Can we buy an English Boiler to fit in France?

[Sue Buckle]

Thank you everyone for your useful links and suggestions. I'm not sure we can opt for a geothermal or heat-pump option. The current owners have installed the radiators and pipework, but no underfloor heating. So we are stuck with a conventional solution, I fear. It would not be practical to take up the flooring. It may be that the best thing to do is to install electric radiators, or have an oil-based system and hope we don't have to use it very much! Luckily the property has two wood-burning stoves as well.

Sue

[Théière]

[quote user="Sue Buckle"]It may be that the best thing to do is to install electric radiators, or have an oil-based system and hope we don't have to use it very much! Luckily the property has two wood-burning stoves as well.
Sue
[/quote]

Forget oil based systems unless you a: own your own well and refinery or b: have won the lottery [:)]

Air source heat pump if you don't mind it on the outside of the building is by far the most efficient. 1 electric radiator = approx 1200w of electricity into heat. by contrast 1200w of electricity into an air source heat pump delivers at least 4800w of heat, if you buy the fancy version it will also work as an air con in the summer if required.

[joidevie]

And bear in mind the spiraling cost of 'Gaz de Ville' - 6 years ago in my first property I decided on a combi as the village had town gas.. Bought a "Veissmann" boiler (German made) through a local plumber who got it on discount plus low tva. Worked very well, but after my fixed 2 year 'tarif' ran out, the costs of running went up quite a lot (like in the UK, gas is getting quite pricey..).

Having sold and bought again, we've gone down the wood + electricity route (we are South, so winters are short(ish) and sharp (especially this year!) and have opted for a standard EDF tarif which should be 'capped' by Govt guidelines.. So maybe in the long run you might weigh up the options of taking down the rads and going down another route..

Maybe you can benefit from a vastly overinflated French prices for second hand white goods on Boncoin and sell on the rads?  ;o)    OK, joking there..

... but do look at all the options..

Good luck.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Théière"]

Air source heat pump if you don't mind it on the outside of the building is by far the most efficient. 1 electric radiator = approx 1200w of electricity into heat. by contrast 1200w of electricity into an air source heat pump delivers at least 4800w of heat, if you buy the fancy version it will also work as an air con in the summer if required.

[/quote]What happens, Teapot, if you import one of these from the UK?  My, the prices are so much lower there.  It seems that once there's any sort of subsidy for these sorts of things over here, that the installers just add the subsidy amount to the retail price.  But that may just be my imagination.

[Quillan]

[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="Théière"]

Air source heat pump if you don't mind it on the outside of the building is by far the most efficient. 1 electric radiator = approx 1200w of electricity into heat. by contrast 1200w of electricity into an air source heat pump delivers at least 4800w of heat, if you buy the fancy version it will also work as an air con in the summer if required.

[/quote]What happens, Teapot, if you import one of these from the UK?  My, the prices are so much lower there.  It seems that once there's any sort of subsidy for these sorts of things over here, that the installers just add the subsidy amount to the retail price.  But that may just be my imagination.

[/quote]

I wonder if you are looking at the same thing Coops.

Bricodepot Inverter unit 4.5kw heat output - 576 Euros plus 110 Euros for the pre gassed pipe set, total price 686 Euros or £588.

Same specification unit, the cheapest I could find on the Internet in the UK £926. They don't appear to do the pre gased pipes in the UK either so you will need somebody to do the pipework and gas up the system which has to be added to the £926.

Both offer the same warranty, two years on everything other than the compressor which has a 5 year warranty. If you nip across in to Spain I have seen even lower prices in their DIY shops.

[cooperlola]

I'll look at the Bricos but that pre-supposes the ability to DIY, as would importing of course.  A look at general websites over here on this subject suggested 5 to 8 k for the cheapest pumps.[:-))]  Clearly I'm looking in the wrong places.[:)]

[Quillan]

Well the cheapest was the one I quoted but there is a non inverter type for 299 Euros. The all have gone up a bit in price since I bought mine.

The most expensive units are the double units, one outside compressor and two units for indoors. Like for the BD one 1,408 Euros (£1,208) and the cheapest in the UK for the same spec is £1,270, not much in it. As you say you then need to get it transported. I did find some pipe kits after a further look and they are £160 for a 10m kit but the are not pre gased.

It took me most of the day to fit the first one but the rest between one and two hours per unit. The hardest bit is drilling the hole through the wall for the pipes but BD now do a diamond cutter core bit for quite a good price. Even if it only cuts ten holes it's worth the money. All you need is a power socket inside the house close (1m) to where the inside unit is to be fixed. If you have to lift the outside unit then two people makes it a lot easier. I managed to do mine on my own but there was a lot of swearing and at the end I said "never again, get help". On a DIY level of 1 up to 10 skill set I would say about level 4 or 5.

[Théière]

It also depends on the design spec, pumps for warmer climates (Spain) are built for just that and do not work as well as pumps designed for colder climates (UK). The type of refrigerant used also varies with the climatic conditions it will be used in. Pumps built for the UK are for wetter climates than the continent.

One of the units I fitted was pre gassed but to get the performance up to spec it needed a top up of refrigerant. The guys who install these units like to charge £1000/day if they can get away with it. [I] note to self must get on an installers course [I]

There is also the defrost setting in cold weather the unit can freeze up if the auto defrost is not good enough for the area and temperature the unit is used for. I doubt BD have such a good low temp performance and those units naturally cost more.  The Calorex brand for example use a lot of titanium components as it is for the British climate and swimming pool water which could be very corrosive to ordinary parts.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Théière"]

 [I] note to self must get on an installers course [I]

 

[/quote]Brilliant.  Then you can come down here and fit mine.[:)]

[Simon]

I have read this thread with interest having just brought a boiler from the UK and had it fitted here.

It is a Veissmann gas system boiler that was half the cost here, and the French local plumber was happy to install it for me as he got the job of running the mains supply.

It went through all the inspections without any problems, and parts are not an issue either. It is CE marked and works perfectly, so I am bothered that the advice here, though well intended is not always faultless.

[Alan Zoff]

I've learnt a lot from using the forum, Simon, including that you should treat comments from people you don't know and who are not at all accountable with appropriate caution. Anyone can give the impression of being an expert.

Well done with your result. (That's assuming of course you haven't made the story up!)

[idun]

So as plumbers are usually blue murder to get hold of, well decent ones are, why would they fit one you had bought???? I do not understand. As I have said before, maybe I lived in 'the other France'.

[Quillan]

[quote user="idun"]So as plumbers are usually blue murder to get hold of, well decent ones are, why would they fit one you had bought???? I do not understand. As I have said before, maybe I lived in 'the other France'.
[/quote]

Simple, in France as in most countries these days ther is little profit in selling the harware, we all know how much it actually costs via the Internet. The money is in the instalation.

I am looking to buy a sliding patio door, my problem is the size (230cm wide). It is for internal use to separate two rooms so I don't need fancy glass. Any quote I get is for around a 1000 Euros and includes fitting. If I say I will fit it myself then the price drops to about 750 Euros. I can buy one from Brico Depot or Leroy Merlin for 289 Euros except it is 10cm bigger so you go work it out.

[Simon]

Yes me too, I find the forum very useful and I was not having a go. As for making it up, that is not the case; disappointed you think so.

Simon

[Alan Zoff]

I can see that I need to make it clearer when I am trying to be amusing....