Le Rosbif vert Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Hi Hope someone can help. I have a 1970s house in the Val d'Azun Haute Pyrenees that came with a very old French Ideal standard" boiler. I have been told by our local heating engineer that it would be sensible to replace this with a new more efficient boiler. I had thought about buying a Worcester Bosch (Greenstar Heatslave 2 25-32) in the UK and taking it out to France. I have had a lot of Worcester boilers in various houses in the UK and have never had any trouble with them... but it seems that this is not such a good idea - (Worcester boilers won't work with French oil and no guarantees available.) Can anyone tell me what the best (reliable/efficient) boiler manufacturer is and where is the best place to buy them. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 The best is difficult to recommend. All I can say is that we had a De Dietrich oil fired boiler fitted a few years ago and have been very happy with it. The problem with buying UK products is that, should the worst happen you might find that your insurance is not valid unless an item is "French" approved. As for where to buy them, Google or yellow pages are your friends or just ask the neighbours. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomme Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I had a Viessmann oil-fired boiler with integral hot water installed in 1995. It is still running without problems. An electronic control panel module was replaced about five years ago (€200). I have a maintenance/annual service contract from Engie for it (€190).I've used premium oil for the last ten years. Before that I just used ordinary quality oil. I had the old oil in the plastic tank cleaned when I switched to premium. They used two sets of huge filters as there was so much crud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I second the Viessmann, definitely would not use Worcester Bosch, yes the old ones were ok, better made but despite their popularity in the UK (mainly incentives offered to plumber for part of the "recommendation") however the new ones are not well made, cut corners on everything. I would not have one!No knowledge of De deitrich so can't comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Just to cloud the waters, last year the government announced that it would seek to get rid of oil boilers in the next 10 years. Yes I know that this would seem to be a completely unrealistic aim, nevertheless they could start upping the price of fuel in the years to come.Should the OP be looking at perhaps an alternative system, either gas or perhaps pellet/wood heating? There are some grants available for replacing old heaters.We have a Lamborgini fuel boiler for heating only, the maintenance of it is very simple, but I would certainly be giving some thought to alternatives if we were staying here long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Rosbif vert Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Thanks Nick I have had a quote from a local business for a new De Dietrich boiler Eur 13344.I had not thought about the Insurance aspect of using the UK Worcester boiler. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Rosbif vert Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Thanks Pomme, Good point about the crud in the tank. I've never had oil heating before and I very much doubt that the previous owner had the tank cleaned so I dread to think how much rubbish there will be in there!Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Rosbif vert Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Thanks Theiere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Rosbif vert Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Thanks Lehaut, I wasn't aware of the government announcement although I'm not surprised. As you say the timescales for removal are "optimistic" but they always have the option of raising the taxes. We are in a rural area in the Pyrenees and I am not aware of anyone using LPG, definitely no city gas. Wood is an option but the UK is already announcing restrictions on wood burning stoves and sale of fire wood so I expect that it will be an issue in France in the future too! Perhaps I should investigate the efficiency of an air source heat pump instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomme Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I agree, I'm sure France will wake up to the environmental impact of pellet stoves in the not too distant future.I should have said when the time comes to replace my Viessmann, it will probably be with heat pump. As far as I am aware, air source heat pump efficiency drops significantly below about -10C so supplementary heating will be required here. So a ground source heat pump could be better, especially if the house changes from primary to secondary But I've not yet needed to get quotes so don't know if the lower cost of air source is enough to cover the expense of installation and running costs of automated additional heating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 [quote user="Le Rosbif vert"]Wood is an option but the UK is already announcing restrictions on wood burning stoves and sale of fire wood so I expect that it will be an issue in France in the future too! [/quote]To be fair about time too. If some companies can produce stoves approaching high 80% efficiencies with lower particulate levels then so can the rest. Serves to drive technology forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Last week on the French 1300 news they showed someone who had a complete system installed for 1€. There are income limitations, but it looks like an interesting scheme:https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/a-peine-annoncee-la-premiere-chaudiere-a-un-euro-deja-installee.N794564 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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