Thedunnes

Hi I would advise against a rigid supply and cannot even see what the point would be.  A rigid supply would have to be tigthened up somehow and it would be rather tricky unless the stove had no cupboards in the immediate vicinity. A flexible supply allows you to move the oven with disconnecting and reconnecting it.  Most gas pipework uses very similar fittings as water plumbing and as french plumbing bits have the same threads as UK stuff you should be OK.  You should note that where braising fittings you are supposed to use a braize with a high silver content as it is stronger. Our installation has an isolator valve under the sink and has solid piping up to that point from the bottles gas.  The flexible pipe then runs from this isolator valve to the cooker Hope this helps Stephen

The idea has legs. On the other hand should it be taken a stage further and have sections on Electrical, Plumbing, Fosses all subjects which come up a lot and could justify a section. Individual sections would make it easier when looking through histroic threads for infomration Stephen

Cos I am an awkward cuss, I want to fit a H/W tank with a heat exchange for the boiler and a second heat exchange for use with a solar heat exchange. Trying to get anyone to quote me for such a beast in France is like trying to pull teeth, so I have resorted to trying to source one in UK.  Trouble is they seem rather dear over here.  I have been quoted £1300 for a 200 ltr tank with a 12 Kw exchange for the boiler and 24Kw exchange for the solar exchange.  It would come with all the normal expansion ballon in that price, and be a compatible french style high pressure one even in a hard white shell, so identical to the ones you find in France, but £1,300!!!! Maybe I am expecting too much, but has anyone managed to source such a thing in France for me to compare prices.  If anyone has sourced one I would love to know the supplier. And yes I know if I don't buy it in France I won't be able to add it to the restoration costs for CGT.  Least of my worries. Thanks in advance Stephen

I agree.  They are not rocket science, however as Chris said you need to use wood that has either been tongue and grooved or you need to acquiant yourself with a router. I know you want to keep costs down and of course the quantity that you need will make a difference here, but a router, and "tongue and groove" bit for the router to cut the slots and the tongues, and preferably a router table to mount the router in to do the job well and safely. I have seen shutters that are not properly built using the tongue and groove approach and they can start to separate and look shoddy, bit like theones I have to replace on our cottage. What timber were you planning to use? Stephen www.forsac.co.uk

I too have looked into this a little.  There is an english chap who I know who lives in Normandy who has been involved in helping a firm who manufacture the equipment in France. Simply put he explained to me that installations work better the bigger they are.  As a small system and a large system would both need a similar sized compressor to extract the heat, thus making a large system more cost effective. The one house I am doing at the moment is only small and so I am probably going to install a regular oil fired boiler but with a separate hot water tank to allow me to use a solar system to heat all the water in the summer and assist the boiler int he winter.  Yes they do work in winter as well but do need help.  There is still a huge barn to get my head round and I will look at Geothermal heat for that. hope this is some help, but if you have a decent sized property and want to know more I will dig out this chaps address and let you have it. Stephen www.forsac.co.uk  

Hi My builder thinks ther is one there too as we want to find an old front door. I will ask him if he found it and post again. Stephen

Val In this case no notaire has dealt with this yet and hence the problem.  The account and cheque are the only property that he had in france and yes I believe that there is a UK will. I will check with said friend as to when he actually passed away, but I guess that what you are saying is that we will have to go and see a notaire.  Is this something any notaire can do, as obviously I know the guy who did the transactions on our property, but he is a fairly humourless individual. Stephen

Uzerche is our local town. About 10 mins away. I rate it very highly.  It was a pain in the neck for a long time as the N20 ran through it causing horrendous traffic problems until the A20 opened a couple of years ago. If I was buying another property I would look vary carefully at Uzerche.  It is a very interesting place, full of history with a medieval centre, but it has not yet "happened". My neighbour pointed out ruefully that a few "pointless" shops were begining to appear to satisfy the embrionic tourist market, but they are few and far between.  Very definitely worth a look.  An excellent site has been put together by a local.  Can't remember the address but there is a link on our site. Stephen www.forsac.co.uk

Nev Snap.  I could not believe the size of the darn thing fitted chez nous, but a year on I can offer a few tips. I am guessing that you have a boiler with a built in hot water tank.  This means that the boiler stat needs to be set at 60 degs.  If you did not have the mixer valve you would be send water round the house at 60 dges with would result in a lot of heat.  Use the mixer valve as a way to control the max temp of the rads.  Iset mine at about  4. My boiler has two settings, one for summer use which basically means no power to the CH pump and a winter setting that does supply power to the pump.  On inspection there was a place on the control panel to wire in a room stat which I have done which basically cuts the power to the pump when the house gets up to temperature. I have also taken a UK type timer over and installed this onto a board and passed the power supply to the boiler through it.  This gives me control over when the whole thing fires up.  As an extra measure I have also fitted the board with the new timer with a frost stat and wired it in parallel.  This means that if the basement where the boiler is drops below 5 degs the whole system fires up to protect from frost.  I have another frost stat to take down and wire into the upstairs to do the same should the temperature in the house drop below 5 degs. they are rather unusual bits of kit compared to what we have in the UK, but they do work if not a little noisily.  When you fit a timer, make sure you warn people to make sure that the boiler is actually on before trying to have a shower as the hot water (in mine) can run out mid shower.  The tank is not very big on mine but does re-heat very quickly when the boiler is actualy on. Hope this helps Stephen www.forsac.co.uk  

Not dipped into this forum before so hope this is not a FAQ. Friend has a french PO account belonging to her late father and a french cheque made out to him that she needs to deal with. Where do you start dealing with probate in France fro a non resident.  She will be visiting over the New Year and so I could try and get things signed then if I know where to start. Stephen

Have you considered Geothermal heating.  Sounds mad, but the principle is that you drill a bore hole or similar and pass the water from the ground through a heat exchange to extract the warmth from the water befroe returning it to ground.  Typically 1Kw of power would generate 4Kw of heat.  I jest not. Remarkably well proven technology.  Look at: http://www.avenir-energie.com/english/acceuil/frame.htm A french firm (lyons based). regards Stephen (19)

The stuff we used on recommendation of neighbours and our builder is Xylophene.  There a couple of different variants under the same product name and the cheapest place i found it was an Mr Bricolage at 60€ (ish) for very big "busta bloodvessel" size drum. It has the consistency of paintsripper and is best sprayed on.  I have used a back pack sprayer (the type you use for spraying weeds) to great effect.  Sadly I still have plenty left to spray, but at least now that I have cleaned (sandblasted) the beams I can see what I am doing. Stephen (19)

Dan Just wondering how the Vide Grenier went.  If you still have stuff to dispose of let me know.  We are coming over on 22 Oct for a week Stephen (19)

Greetings There is an energy saving exhibition in London at Olympia next week.  Could be a useful place to do research.  Unhelpfully it is held mid-week, but it is rather trade orientated I think.  dates are 19 - 21 Oct. go to  http://www.energy-expo.info/ and register for a ticket.    Stephen

Hi While strolling around the main village ina our commune (Salon la Tour) we happened on what was once an old hotel and in what was once the bar there a chap has set up a furniture restoring business.  Heck of a mess but he was doing some beautiful work.  He was very happy for us to have a look at what he was doing, mostly repairs for customers, and was a real craftsman.  Sorry I don't know his name but he is in a little side street strolling distance from the Mairie and they would know about him. Alternatively we will be chez nous at the end of the month and so I could show you. Stephen (19)