Whether to bring a cooker from uk?

[Cerise]

I'd go for bringing a cooker.  The only thing that I really regret not bringing from England is my lovely double oven.  My very expensive French thing is **** useless as the grill is in the oven so not only is there only one oven, but you can't use the grill at the same time as the oven.  If you do bring a decent electric oven you may have to get the power rating for the house bumped up as otherwise every time you have a roast dinner all the lights go out![:)]  The problem could be if it goes wrong I supose.

[Tourangelle]

[quote user="Liz"]

Several people in this thread have mentioned that there are frequent electricity cuts in France. Is this true everywhere, or just in very rural areas?

[/quote]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO.  I've lived in the city for getting on for 9 years and we've only once had a power failure!

[Loiseau]

I used to use an English electric cooker in rural France, but the French power was too feeble to make the most of it.  I am a  bit hopeless with the figures for the power supply.  Does 13kw sound likely?  Anyway, it was considered hugely over the top by the French electrician. 

I could only run 2 rings plus oven, or 2 rings plus grill, or 3 rings plus nothing. It couldn't cope with four rings on at once.  I became very adept at steaming one vegetable over another, or with working out several dishes that could be cooked in the oven together.

There was no question of running the dishwasher at the same time as the washing machine, or even at the same time as the oven. Or sometimes switching the kettle on at the same time as the oven was the last straw.

And to turn the power on again, you had to go out in the rain to a spidery outhouse, with a torch.

In my present holiday house, I determined I was going to have bottle gas!  It's not particularly good (see all forgoing comments about having a useless grill, and about burning everything from the bottom), but at least I can stay indoors in the dry (unless the gas bottle runs out).  The house is a new build, and I still can't run a dishwasher and washing machine together though!

Angela

[Smiley]

I bought my cooker from an outlet in France. Much easier and gave me the option I wanted. Dual Electric and LPG. Gave me a warranty that you wouldn't get if buying in the UK. Also came set up for LPG rather than natural gas. Why lug a big stove down when you can buy as cheap in France. Use the space for stuff like paint etc. that doesn't tend to be as cheap or as good as the UK.

[Framboise]

We bought a gorgeous steel range cooker in UK that matched our (also UK bought) kitchen and shipped the whole lot out to our place in 61 on our trailer.   We have 2 electric ovens/grills on it with gas hob, altho admittedly I prefer a gas oven, but the gas is from the big tank thingy we had installed out in the garden which also runs our central heating system, so we don't have to find room for one of those bottles.   The range came with a set of different jets so it was not a problem installing it.   (Hubby did the entire kitchen and the cooker/hood in less than 2 days.)    However, I think we caused our neighbour much grief from his wife as she set eyes on the new range and promptly decided that she now wants an English cooker AND kitchen for the new house they are presently building, instead of the Italian or German ones she had previously set her heart on.   Whoever would have thought that English stuff would be so highly thought of in a country that boasts of it's exquisite good taste!

I have since bought other items including a microwave, a fridge and a fridge/freezer that we have simply taken out there, changed the plugs and set them to work but the only things we were not to certain about were washing machines and dishwashers due to the different sizes of pipework to those from UK.  We have already bought just a basic washing machine which works just fine and will purchase the dishwasher from good 'ol Intermarche as well when we move out there next year.  

Does anyone know if its possible to buy adaptors for white goods that need plumbing-in?   If this is possible then we would probably buy these items here as there are some pretty good deals to be had at present because I did think that some of the electrical goods were rather expensive in France in comparison.

Also - I shall miss Argos when we depart.  One stop shopping that even Hubby can cope with occasionally! 

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

If you have an old house with an old style kitchen, which means wooden beams, open fires etc then installing hypermodern, top of the range kitchen units can frankly wreck the place. My feeling is to try to go with the flow of the house and put in something appropriate, eg farmhouse table (genuine old and battered), and dressers as storage.

[briwy]

   

Liz.

We bought a combination oven microwave grill last year for our place in the Pyrenees.

I cant remember what make it is but it cost about £65 from a big electrical store.

We found plentyof them around down there and I think Leclerv had them in.

Brian

[tegwini]

We have just re-done our French kitchen and a double oven was cheaper in the UK, so was an integrated dishwasher.  The double oven Neff  --and it comes with a warranty in Europe - obviously not the Comet pricey 'warranty'.   The double oven, same model,  was special order at Darty, and hundreds of euro more.    The integrated dishwasher - with no switches showing likewise.  We saved quite a lot- & no problem for the plombier either.  And the instruction book is in English, should I ever get around to reading it.

We did however get the hob in France - gas/electric- much better value.  So are washing machines

In fact the kitchen, in oak, came from the UK - great value, and less fussy than what we looked at in France, BUT my poor old feet have not recovered as yet from carrying 95 boxes of kitchen, appliances,  etc etc...

[powerdesal]

If you have an old house with an old style kitchen, which means wooden beams, open fires etc then installing hypermodern, top of the range kitchen units can frankly wreck the place. My feeling is to try to go with the flow of the house and put in something appropriate, eg farmhouse table (genuine old and battered), and dressers as storage.

Sorry Xtag, cant agree, a sympathetic blend of old style structure and modern amenities can certainly be achieved, it needs a careful blend of natural materials ( wood, stone, granite etc) not stark white and chrome / SS admittedly.

Mind you its probably a good enough excuse for having battered stuff around.

[loz]

Or you could cheat Dick.

 I drilled a  hole in kitchen floor and put gas bottle in cellar.

Breezybreak.com

[Framboise]

Tegwini,

Your plombier had no trouble with an English dishwasher?   Music to my ears 'cos now hubby has no excuse to not buy me one -  I'm fed-up with French dishpan hands!

Did the plombier use adapters or jubilee clips on the rubber pipes?   More details the better 'cos he can't wriggle out of it then haha! [:D]

[jc]

Gas bottle in cellar is a time bomb just waiting to go off;butane and propane are heavier than air and will collect at the lowest point.Most UK washing machines/dishwashers have connections for hot & cold supplies because most UK houses have hot water storage tanks."Y" pieces are available to connect to cold water supply only but my washing machine operated quite happily with just the cold water supply connected.

[tegwini]

Sorry Framboise-

slipped up in this reply...

We brought out an integrated dishwasher - in reality they are all the same ( doubt if it is made in the UK)  a good make- can't remember the name- it's in France, I am in the UK, but from Comet - nothing special about it - except. quite a bit cheaper- integrated not showing control panel.  Same make available from Darty etc - we did shop around, just cheaper in the UK  Wouldn't have bothered otherwise, as it was a right pain to have washer in back of car & oven on roof of estate car.

Plombier presumably got in what was needed - no problems as far as I know, you can't see the pipes, as it's built in;  oven likewise, Neff- same available in Darty etc- lots cheaper in Comet- as it is a double oven, & not the norm in France.

Hope you're sorted by now Framboise.

Regards

Tegwini