Punch Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 We always put our dishwasher and washing machine on at night to make full use of the "heures creuse" in France, just like many hundreds of thousands of other people and have done so for the last 25 years both in the Uk and France.I realise the risks (I am an electrician and worked for Miele as a service enginner for a year, 25 years ago), but if you are sensible enough to have working smoke detectors fitted and and have an adequate and well maintained electrical installation protected by correctly sized fuses/circuit breakers and an inter- differentiel (RCD) as protection then the risks are very much reduced, and not really much more than the TV, video recorder or any other electrical device that most people leave on at night. Older machines perhaps need some forethought, but many modern machines now have built in timers designed for use at night time to make use of economy 7 or heures creuse in France anyway. However I realise this is no comfort for the people who have had incidents with machines and everyone must make an informed decision as to what they wish to do. I would like to stress how smoke detectors really are life savers, they will alert you to smoke & smoldering long before a fire actually takes light and give you time to vacate the premises. If you are worried then a compromise would probably be that if you are going out then don't leave the machine on ? I do leave mine on and have no qualms about it.Modern smoke alarms can be linked together so that any of the devices activated will sound them all so this is the solution for machines in basements or remote rooms as was posted above. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 What an interesting turn this has taken. Fire alarms in France! don't think that there are many around. We bring them back for people, but I have never seen one in any home that I have not brought back. And ofcourse we all use les heures creuses for washers and dryers and as much as we can, I'm not saying it is prudent, but most people would consider it mad not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 ....especially when the boss here seeks out the machines that have inbuilt timers for dishwashers and washing machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 What an interesting turn this has taken. Fire alarms in France! don't think that there are many around. We bring them back for people, but I have never seen one in any home that I have not brought back.Smoke detectors are on sale in Bricomarché here on a regular basis, and have been for a year or so. They also have started selling them at some supermarkets I noticed. Not to be confused with "fire alarms" which are something different. I have had experience of a fire whereby the fire service said a "life would probably have been saved" if the house had been fitted with one of these simple devices. The mains voltage operated ones are best but you would have to get these from the Uk or through a french wholesaler.My advice; if you can't find them in your area, get a friend to bring you one over with your next delivery of cheddar or marmite or alternatively order one on the net.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 According to a report I read a short while back about 85% of private homes in the U.K. have smoke detectors against about 5 to 7% of French homes! But they are becoming more popular. The thing that would really kick it off would be the insurance companies giving a discount when they are fitted. On of the most common faults with smoke detectors is that the owners take the battery out because they go off every time they are cooking. The principle cause for that is that they are sited incorrectly, in the kitchen for instance. The later ones have a 'hush' botton which mutes the alarm for about 10 minutes, but it reminds you by 'beeping' about every 15 seconds. That used to drive me up the wall in our caravan!!!But they are really are life savers. We bought 2 over with us and I think that they cost about £5 the pair when I bought some fuel at the local garage..John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Sorry Punch, yes smoke detectors, not fire alarms, I say light bulbs too, and am constantly told that they are lamps. Smoke detectors are sold in Castorama too but are still expensive and I don't know of one person who has bought such a thing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 Couldn't you get one of those cheap thermostatic shower controls from brico for a few euros, set it to say 30 degrees and pipe your hot and cold supply into that and then output to the washing machine? The water should never then be too hot.Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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