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EDF bills


Katieb
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We are just wondering what people are paying EDF for their elctricity bills?

We think ours is quite high but maybe it's the norm? Our last bill (sept/.oct) was 158 euros, without using any heating. We are now concerned that as were are using minimal heating (elec rads) that we will have a massive bill in January. We have started taking weekly readings and it seems we are using nearly 300 units of Hors Plein per week.

We are living in a rented property - 3 storey, not insulated and no double glazing, we have the rads on downstairs all day very low and occasionally use the others when we are in the rooms for any length of time, this house is by no means warm enough and we resort to wearing 3-4 layers of clothing. Fortunatley we are moving to a modern pavillion next year with double glazing, insulation and log fire - luxury!

It would be good to know other people's electricity costs and wonder if our bills will be reduced when we move as we are paying significantly more than in the UK.

Kate

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Firstly, electricity is far more expensive in France compared to the UK, although UK rates are rising. To compare you electricity costs with someone else would be very difficult unless it was like for like. You do not state the current tariff rate you are on or your supply amount to your house. Whilst you must keep warm and supplementing your heating by wearing warm clothes, it would be reasonable to expect far higher bills for the winter period compared to your Sept/Oct bill. When you move to your new home with double glazing and insulation this will certainly contribute to reducing your heating costs, but at the same time visiting you local EDF office and discussing your needs will also ensure you are on the right tariffs.

Baz

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For now I would recommend buying a 'Poele a Petrole' for heating up the house.  I bought one from Auchan for €69,99 + @ 20€ for the fuel.  I have mine on quite a lot especially first thing in the morning, it's really quick at heating up the room and gives off very little smell (just on starting up and turning off.

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Hi Kate

Electricity is  not a cheap form of heating, with convector heaters.  The heaters are cheap to buy, but running them isn't  We have recently moved to quite a large town house, high ceilings etc.  We succumbed yesterday and bought two new paraffin heaters for the downstairs, 69 euros each.  Plus the odourless fuel to run them,  They are great, we have used them for years now.  The meter was spinning off its axis with the electric fires all on, clocking up 100's of kw hours.  Chauffe Eau's are pretty efficient and only top up as you use hot water, plus they are usually linked to the cheap rate tarrif signal.  You can get fancy paraffin heaters, with timers and bells and whistles, but not a real need if you in most of the time.  Our edf bill was 250 for the same period.........(They do get it wrong sometimes, the last teeny house final reading was for 2500 Euros for the summer period)!!!  It was their mistake I hasten to add.  At least if you had a couple of portable heaters, you can take them with you, wherever you may roam and you can turn off some electric fires, like we have.  Always seems better to pay for the fuel as you go along and hopefully not have a 'shock' from the EDF in January.

 

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Your bill does sound rather high; we pay on average 65 euros a month over the course of a year.  We have the washing machine and dishwasher on a timer to come on in heures creuse and our nightime consumption is about 30-40% of the total.  We do not use electricity for heating - too dear!  We did use heating oil last winter but have shifted to wood this winter as oil is so dear now (advantage of a dual-fuel ch boiler!).
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Then, before you realise it, you have spent 100 euros on paraffin fuel in a week.......especially when it is below freezing day after day.......a bit like swings and roundabouts........can't have heat without considerable outlay, no matter what form it is in.  C'est la vie.
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I think it is something we will just have to put up with. We too have the washing machine and dishwasher on a timer to come on during HC (only used approx 3 times a week) and we have bought a parafin heater, we really can't understand why the consumption is so high. The good thing is it makes us go out for long walks and appreciate the lvely countrysiode around us.

Kate

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Hi Kate,

have just bought a small second home and immediately we were 'signed on' with EDF they sent us a questionnaire to fill in to help us calculate our consumption over the year (we elected to pay by direct debit). Obviously we don't live there year round like you but when they recieved the completed questionnaire they put us on the lowest tarfiff and best of all set it up as 'budget' account where we pay the same amount each month so no huge bills over the cold months. This might be something to look into. Like you we have only electric rads and a woodburner in the lounge (2 bedded fermette).

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Petrole is not cheap, indeed, but at least you pay for it as you buy it, so no nasty shocks when bills come.   We have three petrole heaters going all day long in the winter (often at night when it is very cold), and by turning them down to 12C when we are out and at night we only use three 20 litre jerricans a week, so about €45.  We have the electronic kind so they use electricity as well, but much less of it than if we had fully electric heating.
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Is pertole the same as parafin in the U.K.? If so then I now know why the French are so keen on de-humidifiers. Parafin throws out a tremendous amount of water, can't remember the exact amount. So if you are using a lot then it may well be worth looking out for any damp spots. We bought a couple of LPG heaters with us, they also give out some water, but not so much. They are easy to use, move and get warm by if needed. Our new home has low temp underfloor heating, it's wonderful and warm so not much need for the heaters now.

John.

