jondeau

As has been said, if the air temperature is less than -2C the liquid gas will not vaporise and you will not get any gas from the cylinders.

The usual procedure in the UK is to change the control box.........not cheap I know, but these things are full of electronic wizardry which no one ever seems able to repair. 25 years old is a pretty good lifespan for any heating control........  

In France a single cold water feed is commonly used to connect washing machines........ But.......some UK washing machines will only operate if water pressure is applied to both inlets (H+C)........so before you leave the UK buy a plastic tee piece (more commonly a Y shaped piece) that will enable you to connect both your hot and cold supply pipes to a single cold feed. Available in any decent plumbing outlet in the UK . I have a feeling I have seen these Tee Pieces in France..........but I wouldn't swear to it.  

You're on the wrong site to ask such a question.......their a pious lot on here. Would I do it ?.......yes absolutely, you know their working standards............use a bit of discretion, and get on with it.      

The problem would appear to be that these appliances are burning a neat fuel.......ie, no primary air is being induced into it before combustion. This can result in the incomplete combustion of the fuel and consequently CO will be produced. I don't think ethanol is being singled out, it is the fact that these appliances have no flue to remove any dangerous products of the combustion process.

Carbon Monoxide (co) is an odourless, colourless, tasteless gas...........you cannot see smell or taste it. It is a poison that can cause cause death, because it is a poison rather than something that will suffocate, urgent medical treatment is needed for anyone suffering from it, it is not enough to remove them from the cause of the gas to the fresh air. As to co detectors......research some years ago suggested a percentage of them either did not work or were erratic. I would buy at least two to be on the safe side. Actually I wouldn't.......I wouldn't fit such an appliance in the first place.......the worrying thing is that some posters on the earlier thread already had.

I seem to remember a discussion about this very subject in the building section a little while back.......I got the impression some people thought I was nuts when I questioned their safety...

There should normally be a washer unless the mating surfaces are a ground joint (as in grind......not terra) A ground joint would have tapered mating surfaces, one male one female.

[quote user="BIG MAC"]However if the hob is purchased in France the supplier will want to register you in order that an inspection of the installation may be made. Connect yourself at your peril .[/quote]   This must be a relatively new development.......nobody gave a damn when I was working there.

In the UK the driver will drop the concrete wherever you want.........as long as the truck can get there. I was once stuck when the labour didn't turn up, I got the driver to add extra water to the mix to make it runnier......he offloaded it through the kitchen window and I leveled a kitchen floor (very large) on my own.

Dave........I love it.   Unfortunately you could be strung up by the danglys if a UK water company found you doing it.   Cheers. JD   My best to the cat...........

I have to admit that did make me smile................a lot............I do hope the heat from the system does not ruin the diaphram in the pressure reducing valve. You could end up with a pretty large water bill.   Completely illegal in the UK of course.   Would it not be simpler to fit a conventional system ?    

[quote user="ams"]  The problem is with the gage for the pipes inside the house. The pressure gradually drops from 2 to 0.5 over a period of about 5 hours. [/quote]   Definately sounds like a leak inside the house to me too. Sorry.    

Ahh.....It dumps the hot cylinder. Usefull.......but sadly not a remedy for a loss of water in the boiler system.   Big Mac.......nothing that I would use I'm afraid, non of the domestic ones I have seen are WRAS approved and the commercial stuff probably cost more than ones house would be worth.

[quote user="Le Plombier"] a heat exchange tank where mains cold water can pass through to cool the system water, again thermostatically controlled. In my opinion this is safer and more controllable than relying on a gravity circuit and a radiator or similar to dissipate heat as on the old UK systems In either event you should only proceed if you really know what you are doing As with gas installations my standard advice for this type of installation is use a professional Le Plombier [/quote] Hi Le plombier, I have never seen one of those.......maybe it's a relatively new French thing. However this would be not a lot of use with a solid fuel fuel system . If the system loses water due to overheating (safety valve discharge) or a leak on the sealed side of the system the amount of water in the system will be progressively reduced.......even with the boiler doused the latent heat can do terrible damage to the boiler, so fresh water needs to be introduced into it. The only way I have ever seen that done is through an expansion tank Unless of course the heat exchanger tank thing can somehow introduce more water into the sealed system ?   PS: I'm not a professional any more.......but I did spend forty odd years in this field.  

No particular help with your query I'm afraid.........but I fitted a condensing boiler at home in the UK a couple of years ago, best thing I ever did, I reckon about a thirty per cent reduction in running costs.

Excellent stuff Vermiculite.........however so fine and light are the granules that they flow almost as well as water, any tiny little gaps around your register plate and it will trickle out all over the place. For the initial few buckets of fill it is worth mixing it with cement and water (Vermiculite Concrete...as it is known) this will provide a solid base and good seal around the flue and over the register plate.

Well I've just read through that lot for the first time.........highly entertaining. I retired a year ago back in the UK, this year I did get the winter fuel payment........I also have a thirty five per cent rise in my fuel bills this year so the net worth is about nill overall.   Now I know where the Australians get their famous saying from

I do remember a couple of years ago a structural engineer used to advertise in one of the English language ex-pat papers in that area.........other than he lived in the Dordogne I can't remember much else. I've been out of France since then so he may still do so.

In the UK sealed combi systems have more or less become the norm as well, however open vented systems are permitted and quite frankly are far superior in many ways. The rise in sealed combi systems in the UK is in my opinion far more to do with ease and speed of installation for the installer than any other reason, they're fine in small houses and flats but I would never install them in houses with multiple bathrooms. It would be worth checking with the French Aga people if open vented systems are permitted, I really can't think of any reason why they would not be and if anyone would know for certain they would. I don't think that combining two two heat sources (other than that they are both solid fuel) would be a great problem.....but it would need to be carefully worked out to avoid conflict. It is quite difficult to be specific without seeing the proposed layouts...I'd be interested to hear how you get on and happy to advise on any problems you encounter.

Good grief! I'll say this for the French........they have got hideous down to a fine art.

Do the French insist on a sealed system?........A friends house near Matha has an old galvanised expansion tank in the barn close to the boiler. The big problem with solid fuel appliances is that you can't just turn them off, even if you douse the fire the latent heat in the castings will still be liable to overheat them. With an expansion tank connected to the mains supply in the event of a leak from the system or a disharge caused by overheating, the mains will provide sufficient water to keep the appliance from running dry. I have heard of solid fuel appliances being instaled with sealed systems........but you are taking a big risk.   I think that installing two solid fuel appliances in tandem could be very tricky as regards to overheating.......but I suppose it is possible as long as you monitor them very closely. Some years ago in the UK I installed an oil fired boiler in conjunction with a solid fuel Aga.......one interesting phenomenon occured (both were connected to a twin coil cylinder) when the oil boiler was turned off, the hot water in the cylinder caused a reverse gravity feed which heated up the oil boiler.  

It is quite possible that a 40mm universal compression coupling will fit the 42mm pipe. These plastic compression fittings have a fair bit of tolerance in the body and rubber olives. I have fitted them to both copper and iron pipes. I have no idea if they are available in France though. Screwfix lists a limited range of them on their website.

Yes, chemists are significantly more expensive in France, but I do understand the reasons why and do quite agree with them, as a consequence it is very easy to find chemists in even the smallest villages.......and very knowledgeable and helpful they are. Mind you, I always brought a supply of things like paracetamol with me from the UK.

It could be a blocked pipe.........but I'll bet the fosse is full. That's what I'd put my money on...........(if I had any)