Iain T

Hi plombier - have read up more about Wood burners and sealed systems and you are right about the bomb!! so I guess I'm sticking to oil-fired and just using the rayburn for roasts etc. Will I need to replace the boiler with firebricks or can I just leave the boiler in place with the pipes unconnected? I appreciate it will damage the boiler, but how much ? Ta again Iain

What safety equipment do you need? what are the differences between a solid fuel system and an oil fired one? Ta Iain

Hi all - I've bought a second hand rayburn no1 wood burning stove with a back boiler - I have an existing oil fired centralheating system whichh heats 12 rads. can I just plumb into the system? If so where should I branch into? I have a four branch thermo valve after the pump and before the boiler. would the expansion tank be enough to cope with the expansion of the water? Would I need another pump if I wanted the heating on from the rayburn only? Or will I only be able to run the rayburn when the CH is on? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Iain

We've just received a lettre de Rappel for our taxe fonciere - we were about three days late in paying it, but there was no mention at the tresorie - would this be an attempt to fine us after the fact or is it more likely to be a fine as if we have not paid - unfortunately my french isn't good enough to fully decipher the form - they are asking 10% of the taxe i.e 88 euros as our fonciere was 877. Thanks for any help

We up graded our la poste bank account fromthe most basic one to an adesio account - I've just found an overdue from in all the bumpf that imples Myself and my girlfriend have to sign and get the form countersigned by 'our legal representative'. We had3 months to do this apparently but still have not done it! Are we done for? Ta Iain

Thanks for that Michael - the chimney is actually in the wall between kitchen and stable and so not on the outside, but where the boiler has been positioned there are no windows or anything directly above it so as long as the flue pokes out 50cm from the tiles I should be ok? Can I reuse the flexi pipe from inside the chimney or should it be solid pipe as it will not be enclosed in a chimney? Thanks again.

Thanks Opelfruit - would it be possible/legal to take the flue up alongside the chimney stack then at the last minute(ie close to the roof) go through the wall of the chimney stack and vent out of the existing chimney and still have a real fire at ground level - the smoke from the fire having cooled enough to not damage the metal flue? Thanks Iain 

What are the regs regarding the flue position for a flue off an oil boiler - the previous installation had the flue going up the chimney but I want to use that fireplace as a normal wood fire. Is it ok to have a metal chimney outlet coming out of the roof but below the roof top? Can you come out of a wall like a flue on a gas combi in the UK? Thanks for any help

I have an oild fired boiler that at the moment is heathing radiators in the house. It works fine so I don't really want to buy and other boiler. It seems pretty basic - with a temperature control dial on the front and little else in the way of controls - a thermostat on the water pipes to the radiators and electric pump and an expansion vessel with a pressure dial on it. I need to move it to another part of the house as it is smack bang in the middle of the kitchen floor at the moment and I need to put it in the adjoining garage. Is it 'illegal' for me to do this myself? I am a fairly competant DIYer and have done all the plumbing at my house in the UK. To provide hot water I was thinking I could buy an unvented cylinder that is fed from the primary rad circuit (with the right stop valves etc.) Would I need the cylinder thermostat to be connected in some way to the boiler - so that it can 'demand' more supply if the water temp gets low or is it possible for the thermostat in the boiler to be enough to govern the supply IE it will keep pumping and heating water until the return is hot enough for the thermostat -like it does with the rads. Any help would be really appreciated. The other option is to buy another combi boile but as there will eventually be 3 bathrooms that may all need water at the same time I think a tank is the best and most cost effective way to go.  

Got a reminder to pay the first EDF bill - I thought I would get a IMO from my bank as we haven't received any correspondence from the la poste account we set up so I don't know my RIB. (all we got was a chit with a compte number on it). Barclays don't do small IMOs in Euros any more so I will have to send a bank transfer, but How can I find account details from the bill? Will they accept cash? Can you pay over the amount of your current bill? It's only for 27.19 euros so I'll be very peeved if I get cut of over it, but i can't get back out there for a couple of weeks. Can you pay over the phone with a UK debit/credit card? Any help much appreciated Regards Iain

 We just been told by our french agents that the current owners have reported that some of the furniture that was included in the sale has been stolen. They have offered to reduce the final price by the amount that was listed in the inventory - however they deliberately valued the contents very low (something to do with tax I suspect) It seems very convenient that the most valuable pieces of furniture have been 'stolen' - Should we just accept the price reduction €210 (for 6 henri II chairs, table and mirror)try for more reduction, or could we ask for it to be replaced  - they have said that they have contacted the police and their insurance. Obviously I'm not suggesting anything untoward is taking place, but it does seem v fishy. We have photo records of the missing furniture. We are due to complete 21/12/04Thanks Iain 

We just been told by our french agents that the current owners have reported that some of the furniture that was included in the sale has been stolen. They have offered to reduce the final price by the amount that was listed in the inventory - however they deliberately valued the contents very low (something to do with tax I suspect) It seems very convenient that the most valuable pieces of furniture have been 'stolen' - Should we just accept the price reduction €210 (for 6 henri II chairs, table and mirror)try for more reduction, or could we ask for it to be replaced  - they have said that they have contacted the police and their insurance. Obviously I'm not suggesting anything untoward is taking place, but it does seem v fishy. We have photo records of the missing furniture. We are due to complete 21/12/04 Thanks Iain 

We are due to complete B4 20 Dec and so is it worth us fixing for such a short time? We used Foriegn Currencies Direct for the deposit and despite some pretty aggressive sales pitch they did OK - they're offering about 2 cents under the going rate to fix. Any advice or suggestions much appreciated.