lindamarilyn Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 HiHas just occured to me, pending move to France in a few weeks. I believe the electrical voltage is the same and appliances should work OK.BUT.....What happens to all the electrical appliances we take with us?Do we A.... chop off the plugs and put on Euro 2 pin plugs? Or does this blow fuses as I believe the 2 pinned plugs don't have fuses in them.B. Take loads of converters 3 to 2 pin to use, but is this any different?C. Have to change all the sockets? D. is there an alternative?Then there is the wattage, can you use as much in a small, modern french house as in a UK one. Or will too much overload the system?Help needed please from any experienced people who have done 'the move.' Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 Re the current coming into your home, you would have to contact your electrical supplier to sort this out, could be the EDF or a Regie. The prices increase as the capacity increases and for a small sum, they will come out and make sure that you are taking the right one.We just changed our plugs over to two pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 TU is right, but to cover the other points don't, whatever you do, use UK sockets, and converters are pretty dodgy - they are meant for hairdryers rather than belt sanders. Some '2-pin' plugs do have an earth - it is the brass peg sticking out of the socket which goes into a hole in the plug. You just have to get the right type. Most appliances, though, are 2 pin without earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianhaycox Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 As a useful stop-gap take a load of English extension leads and when you arrive chop of the UK plug and put a 3-pin French plug on. It saves having to change loads of plugs for the computer/monitor/printer etc. and TV/video, HIFI etc.Genenerally older France houses don't have many sockets anyway so you will need and extension/multi-plug of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindamarilyn Posted January 6, 2005 Author Share Posted January 6, 2005 A big Thank You to you all for your helpful advice.So much to find out, advisors are a blessing. Hope to be in the position to return favour in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindamarilyn Posted January 6, 2005 Author Share Posted January 6, 2005 Did some research on the subject and came up with this. Hope it will be useful. LindaElectricity in FranceElectricity is supplied by EDF (Electricité de France)www.edf.frConnection: Apply to your local EDF office (if you buy through an agent they may do this for you). Make sure you get them to read the meter (releve special). You will need proof of ownership and some other form of ID to set up your account.Power Supply: 220-240v is now pretty much the universal standard in France (as in the UK) therefore most appliances will work fine once you have the right adapters or plugs connected. What makes life more interesting is the fact that you can choose your level of power supply in France! You can upgrade or downgrade between 3KW to 36KW and various levels in between according to the size of your house, the type of heating you use, the number of electrical devices you use, your peak times of consumption etc. The higher your KW rating the higher your standing charge. If you find your power keeps tripping off it is quite likely to be at a time when certain appliances are in use and your supply is insufficient to cope with the demand. Some people are quite happy with this arrangement and are content to keep the lower rating supply, switch off the offending appliance and switch the power back on each time it happens. If this becomes a nuisance it would be a sound move to upgrade - it is worth asking EDF for a free evaluation of your existing connection. Call 0 810 126 126 (local call rate).Did you know: that a survey carried out showing costs in euros per 100 Kwh gave the following information: Fuel 3.81E. Town Gas 4.25E. Gas propane 9.14E and electricity 10.75E ( From the Minister Economics for Finances and Industry April 2003 ) PC and TV protection In many rural areas the power supply can be unstable at times, particularly during thunderstorms, when you may sometimes lose power altogether. You can purchase a number of plug-in accessories which will help protect your TV and PC equipment. Cheapest of these is a surge protector which protects your equipment from power spikes and irregularities which could cause a sudden failure of your appliance. You can buy various forms of these in local DIY stores. More expensive, but a worthwhjile investment, especially if you have valuable data on your PC, is a UPS (uninterruptable power supply), a battery based box which sits between your PC/Modem and your power supply. If the supply fails unexpectedly the battery in the UPS will autmatically keep your machine running and allow you to save your data or carry out a back-up. You can buy these from more specialist PC stores. As a precaution against lightning damage many people also unplug their TV aerial during severe storms.Tariffs There are also various tariffs which offer you choices for reduced rates depending on the times of day and peak days in the year. In this way it may be possible to upgrade your supply but switch to a more economical tariff to avoid greater overall cost. Note that the most power-hungry items are electric heaters, dishwashers, washing machines and water heaters, so if you run an oil/gas/logs household you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you only require a lower KW supply.Meters: Usually located on an external wall, or sometimes down the lane on a pole! It must be read by the EDF at least once a year. In between times, if they are unable to access the meter, you will receive a card asking you to write in the meter reading or telephone it through. Modern meters have a number of useful features allowing you to see your actual live consumption, your consumption to date etcBills: There are two elements to your bill (facture), which will arrive every two or sometimes three months. Firstly, the standing charge (abonnement), determined by the power supply installed and secondly, the consumption of electricity units. TVA (Value Added Tax) is applied at 20.6 percent on the standing charge and 19.5 percent on the consumption. Local taxes (taxe commune/département) are added at around 12%, before TVA.Payment: By direct debit (prélèvement automatique), based upon estimated usage. Or by settling each bill by cheque or RIB payment.Contact: EDF2 rue Louis Murat75384ParisTel: +33 1 40 42 22 22Customer Care Web Site More info (in French) at EDF FAQEnquiry Tel: 0 810 126 126 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Not all electricity is supplied by the EDF some towns/cities have a Regie as a supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindamarilyn Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 HiWhat is a Regie please and how do you know whether you are with EDF or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Regie = Enterprise d'interest public geree par l'administration. Broadly a state owned company. You should try to get a photocopy of the last gas, electricity, phone and water bill from the seller or estate agent as this normally makes setting up the account and being reconnected easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindamarilyn Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 Thanks again for that suggestion, simple but I hadn't thought of it. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Off on a tangent, but here in the UK my downstairs ring main has just tripped. It isn't an appliance so there is a good chance that there is a fault in the ring itself (though I'm hoping its an errant socket). That could well cost a few grand for a rewire, plus we have just had the downstairs redecorated including new floors. In France I would just have one out-and-back circuit to worry about, I would know where the fault is (roughly) and I would have power in the other rooms.So what is so good about the UK system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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