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Woodburners?


Monika
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Now everything is nearly finish in our Renovation/extension we are starting to think about woodburners. We went to see a, what seemed to us, expensive place near Flers (61). The woodburners started at Euros 900 and we were told that we need a mason to build a chimney. We have had a woodburner installed several years ago in England, the woodburner was £350 and we just had a flue. Is this not possible in France and what is the best way to have one installed there. Should we just bring one from England and have somebody install it for us. Advice would be very much appreciated or perhaps we even have a "woodburner installer" in our midst.
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im not an expert but i believe you need a certfcate as usual in france for you woodburner instalation with regards to your insurance should you have a fire your insurance company will be more than happy to reject your insurance claim if you cannot prove that the burner was installed by a registered artisan pretty crap i know but it will give you piece of mind rember you need a certificate for most things the more you ask the more you need each office will send you to another office and so the french economy turns huge administation costs and a rich beaurocracy
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Hi Monika

Our French friends are helping us to install a woodburner in our house, they have constructed a surround of beton cellulaire which will protect the walls etc from the fire, and this is OK for the security against fire and for insurance. Our 'chimney' is being vented directly onto an exterior wall, and as such, we will have a chimney built on outside, (much easier for us) using the recommended products etc.  If we were having the woodburner inside another room on an interior wall for example, then we would need to construct all internal surrounds etc for the fire in beton cellulaire, also use the special bricks? and reinforce the floor and ceiling with concrete. Apparently, this is what is needed for fires???  They haven't said or indicated in any way that we would need a certificate for the insurance, bit of a worry, so I will ask just in case we do!! Castorama do some nice fires and are available on the web, also check out the other diy stores, there are some nice well priced products out there!! I will let you now what they say about the insurance cetificate!!!  The only problem we have now is getting the wood!!  You need to order it and it is best if the wood has 'dried' for two years, so not a lot about this time of year apparently. Looks like it might be parrafin again!

jetlag

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[quote user="jetlag"]

  The only problem we have now is getting the wood!!  You need to order it and it is best if the wood has 'dried' for two years, so not a lot about this time of year apparently. Looks like it might be parrafin again!

[/quote]

Yes, it must dry for at least 2 years otherwise you get all kinds of nasty resins building up on the inside of your flue at a rate of knots.

I don't know where you are but it's odd that you can't get any wood.   Is it just because it's not the time for delivery yet? - mostly seems to happen September onwards here in the Orne and the Sarthe.  You see more wood than you can shake a stick at when you drive around here, stacked up in every other field and lots waiting for delivery later in the year!

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Hi Monika

Spoke to my french friend about the certificate.  What she told me once a year, I will have to have my chimney cleaned by a company who will then issue me with the certificate needed for the insurance should there be a fire. If we clean the chimney ourselves and we have a fire, will not be insured! Apparently, its not expensive for the chimney to be cleaned by these companies. As for the build, she said it wasn't obligatory to have and artisan to build the chimney and that it is ok for us to do it ourselves providing we use the correct materials.  I would double check the insurance with your insurers to clarify the certificate, just in case there has been any misinterpretations!

happy chimney building[:)]

Jetlag

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Hi Cassis

I am in the Charent Maritime, and my lovely french friends have been trying to get wood for me without luck!!! You're probably right in thinking it is probably too early in the year, and like you say, it will no doubt be in abundance come winter!

Kimberly

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Thank you to all of you. Looked at the Castorama web site, it is the best site I have come across, and each item has a picture. Plenty of reasonably priced woodburners there, but do we take the chance and buy one in the hope of finding somebody to install it?
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If a professional installer obtains and installs the woodburner for you, then he can get the VAT reduced from 19.6% to 5.5% on the woodburner.  Certainly that is the case for most building works, plumbing, electrical works, so I am assuming it is the same for installing a woodburning stove or fire.

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[quote user="jetlag"]

Spoke to my french friend about the certificate.  What she told me once a year, I will have to have my chimney cleaned by a company who will then issue me with the certificate needed for the insurance should there be a fire. If we clean the chimney ourselves and we have a fire, will not be insured!

[/quote]

Not strictly true - you can do it yourself, but the problem is in proving to the insurance company that you, or a friend who cleaned the chimney for you, actually did it and did it properly!  The big plus of using a registered chimney cleaner (ramoneur) or plumber to do the job is that you get the proof in the form of the certificate that you mention. 

We have a wood/oil burning combination boiler.  Last year it cost us 22 € for the chimney sweeping  and 8€ to clean out the wood burner box.   The biggest cost was 'décrassage' (thorough scrubbing out) and servicing of the oil burner part of the boiler - a whacking 79€ plus 10€ for a new injector in the oil burner.  But as you can see, the ramonage itself was pretty cheap so I reckon it's better than faffing about on the rooftop with a set of brushes!

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My Villager Stove has a flue that's about two metres long before disappearing through the roof. It doesn't have a little door in. As and when I want someone to clean the flue, how will it be done? Will it be necessary to take out the plate that's inside the chamber? Or what?
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Hi Ernie, sorry I can't answer your question, but did you bring the villager stove to France or did you buy it there?

Is it just an ordinary flue which is on the roof, or is it encased in a chimney? Did it need to clear the height of the apex? Thanks for that.

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We recently had a fire in our newly purchased house because the previous owner had installed the chinmeny completely the wrong way.   It cost us 9000€ in damage and to get everything pulled down and replaced.   Our insurance company would not pay a penny.    My advice is to go to a good, reputable company like GODIN, pay the extra money and get it done correctly the first time!   At least you will be able to sleep at night knowing that the fire is safe!

Fiona

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The Villager Stove was bought in France, installed by a Villager Stove dealer. Originally, the flue was installed the wrong way up, but we noticed that and the dealer/installer was kind enough to re-install it.

The stove is situated against a wall. The flue leaves from the top of the stove; there is about two metres of flue before it enters the ceiling/roof. However, I should have said that the flue takes a ninety degree turn before it goes through the ceiling and at this point the bend is rippled. Presumably, it then takes another ninety degree turn as it straightens up to go into the stack, but this is all out of sight in the roof space. Then there's a stack above that. At no point is there a little 'door' that I see on some flues. My question, therefore, is if I ask someone to sweep the chimney, will this be possible? Should I be worried? Should I get someone to come along and cut a door in the flue? Where should they cut it? Or is it possible to access the flue from inside the chamber of the stove? There's a plate between the chamber and the entrance to the flue, which is presumably removable with vast amounts of elbow grease, the right tools etc?

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Hi Jetlag

Where abouts are you in the CM? We are East of Saintes and are having trouble getting wood this year. Previous years we've had a supplier in Matha but he's not doing it this year,he was cheap, 33 Euros a cubic metre in 1 metre lengths, we used to order it now for delivery in September. I have heard of people paying up to 60 Euros from the large commercial suppliers. I'd be interested if you have found anywhere.

aj

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