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Yes, it is the same, highly refined and hence not cheap for the ones that are sans odour.  In a small space they do build up moisture, fortunately our house is very old, quite large, with very high ceilings and a miriad of weeny gaps for air to get in,  so it dissipates quite well.  Have been noseying at the gas ones too. 
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jonzjob as long as I can remember dehumidifiers have been used a lot in France, well before parafin heaters were as easily available as they are now.Which seemed to be in the shops a lot from about 1996/1997 onwards. The first modern ones were as far as I can remember japonese and very very expensive.

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[quote user="Agenais"]Yes, it is the same, highly refined and hence not cheap for the ones that are sans odour.  In a small space they do build up moisture, fortunately our house is very old, quite large, with very high ceilings and a miriad of weeny gaps for air to get in,  so it dissipates quite well.  Have been noseying at the gas ones too. [/quote]

We too use a petrole heater. It's a Zibro Kamin fan assisted model and we run it on the 15euros per 20litres stuff. It doesn't smell and works quite efficiently. It cost about Euros 460 about three years ago but has been brilliant for our heating needs.

The reason I quoted your item Agenais is that the environment factors you mentioned are very important when choosing one of these heaters. It costs us around 12 to 14 bidons (240  to 280 litres) per year. Around Euros 200 per year.

The nice thing too is when you come in you press one button to start it. When it's time to go out or go to bed you just press the same button again to switch it off. You can also take it with you when you move house.

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Good himidifriers (bl**dy dislyksick keybord) are still expensive. We bought our eletrifical one to keep our caravan dry through the winter months. No shortage in our house of distilled water for OH's steam iron and no I'm not being sexist, I just know my position and if I am not allowed to do the fun things in this life then that is the cross I will have to bare (bl**dy keyboard!). We used it for a short while while we were in a modern double glazed rented house and were amaised at the amount of water it dragged out of the back bedroom.

Jhon (bl**dy keyboard? No wonder they were called trype wrighters))

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Sorry jonzjob, I was talking about parafin heaters being in the shops and being very expensive when the new posh ones came out about 9 years ago. 

You are right, dehumidifiers are still expensive, where as parafin heaters even rather sophisticated ones have really come down in price.

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No need to apologise TU, our underfloor heeting (b keyboard) is wonderful in this weather. I even get up in the middle of the knight and don't get kold (?) (it's getting worse!). Plus, when it's shining, we get the full sun in our lounge and bedroom at this time of the year and the BIG G makes for wonderful heating. A plus is that in the summer the roof is so designed os that the sun don't shine in then. All very clever really, I wish I had thought of it?

ow I love living in the Aude!!!!

Happy John....

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John - or anyone else who has underfloor heating - did you install it yourself, was it fairly easy and is it reasonably efficiant to use? We are thinking of installing such heating in our bathroom when we move to our new home as the bathroom suiote will need replacing so we thought we'd do it at the same time - i relish the thought of stepping out of a bath onto a warm floor.

Kate

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We have friends with under floor heating and have stayed in homes and appts with it and the floor is never 'warm'. It is not cold either, just, well I don't know how to describe it really, fine to walk on with bare feet I suppose, but not warm.

Has anyone got any under floor heating that has 'warm' floors.

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Our floor is terracotta tiles, solid, and it's been there for 20 odd years and as far as we know there has been no problems with it. I would also agree that the floor is not warm or cold, but it is lovely to walk on with bare feet and to get up in the middle of the night is not a scrabble for slippers any more. The temp in the whole of the house is about 18 C. Our house is direct South facing and was designed so that in the winter the sun shines in through the 3 huge patio doors, 5 meter wide in the lounge and 4 meters wide in our bedroom and the same in the second bedroom. That helps to keep the temps on the good side. In the summer the roof sticks out enough to stop the sun shining in at all. Brilliant design. It's quite strange really because you don't really feel that there is much heat coming from anywhere in the evenings, but it's nice and warm!

The house is about 21 years old and we have owned and lived here for the past 9 months so I have no idea of the exact construction of the floors, except to say that I would recomend the system to anyone who is building a house. Before we moved to this part of France we didn't even know that houses here had heating! But by hech it cant half get cold here when it wants..... We also have 4 solar water heating panels, at ground level, just in front of the house and from late May till late October we switch the immersion heater off, we don't need it and when we get a couple of big pine trees cut down from in front of them we will get even more benifit from them as well as a lot less debris in the swimming pool...

John.

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As I said I know a few people with under floor heating. One friend stopped using hers as she thought that this form of heating was giving her migraines, she already suffered from them prior to this, but she swore that they were worse.

I don't get migraines and I love under floor heating when we stay anywhere with it.

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TU yes in Germany our floors sometimes get warm when the outside temperature is very low - warm = warm to the touch probably around 40°C.  I have not noticed this with our French underfloor heating and it may have something to do with the design and the fact that the German system must be nearly 25 years old - and so probably first generation design and construction
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