sazzyberry Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Does anyone have any information about the cheapest way to heat your french property? Our house had no form of heating when we bought it and we are gradually getting round to installing central heating. We currently have an electric fire but this seems to be very expensive as we just had a bill of 111 euros for what amounts to 5 weeks usage! We currently use the house as a holiday home but intend to move there as soon as possible.We currently use bottled gas for the radiators we have installed but are unsure if this will work out very costly if we are there all the time. I know you can get the bigger bottles which stand outside, does anyone know if these work out cheaper?We have also seen the large containers people have in their gardens but are these just for oil?We have no woods unfortunately so a wood burner is probably out of the question.Any help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Framboise Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Our house had nothing in the way of heating when we bought her - not even a working fireplace. We took advice and settled on gas chauffage because although electricity is considerably cheaper in France, it should be cheaper still to run your heating etc. with gas.We have the big tank thing in the garden which although is a bit of an eyesore until we get around to disguising it with screens etc., it has only been topped up once in 18 months of sporadic use of heating/water and the cooker and that cost us about 150 euros. Cannot complain at that when here I pay over £600 in gas alone per year! Of course when we move along with our project a bit more we may install solar water heating that will cut the bills too, but I also like the reassurance that if we get a power cut then I still have the cooker and c/h available to use. The big tank thing also means no messing about in the dark depths of winter changing cylinders because the man turns up with a huge lorry, attaches a pipe to the tank & fills it up. Nice and easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sazzyberry Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Thanks for your reply.I take it you only use your house as a holiday home at present then?How would we find out about getting a tank installed? Do you have to pay an initial cost to rent it or anything? Was it 150 euros to fill it?Sorry so many questions!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Framboise Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Yes it is a holiday home at present (if you can call it a holiday with all the work we do when there!) but it will be our permanent home next springtime. We visit monthly for about a week at a time so the system has regular use. You need to find the nearest agent for Totalgaz near your home who can set you up with all the details and give you price etc. I guess the intial outlay may seem quite high (and we had to prepare our own concrete base for the tank thingy too) but it is definately a selling point for the house and a job best done before you get yourself sorted out as you can find the best spot to disguise the tank away.As I recall we pay a minimum rental on the tank and the initial fill-up was considerably more than 150 euros, but it is a huge tank after all and we have only had one top-up in all that time, even through last winter. Furthermore, several people we know have said that they wished they had opted for the gas system when they installed chaffage instead of electric, which includes our French electrician who has a gas system in his own home. The electric system may be an easy installation and cheaper but savings come over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Primagaz will install a tank for free!! You have to pay for the pipework to your house though which is fair enough. They will do underground tanks now but I have no idea on the costs of these if any. My neighbours eye my tank suspiciously sometimes and regard it as a 'Bombe' but actually they are very safe. You pay a deposit (around 500 euros) plus another 500 for the first fill. Then Primagaz will come round (with me its about twice a year) and top up as necessary, they will also come on demand too. The idea of a deposit is that they can come and fill even if you are not 'at home' then they send the bill later, even to a UK address is no problem. I use it for hot water and central heating and find the cost not too bad (sorry, don't have bills available) but the heating is considerably augmented by a woodburner so that keeps the costs down a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sazzyberry Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Yes I know what you mean, is it really a holiday when you are installing a kitchen and bathroom???!!!I don't suppose you can remember roughly how much the initial cost was can you? Does the tank have to be a certain distance from your house do you know?Yes electricity certainly seems more expensive in our opinion and like you say it's good to have a bit of both in case of power cuts which I understand are quite common in France.Thanks again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sazzyberry Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Thanks Pierre, very useful. Sounds like this is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 [quote user="sazzyberry"] it's good to have a bit of both in case of power cuts which I understand are quite common in France. [/quote]It may depend upon where you live but around here we've only had one power cut in two and a half years and that was in a storm when a tree was blown onto the overhead line.In my experience the continuity of the electicity supply in France is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 In my part the electrickery supply is fragile to say the least. We reckon if someone coughs in the next village then it goes off - well not quite that bad but it does have it's moments....frequently. I understand that on some installations a reset is required it the supply goes off ?? We have a fairly old setup which just gets on with it but we can always tell there's been a power cut when the clocks flash at us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 It's a little out of date, but there's a comparison table here: http://www.ideesmaison.com/Le-chauffage-les-differentes.htmlSteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Our house came with a TotalGaz tank - I think it's a 1000kg one. It's on a concrete base and surrounded by a hedge on 2 sides and also a stone wall. I can't comment about installation because it was there when we bought the house and we simply signed a new maintenance / delivery contract. I think we had the option of a contract where they filled it when they were in the area or only at our request. We have so far called them in twice, the last time was July 05 when we got 500kg and the gauge jumped from 20% to 63% full. It's now at 46% - that's 17% in two years use - say 12 -14 weeks as it's a holiday house. We only use gas for hot water and cooking. At first we put the central heating on one winter and it took about a week for the solid walled house to get to around 21C and I calculated it was costing us around €25 a day (yes per day!) to warm the place up. We don't bother with that anymore and now only use the log insert in the salon and fan heaters in bedrooms when needed. But I still put the CH on a couple of times a year for a few hours at a time, just to keep the system flowing and hopefully prevent blockages.I don't think it's cheap and guess oil would be cheaper if starting from new, but obviously we'll stick to gas as it's already here.We pay €93.46 a year for the maintenance and rental of the tank. TotalGaz take the money from our account spread over 3 months and the same 3 payments system also applies to the cost of a fill up.The tank must have a 60cm clearance all round so we trim the hedge to suit. Ours is also close to a boundary (less than3m) so the boundary wall (note a wall and not fence, nor a hedge) must be 25cm higher than the highest part of the tank.In summary: very convenient but maybe not so cheap. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Isn't the price of gaz linked to the price of oil? http://www.gazdefrance.com/FR/public/page.php?iddossier=301 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 There is a link, but for liquified gas delivered to your home it's an entirely different matter. I think it's a case of how much the market will bear. Or in LPG speak - "of course there are additional costs over and above natural gas such as storage, liquification, more storage, delivery tankers, distance travelled etc." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fussy Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 We have gas central heating (propane) we had a plumbing company toinstall it, it cost 9000 euros, that was for two rads in the lounge,one in the hall, one in the downstairs loo, and one in each of the fourbedrooms, our tank was put 6ft in the ground, so can't see it, we pay12 euros per month for the hire of the tank (they won't let you buy it)and 116 euros per year for the maintenance of the heating, when theyleft they filled the tank up to 80% that cost 1,600 euros, that coversheating,cooking, and hot water, and as yet we still havn't had themback to refill, also forgot to mention that the 9000 also included acombination boiler. Hope this helps a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Useful figures fussy.Can you just add a bit more by saying when your tank was filled and what percentage is left now? That way it gives a clearer idea of running costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fussy Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 hi again, our tank was filled sept 20th 2006 what is left is 31%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fussy Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 hi out tank was filled sept 20th 2006 what is left is 31% sorry I have posted twice the figures are the same though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fussy Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 anymore help let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 We have gas from Antargaz and they installed the tank in the earth for free. Access from a circular green plastic lid. The first fill of gas is free - not sure why but didn't argue! Then we started to pay so much a month. We have partial heating, loads of hot water and cook with gas. Dec. to March we used about 500e worth of gas. Much less at the moment. We are here all the time. This has been discussed before and the cheapest way seems to be with a wood burning stove which runs a heating system and heats the water. But more labour-intensive. Also the standard of insulation makes a big difference, as in UK. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 hiOK yes wood is the cheapest way to go ... cannot believe that you cannot get some from somewhere.. our heating boiler can run on oil or wood . I bought 1000ltrs of oil in august 2004 yes 2004 and the tank is still half full !! our wood we buy from the local furniture factory €200 buys this little lot and the local farmer lends us his tractor with log splitter ( it`s favours for favours where we live but a bottle of pastis goes a long way ) it lasts us 18 months ..OK yes it`s pine but we are always 12months ahead and it`s seasoned-ish before we get it . All I can say is do not put all your eggs in one basket with the price of oil/gas so iffy get a second heat source , and ask the locals what they use.[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/daveolive/Pdr_0094.jpg[/IMG]Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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