powerdesal

Sunday evening, 7 o clock radio, Journey into Space, with Lemmy, Doc and????? Hot brick as a bed warmer - we must have been rich, we used hot water bottles (kept socks on though), a bit like two weeks ago in Normandy in an unheated house!!!!!! What Joy.

It was 'pobbies' in my part of the red rose county. Coming home from school and lighting the coal fire (first one home - 'latchkey children - shock, horror!!) and using the coal shovel and sheet of newspaper as a 'blower', leaving it in place until the paper started to go all brown and crinkly ( health & safety issue? - nah) sitting on the kerb in summer rolling balls of 'gas-tar' in your fingers Being out all day in the holidays, in the field with your pals, no mobile phone to call home and parents not worried about it. Ice on the INSIDE of the bedroom windows in winter. Didn,t experience CH till I was 30. Did it do any of us any harm? Theoretically none of us should have survived. Regards

Hi, We found that we couldn't get the type of stove we liked in France (after long searches) and shipped a Hunter Herald 8 from UK. Delivery was pounds 150 and definitely worth it. The weight was 160 kg plus the pallet and the whole thing was very well packed and totally shrink wrapped. Delivered by a French carrier to the door and two of us picked/shoved it into the sitting room, (driver + self). Our builder will install it and the chimmney flue pipe and specifically said that self installation is not an insurance issue. The issue is that the flue MUST be swept every year and a certificate obtained otherwise the pompiers will ,if called to a fire, fine you and your insurance will deny all liability. Production of the rammonage certificate will get you off the hook. Bought from 'firesonline' and excellent service. regards

Hi, Thunderhorse, you tiled over existing tiles - exactly my plan. Anyone experienced putting insulation under the (second) layer of tiles ?. Yes it will reduce the room height but it should be a plus regarding heat loss. Any ideas anyone? wrt original post, tiles with rugs every time, laminate possibly upstairs where existing floor boards are sound but 'grotty' and not sandable. regards

Does anyone have realistic 'U' values for solid stone walls of the type found in Normandy ? Also for single thickness floorboards (ie not underdrawn), I can find the values for most types of modern construction but obviously that doesn't really help. Even a web link would be handy. Can I also ask, what is the present cost of fuel oil in Normandy (before I commit to an oil fired system) Many thanks,

Incoming cold water main at 35 deg C ??????????? Where on earth do you live ? Our incoming supply in Normandy, even in the middle of summer is closer to 15 than 35 (guesswork),  althought, to be honest, I haven't actually measured it, it just feels very cold. Regards

Paul, Thanks for that, can the telereport ( accents missing) be fitted to an old style meter or does it need the modern digital type, mine came out of the ark!!!! Point taken about 16mm sqr Regards

Interesting use of the word ''dongle''. I assume it the very descriptive term for the wireless adapter that is plugged into my PC usb port on a trailing lead (presently blu-tacked to PC case). The lap top wireless adapter is a card type which slots into the card port, leaving the usb port free for whatever.  It works very well and doesn't cause any inconvenience. Regards

Nick & Bejay, Thanks for reply, the reason I would like the meter moved is to put it in a weatherproof cabinet accessible from outside by the EDF meter reader so that we dont have to be in France when the meter is read. Its not an unsolvable problem and the idea of extending the 'meter tails' is very interesting. Any idea of extension length limits ( if any ) I presume 10mm sqr is the correct size for normal domestic supply. Regards

I hope this question makes sense !!! I have ( or hopefully will have soon ) re-wired room by room to replace the 'crappy'existing system, but have not yet  it connected to the existing system. Part of the work involves the installation of a new  'tableau' in a different location to the existing mains incomer. This will mean that EDF will need to relocate the incoming supply. Will this be treated as a 'new' supply for the purposes on Consuel inspection or what? Has anyone experienced this type of situation?. The new incomer location is about 6 metres from the existing which is a dropper from an overhead and then through the gable end wall of the house to the meter etc. Finally, do I supply and fit the disjoncteur de branchment or is that an EDF job. The basic idea is to 'liven up' the new system then remove all the old, hence minimising the off supply time. regards

Seconded. Never, ever, ever, be tempted to wire 'UK style' You will invalidate your insurance, probably have difficulty re-selling your property and its possibly illegal anyway!!!! Check out the 'comme un pro' series by Thierry Gallauziaux & David Fedullo, lots of self explanatory pics. Regards

Thanks for reply Fridgeman. I will apply a coat of 'thinking about it' to the subject. Regards

Please pardon my ignorance folks, but what is a 'live box', I don't live in UK so am probably out of touch with current terminology. Is it a wireless modem?. I presently use a Siemens Speedstream on wirless broadband with 'Etisalat' here in the UAE, is such a unit compatible with French systems as I would like net access when visiting house in Normandy. My present system works well with a wireless adapter on the PC usb port and a 'creative' notebook adapter on my (ancient) toshiba laptop. There are, no doubt, lots of technicalities involved but its just not my field, I just hit the keys!!!!!!!! I suppose my basic question is ....how to get the cheapest (pay as you go???) broadband access in area 50? Any help to a computer-phobe will be very appreciated. Regards

This is possibly an odd-ball type of insurance question. We have a maison de vacance in Normandy, no house in UK but an 'accommodation' address there (daughter). Our car is 2005 and on UK plates with UK insurance. Wife will be spending 5 months in France this summer (away from UAE Heat) with car. What is best advice regarding car insurance, we do not want to register car in France as it will spend remainder of year in UK, ie sept 2006 to May 2007. How can we ensure full comp cover in France? or can we ? Anyone had any similar experience ? All info will be gratefully received.

Fridgeman, Your post about air to air heat pump units was very very interesting, are they about the size of a 'window unit' aircon pack ?. What sort of prices are we talking and is noise a possible problem. I am looking for heating ideas to supplement the main woodburner in the sitting room and can't go down the underfloor route ( wet or dry ) and the thought of using LPG (expensive) or oil (not going to be cheap in future) does not appeal. regards

Just a small point which may be obvious anyway, make sure the indirect coil connections are not blanked off as the air inside will expand when the heater is in use on electric, if that expansion cannot be released the coil could split.

Ref 'what is a chevron in this context'   I have similar level of ignorance, I assume it referes to conventional  wooden studding. Can someone clarify please.