Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P>

Mayenne? We are south of Laval and just had ours done. Had to wait 8 months though. bank on 60Eur/sq metre for lattaux and Spanish ardoises, more for chevrons and French slate.

Termites in Mayenne? Not according to local folk?? Elaboration required!

Their website is still on the web, but is well out of date. I suspect they folded. www.demipiste.com/

Hmmm. similar to Iceni, we are running on a paper Attestation. Interestingly, we had a handwritten one with the 4 of us on, and latterly a typed one with me not on. The Attestation runs to 2009. I have sent a paper claim in (from GP) for myself and had it bounced because I should be on the E111, which I do have. My E111 runs out in July. I don't have a UK address now, so I suspect I cannot renew this? I also work for a UK Company, and get taxed there. Any advice? Even if it's rude!  

I can't say Dynastock/Castorama are anything like Screwfix. I can't get a response from either of them. Screwfix are not as good as they were before Kingfisher cocked everything up. But still better than most others. IMHO: Bricodepot: Cheap tat sold in fully randomised surroundings staffed by the woefully inept. No idea about stock-outs. Website: what website? Castorama: Slightly better kit, slightly better surroundings, slightly brighter staff. Website: there is one, but don't bother to "Contact them" with a query. They won't reply. Ever. B and Q: see Castorama, but add 10-20% to prices. And add pseudo-rude to the staff comment.  

Us too. Filled and sent within minutes!  

Agree. On a point of interest, our "friends" couldn't fathom out why their Aircon unit was struggling to warm a fairly small Studio when it's paltry 1.5kw heating tried to extract heat from -5C outside.

Heat pumps do work, but one has to be careful about the claims. The "blurb" makes wild claims, based on perfect operating conditions and environmental conditions. The best you can expect in the real world is about 200% heat gain, and even then this is subject to seasonal performance factors. The point I was trying to make is the huge heat output claims made by those selling these are not real. And of course, the principle applies to heating and cooling cycles only. The best heat pumps work on either solar or geothermal sources. The former being rather variable in our northern part of the world, the latter being rather more stable. Air/Air heatpumps are nowhere near as good. The other thing to take into account is the payback. The capital outlay for ANY heatpump system is very high, comparatively. The less you use the installation, the more adverse the payback period. For someone with a low occupancy home, heat pumps make little sense. In terms of energy conversion, my original waftings stand. Energy CONVERSION cannot exceed 100%, in most cases one form of energy converted to another would rarely better 80%. A car engine converts chemical energy into various other forms of energy, the mechanical energy being about 25% of that. Heat pumps are not pure energy conversion. They use electricity to extract heat energy from a natural source. The common fridges and freezers use heat pumps, in reverse. One technology to keep an eye on is the Peltier effect devices. They should proved a greater heating/cooling efficiency with less noise.

Even the most inept school physics student will be able to confirm that electrical energy cannot be converted to produce MORE heat energy. Quite the converse. All energy conversion has an efficiency less than 100%. In the real world. I think someone has misinterpreted the sales blurb claims. They talk about "comparative equivalents". And soon the car that fills it's own tank due to an efficiency > 100%? Only on eBay!  

Do you mean Heat/Cool units or a full plant? Heating with electricity is neither economical or comfortable. Unless your barn was unbelievably well insulated, you could use the aircon units as back up or supplementary to another background heating medium. As far as the cooling side, you would need plenty of capacity, and why would you need to aircon in the first place, one wonders. Typical unit prices in GBP here: http://search.ebay.co.uk/air-conditioning-split_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQsacatZ-1QQcatrefZC6QQsargnZ-1QQsaslcZ3QQga10244Z10425QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsadisZ200QQfposZPostcodeQQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1

I just changed my location. I log in to either .fr or .co.uk and it all works. You can alter the language too. No problems, have bought and sold to and from the UK and within France. Paypal needs changing too, so you can read in English rather than French.

That's interesting! Our Weber appears genuine and was bought from one of the Bricos last year. It looks like crap now. It was at the bottom end of the price range - I wonder if there is a breakpoint above which you get US products? The Outback one is totalled after about 20 uses. It is junk. The box it came in says something like "The China heavy metal Co." Thanks for your knowledge so far.

We are now on our 2nd Gas BBQ. They only last a season at best. Ours is covered by a pukka cover during Summer, and in dry storage during winter - after a good clean and waft over with WD40. The problems are: 1) the wire racks corrode to dust within weeks of light use, particularly the one holding the rocks. 2) The lava rocks shatter. 3) The burners corrode badly. 4) The metalwork (lid and case) just gets pock-marked and corrodes. 5) They are utter ba....ds to clean. Both are of "reputable" make - one is a Weber, the other Outback. Both are made in China, of course. Without spending a king's ransom, can anyone recommend something that will last a little longer? Ta

Came with property. It's one of the big wooden panelled efforts. It uses a sand filter and we dose it with various items from the chemistry set as per the instructions. Works fine with mains water. Pants with well water.  

Don't get helicopters here either. Never seen one here in years. We are more North than most, I suspect. Not many pools, certainly in-ground ones. Most are above ground types.

Scaremongery and sour grapes? GdF are going down the pan, if the last years' press is to be believed. Sounds like a last gasp.

The CD version of the BBC French Experience is pretty good - you would need to assess learning levels, but I find it advanced enough. And it's quite up to date, with real people in it. Gosh.

Apart from the power to run the wellhead pump, the idea of using "free" water does appeal. As I stated, the last time we tried this, the pool water started clear, but went murky within a few days. Nitrate is not the concern, but I suspect that there is a significant amount of "life", bacterial or otherwise, in the well water which is causing it to cloud. Any seasoned pool owners are welcome to offer advice, and I am not averse to a hint of ridicule.  

I'm just about to add 15,000L of mains water to our pool. Which I have done for the past 3 years. If I use well water, the water clouds in 2 or 3 days. The well water just fails the potability test on Nitrate content. Haven't seen a Gendarme for months round here.

"Oi mush!" and "Alright cock!" seem to work for us.

LPG is more expensive than oil and town gas, is highly contractual, and is a big, ugly tank to hide! At least with oil you can shove it in a garage....or bury it. If you had town gas....

We know of one in 49, going for less than your budget, will need some work...

We know of one in 49, going for less than your budget, will need some work...

We have used eBay in France for both selling and buying. Very successfully. In all cases, the transaction was done via Bankers Draft. You may have to put up with the inquisition at the Bank (what do you want YOUR money for?). You could try it for selling, it won't cost much.

A recent comparison between white goods in the UK at Comet and Currys (not necessarily the cheapest places!) and Darty and Leclerc here showed the French equivalent make and models to be 10-25% dearer in France. I seem to recall they used Bosch, Indesit and AEG brands. Brown goods, interestingly, were generally cheaper in France, from memory.