Mikey
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Posts posted by Mikey
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i was on easy pool, then when re ordering they sent me easy pool2. more expensive, i'll be switching back to easy pool next yr. what i like about easy pool is it really is idiot proof.
I'm hoping to go for a fully automatic system in the future.
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i have the solarmatt system, it works well, but i'm sure the navitron is better. With solarmatt you need the heat from the sun for it to work wwhere as with the navitron i believe its the light that heats the water.
the solarmatt isn't hot to the touch at all, unless its switched off then it will get hot, when water is circulationg its cool to the touch.
if i was doing it again i think i'd go for the navitron system.
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My wife has ms, ws diagnosed in UK in 93. We've been in France since 96. i have found the treatment here to be amazing, if she needs anything she gets it.
My wife can't take beta intiferon due to the side effects. what she takes is Methotraxate, 3 tablets every monday morning. since have that treatment she has been attack free and stabalised physically, prior to that had about 3 attackes every yr.
My wife see a physio once a week ambulance picks her up. her GP is great, i just phone whenever wife needs new persciption.
We are near Rennes, they have one of the worlds leading experts on MS at the local hospital.
the treatment here has really made a huge differance to the quality of life my wife has.
in UK blood tests took 2 weeks before getting results, here it takes 2 days for the results of my wifes monthly blood tests.
whatever you do learn french.
Your wife if she is concidered 80% disabled is entitled to disabled beneifits, this will get you both a carte vital. also if concidered 80% disabled you don't pay tax d'habitation or foncier or tv licence
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i have a waterair pool, great pool very happy, except for the cartridge filter it came with. very small and needed cleaning at least 2 times a week. changed it for a much bigger and better filtration system from poolguy using zelbrite instead of sand. i only need to backwash every 2 or 3 weeks and the water has never been cleaner.
from my experience cartridge filters are not worth the bother, go for a classic filter with zelbrite instead of sand. much less maintenance and backwashing is far easier than rincing a cartridge.
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there are pros and con either way.
we have 4 gites around large courtyard, we like to think we are on site but out of sight.
the pros are if there's a problem you are on site to deal with it and help guests if needed, plus we have a pool which i clean daily so being on site saves me driving miles for this. being invited to BBQs and drinks by the guests.
the cons are that i feel we lose our summer, we don't use the pool, that is for the guest, however if i know the guests are out for the day i will use it. we keep out of sight but as i have a large collection of DVDs which i lend to the guests and have a list in each gite the guests come looking for me. i also grow some veg which i give to the guests.
i can understand how some ppl don't like to go to comlexes or gites where the owners are on site because of fear of being spied on etc, last yr one family said how great it was at ours as the last place they stayed at the owner were always spying on them and tellingn them "don't do this or that".
my priority is our guests, and i move heaven and earth to make sure they have a good time.
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i installed the pool myself, but i had them fit the liner in order for the 10yr gaurantee on the liner.
the construction was very easy, and if there's a few of you at it you should be able to do it in a couple of weeks.
go to http://groups.msn.com/FrenchHolidayCottages/shoebox.msnw you can see the construction of my pool
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try www.waterair.fr they do very good pools, DIY or they'll install. I have one of their pools and am very happy with it.
The only thing i didn't like was their filtration system which i replaced with an excellent system from poolguy, who also sells and instals pools.
Andrew is a real good guy and says it as it is.
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pogo, the type you are talking about do work well. but one is not enough unless its for a paddling pool, you need an area of at least 50% the size of your pool.
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try http://homepage.ntlworld.com/solarmatt/ i have their system and it works very well. you need to be aware that any pool heating is a waste of time unless you use a cover on the pool over night or you WILL lose all that free heat.
the above system comes from UK, they deliver to france and the owner is very helpfull. Also if heating your pool you do not want it to get too hot, ie pools with liners shouldn't get above 28C. Also bacterea like warm pools so you need to keep your Ph etc levels spot on. Poolguy can advise on this.
