certainly get tax relief on a wood burning stove until the end of this year.. We're getting a small Esse - called an Ironheart which has 2 hobs.Didn't go for the boiler attachment for heating or hot water as it's too small- and would have a problem with the pump and waterpressure if the electricity failed.
We'll buy a domino type 2 hob electric hob for quick /small meals and a microwave combi for its oven in summer when we won't want the stove lit.
Our neighbour has the wood pellets- it often gets jammed .
We're also slowly upgrading our insulation. Brico Marche have had an incredible offer on 19 layer insulation- more than 30% off I think it was about 80E a roll instead of 120E
We'd have liked to have moved away from fuel to be environmentally more 'correct' but to be honest my Richard Gere look alike ( *swoon) said this would be by far the best option- and to have the back up of the wood burners incase of fuel shortages like last winter.
We've really gone for a bit of everything and having larger rads put in in some rooms to gain more of a 'heating effect' rather than 'defrost setting'!!!
I've also stuck insulation in all the draughty windows. Are you double glazed Bob?

I'd love to go for the new solar panels which will eventually be available for domestic properties ( bit like silver foil )...or even wind power....but thy're a tad too expensive for us to consider!!

What do your neighbours suggest? ( ours seem just to have the heating ticking over at 18C and wear loads of layers)

[bobleponge]

Thanks for that Nicos.
My house is in 3 parts, with the windows in the first part being double glazed. I have also insulated the second and third lofts, and in most of the rooms I cant have larger rads than I currently do, each room probably has the largest I can get.
I have 2 woodburners, one in the middle and one at the far end, which really do warm up their rooms, but thats not in the part of the house that I live in currently.
I agree totally with no aerothermie. A friend has it, and whilst I have to agree it does get warm, and he swears its cheaper than wood and gas, its just ugly and would look out of place in a 300 year old stone cottage.
Neighbours.. hmmm.. what are they?
I know the farm behind uses woodburners and then have the hoses around the house upstairs to put heat in every room through vents, with the kids rooms having electric heaters, but I'm trying to move away from electric to heat as much as possible. I've been in the farmhouse a few times in the dead of winter, and the front room is always warm, but they have a woodburner at each end of the room, plus its an open plan room with the kitchen behind a bar type thing, so that room at least is warm. And for them wood isnt too much of a problem, having over 100 hectares of land, some of it is given over to woodland, so they are self sufficient.
When I do the roof, possibly this summer, there will be solar panels going up, will be getting professional advice to get the right number for the max amount of people the house will hold etc.

Decisions decisions, I really dont know what to do.

My ideal would probably be a woodburning Aga/Rayburn/Franco Belge type range, which did my cooking, hot water and central heating, with perhaps a separate conventional oven for the summer, with the solar panels providing all the required hot water for the summer, but I just dont know if thats the cheapest, and I do have half an eye to the carbon footprint thingy too.

That little figure at the bottom of your post does look a lot like me at home on my own in the winter. Does get a bit parky.

[Jardiniere]

what the hell is this aerothermie thing?
I am so glad we bought a small house ....the whole thing is heated by the Godin Woodburner....ok it doesnt give us hot water thats on an immersion ...
and this year we completed the window replacements and have put a secondary door on the front so we are hoping to be warmer this winter ..last year the bedrooms were not as warm as we would have liked...
so close the shutters, double glazed windows, draw the curtains.....

[bobleponge]

If I was clever and could work out how to do links, I would put one in to Leroy Merlins and show you an aerothermie thingy.
Its sort of air con in reverse, it is warm there is no doubt, but it just doesnt look right on an older cottage.... to me anyway, but we all have different tastes.

[Jardiniere]

i can find Leroy Merlin......and will investiagte this aero whatsit thingy .....

[Printemps]

The Chauffage Aérothermique system is known in English as an air source heat pump and indeed works like a refrigerator in reverse. Trouble is the CoP drops in locations with predominantly wet winters and the bottom line is their effectiveness is lowered in poorly insulated properties. Both ground and air source heatpumps come into their own if a property is built from scratch with higher than the norm insulation, but for retro-fitting into old stone built French houses they just aren't efficient.

As an enlightening website check out Navitron Renewable Energy - Solar Panels, Wind Turbines and Associated Equipment - the information there will probably keep you equally informed as this site, but for different reasons!

Several of my friends have opted for wood pellet stoves and so far not one has reported the pellets jamming. The French government is still offering tax incentives - check out Le crédit d'impôt dédié aux économies d'énergie et énergies renouvelables - but you do not need to be a French tax payer, you just have to be fiscally resident in France and the property has to be your full-time residence, not a holiday home. If you don't pay tax, they send you a cheque!

These financial incentives also cover double glazing and insulation, but there is an overall ceiling of €16 000 per couple.

I use a Villager woodburner which I brought with me when I moved here from UK and this year I may well buy an eco-fan - again check out the navitron website. Another friend of mine uses his summer table mounted cooling fan placed behind his woodburner to push out the heat of the woodstove - most effective!

I also have an extremely old (antique?) oil burning boiler which runs the central heating, but it's so grossly inefficient, ie expensive, I haven't run it for over 4 years now. That said, my plumber has told me it will also run on coal or logs - in fact they were designed to start up on fioul then you switched over to coal or logs. As I have friends coming over for Christmas, I'm intending to get plumber over shortly to give this dual-fuel contraption a test-drive! Believe me, UK friends who are used to gas fired central heating do not take kindly to being asked to get a wheelbarrowful of logs in on a regular basis!

This is what I found at Leroy Merlin ... Le chauffage aérothermique .

And no - they don't look good on the outside of an old cottage.

[bobleponge]

Does anyone know where I can buy demijons from?
I've scoured all my brocantes, Emmaus etc and not found one, so appears I am going to have to pay full price (gulp) for some, but I dont ever remember seeing them for sale here?

[zazen999]

My Bro and SIL got loads on ebay. First lot - 4 for £12 and the second - 10 for £1.

[bobleponge]

Hmmm
Never thought of that, spose it depends on getting some nearby to where I can pay a visit when I'm back in UK.
Ta, will now go and check.

[Nicos]

They don't seem to do country wines over here do they?
I got some funny looks when I mentioned Elderflower Champagne!!!

Good idea about e-bay- although they'll be snapped up at this time of the year.
I'd got some in my UK attic fortunately from pre-children days- we're intending to use them this year for the first time in years!!!! Had to go and get the bubble chamber thingies though from a brewing shop.


See...it pays to be a hoarder after all!!!!

[scarey55]

NKP1962 posted that you can use 5 litre plastic water bottles. There is a link HERE If you click on the link -top right, you will see the whole conversation.
I've never used them myself but it might be worth a try, at least until you have some glass demijohns.

[Tomatoking]

Just to let you know that this week at Lidl's they are doing a small English section....which includes Cheddar Cheese at 2.99 euros for 400g! Our local one didn't have it, obviously all sold out...so we managed to find it at another one (half an hour's drive!) so obviously we just had to buy four packs to stock up! Oh, also got some frozen fish and chips...yummy!

[scarey55]

We bought the fish and chips and I am afraid that I didn't enjoy them at all I expect I might have overcooked them though.

The Cheddar, on the other hand is lovely - not what I call "itchy" cheese but it is very flavoursome.

[Nicos]

Cheddar cheese eh?...it freezes quite well for cooking with!

[Jardiniere]

is that right? You can freeze cheddar? i really miss cheddar because its great for cooking - prefer french cheese for eating with bread/biscuits - but if i bring a few packets home with me from engerland i could freeze them?