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Hi Andy, and to you and family too.
The system I got from you circulates through the filter every 2.5hrs which is great, so thanks again.
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I think you're being too trusting, how can they afford to pay a loan if they can't afford to pay the rent. With all the bills in your name too, and how do you know they will be out in May.
I'd make sure you get the rent every month and you should read the meter every month and charge them, if they default once kick em out cos it will be you that loses out.
we have gites and in the past have rented them to French people for the winter months. All services went through 1 meter which was in my name, but each gite has its own private non EDF meter. I would read this every month and charge them every month.
I was very particuler to who I would rent to, and I always pointed out whenever they would come to view the property that i was very fair but very firm and made it very clear that it was important for them to keep to the agreed terms because there would be no messing about.
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Zelbright is brillliant. I had a cartridge filter that needed cleaning at least twice a week. We then got hit by lightning which killed our pump, so I decided to upgrade everything. got all the gear from poolguy, he even delivered the zelbright himself, and he lives a couple hundred miles from me.
we now have water that is so clear if it wasn't for the ripples you'd think it was empty. backwashing every 2 or 3 weeks if that.
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kick em out. they must have known how much money they had when they took on the property. If they moved to France with just enough to survive and pay a rental deposit then rely on their internet business to give them a revenue then they are stupid. I think they are playing on your feelings and have possibly done this before.
I suspect they are working illegally, tell them if they don't go you'll inform the tax man and URSAFF of their activity. Bad internet connection isn't your fault, they are the client so they should be chasing their isp.
tell them they have 48hrs to go. make a note of their car no so you can warn others
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Llwyncelyn, i've just had a look at mine and its called a MODERATOR. From memory mine cost about 600ff about 4 yrs ago. i think that included the T piece needed. Its a disk within a disk. The outer disk is numbered 1-3 and the inner disk has a flap on it that rotates so you can set it betweeen 1 and 3, depending on the setting it draws more air through inner disk instead of through your firebox. very clever bit of kit.
I've never seen them on sale in the big DIY sheds, i got mine from a specialist shop in Rennes that sells and installs wood burning stoves.
I believe its a big chain and are all over France, i'll look for an invoice and let you know what they are called. They only sell to the trade and prices are very good, I'm not trade but if you know exactly what it is you want, sizes etc they'll serve you.
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oh and for a sweep also look up roofers as they also do sweeping during the heating season.
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5-element, me an expert, nope. Just speaking from experience, over the yrs I've had 5 woodburning stoves, 1 being a supra which i still have in my bedroom and use a modulator with it. Do all supras have bad fitting doors? i know mine does and everyone i know that has the same model HF5960 has noted the same. They look like a big TV, brown caseing and thermostate on right hand side. As mentioned before you can change the seal if its worn but if it has a bad fitting door that won't make any differance. i bought mine from new and it worked very well in the 1st house it was in, then I fitted it into my other house and because the chimney was double the height the draw was incredible so i fitted the modulator as the flap you can fit inside the flue made no differance.
The door to any firbox should be air tight, if its not then you can't control the airflow and burn rate. and if you have a good draw on your chimney not only will you be burning lots of wood uncontrolably but most of the heat will also be going straight up the chimney.
Just for info for anyone wanting a stove. you don't have to buy very very expensive stoves to get good results. The best value for money stove i ever bought was an £80 dustbin type stove from Weldom. very basic looking, no door with window, just a dustbin lid. it was 12kw and really really chucked out the heat, and a fill up would last all night easily.
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yeh thats the one.
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Llwyncelyn you need a flue modulator. You fit it on a T between stove and flue, then asjust it as needed. What it does is instead of drawing too much air through badly fitting doors or a not so airtight fire box it draws excess air through a flap on the modulator therefore making your stove much much more effeciant and giving more heat in the room.
If once all your dampers and air vents a closed on your stove you still get a roaring fire then air is getting in through badly fitting door, which is common on some French stoves like Supra.
i used to have that problem on one of my stoves, so much so that the door used to whistle. I then fitted one of those flaps that goes in the flue but that didn't do a thing as the draw was so good, then a chimney specialist in Rennes told me about the modulator.
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woman in red is another one. can't remember who was in french film but in the american it was i think gene wilder and kelly le brock, the ex wife of mr pony tail stevan seagal.
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I liked him a lot, my fav films are Les Ripoux and Fantôme avec chauffeur.
Dunno how many of his film i've seen, my wife is French and she made me watch loads of French Film. Another fav is La Total, he wasn't in that but its a funny film, later to be copied by the yanks with Arnold Bigsoanso in it (True lies)
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the problem with woodburning stoves with water jackets is about 70% of the heat then goes to hot water, so you'll need to add a rad in the room where the stove is depending of course on the size of room and stove output. Also stoves with water jackets need top quility dry wood or they aren't as effective whereas stoves without jacket a more forgiving and you can mix dry with not so dry wood. plus your consumption of wood will go up by huge amounts. if someone just has a small house say 1 big open plan room downstairs and a couple of bedrooms and bathroom upstairs i wouldn't bother having stove with back boiler, just a stove and leave doors upstairs open and a small convecter in the bathroom. that way you'll possibley get away with 2 cord of wood per yr. the reason being with a good stove set on minimum 2 cord will last ages, maybe 1 fillup in the morning and one when going to bed. from my experience thats what we did in our cottage and the lounge was 40m2 and with stove on minimum the furthest end of the room was 28c. once you add the plumbing and rads to other rooms you can't run the stove on minimum anymore because the rads won't get hot enough. So you then need to have a roaring fire in order to get therads hot, therefore consuming much more wood.
I run an aarrow 29kw stove with wrap around boiler in my much bigger house, which is fine, but consumes about 8-10 cord a yr for 8 rads plus DHW.
Now that I've decided to do different things with my house i'm looking at getting a gasification boiler as they are far more economical.
I've been looking at http://www.solarenergyireland.com/wood_gasification_boilers.html which seem pretty reasonable, also the Vigas, does anyone know of any other makes that can take logs as well as wood chips.
I think wood is the way to go, or some sort of pellet heater or even straw bales. I've planted 400 fast growing hybrid willows this yr and should be ready for short rotaion coppicing in 4yrs. 400 should be enough but as i've got a fair bit of land i'm going to have about 1200 in the end. That way i'll not need to buy in any wood, and all the smaller stuff can be chipped and burnt too. hopefully i'll get some wildlife taking root in my new forrest..
cheers
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wood or wood pellets, wood gasification boilers are economical and the better ones need only 1 or 2 fill ups a day, and if you have a buffer tank you can go a few days without lighting boiler. http://www.solarenergyireland.com/wood_gasification_boilers.html
if you have a spare acre you could plant fast growing willows for short rotation coppicing, 400 trees should be more than enough to give you a renewable supply for about 30 yrs. Fast growing willow is ready for coppicing after 1st 4-5yrs and thereafter every year, that is if you don't coppice all 400 at once.
willow is easy to cut, easy to plant and if cut in January is ready to use by September.
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i tried one of those online kits from ebay, not bad. But I get the same if not better results using a packet of mild madras curry powder, well not the whole packet. in future when i'm in UK or have friends coming over i'll get them to get me some. The tescos medium madras powder is also very good.
A friend gets me Rajah mild madras powder too which is very good from paris whenever she is there.
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cassis, they were gone when i posted. i tried, friends tried. thankfully they are back.
thanks
Europac heater only heats to 26 degrees
in Swimming Pools in France
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we have a waterair pool with solar heating, at the mo our pool is 28 and i expect it to be 30 by the end of the day as its sooo hot today.
i'd get some solar heating if i were you, doesn't cost a penny to run.