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finding someone to install woodburner


richyrich

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We have been trying for a few months now  to find a professional to install a woodburner into our existing chimney , but with little success. We want all the relevent paperwork for tax and insurance reasons.  No one seems very keen on doing the work. except an overly expensive outlet selling only canadian stoves. We are quite happy with the Godin models displayed in the local  bricos. I have asked in the Bricos for contacts, but when i telephone and ask them to do me a quote, they seem totally disinterested. If anyone else has overcome this problem and can offer advive, it would be  much appreciated. We live in Haute Savoire 74.
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Try Leroy Merlin as they have a "fitting service" - or at least a tie up with loads of artisans who they arrange to do the work. Unsure about wood burner installation, but with other things they will give you an indicative price in the store (whilst you wait), you then ask for a definitive quote (they arrange for the artisan to visit and you get a quote back through the store (you have to pay for this but it is deducted from the cost if you go ahead).

Might be harder for wood burners as I guess there are more variables (e.g. height of chimney if a tube needs to be installed as the tube is expensive stuff, plus what accessories might be needed for your particular room).

Ian

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We went to a small local place to get ours......a bit more pricey than we'd seen elsewhere, but excellent service (even came to check the one we chose would be big enough for the room size) and also fitted it along with a register plate.

If you get a flamme verte marked model installed you get 50% back on the cost of the woodburner. http://www.flammeverte.com/new/accueil.htm

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Hi  richyich,

for any information such as this your local mairie has the details of all local trades persons,

having had your wood burner fitted you'll want a wood supply, again the mairie's dept, even if you have a wood supply it's always a good idea to check out the local prices one against one.

If by some strange chance your mairie can't help, then the local builders yard will have a list of trades people, after all these people buy goods from them and they know who does what trade.

If again the builders cant help, then your local insurance broker will also know who's who in this dept ,as they have claimes to sort out and indeed use the verious trades,

 

regards Pun.

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Many thanks fo all your replies, I will definately check out the Marie. We have not yet purchased the burner, but have done a lot of research, and know what we want. " verte, double combustion, self cleaning glass ,8-10kw,etc. One of the problems we have, is that  we want to demolish the old chimney hood, presently in the corner of the room, and make a feature of the wood burner, positioning it a couple of feet away, along a central wall, with the flue running into the existing chimney. We hope this will give a much more efficient heat output, for our "cold" appartment. Unfortunately, there are so many varibles, that we do not want to demolish the existing hood, until we have had some sound advice from an expert. There are a lot of tradesmen in our area, mainly Brits, but i would rather get someone with specific knowledge of chimneys, and stoves.
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Somebody will correct me if I have the wrong end of the stick but I believe there are some tax advantages with some forms of woodburning stoves, if you get the supplier to install it.  Therefore it would seem to me that you should ask the person you eventually buy if from to install it for you.  That's the reason why my plumber/electrician did ours - he stocks and sells them!
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I love the whole idiosyncratic way of things in France and how one by one my preconceptions get blown out of the water, it never ceases to make me laugh primarily at myself!

In the UK we are being asked to turn our thermostats down to save the planet (read so that we are used to the idea when the Russians turn the oil and gas off)

In France if it burns burn it?  yet the French seem to recycle a shedload more and have great civic pride.

So much to learn and loving it!

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[quote user="BIG MAC"]I love the whole idiosyncratic way of things in France and how one by one my preconceptions get blown out of the water, it never ceases to make me laugh primarily at myself

In the UK we are being asked to turn our thermostats down to save the planet (read so that we are used to the idea when the Russians turn the oil and gas off)

In France if it burns burn it?  yet the French seem to recycle a shedload more and have great civic pride.

So much to learn and loving it![/quote]

The French government is being pragmatic heating needs: we are actively encouraged to choose an energy efficient and/or renewable form of heating: wood, solar energy, energy efficient boiler, timers on central heating, thermostatic valves on radiators... all these, if bought from and installed by a professional will gain the householder a refund in the form of a tax rebate.

It's not the same as encouraging people to use heating unnecessarily. Quite the opposite: if you insulate your home here, you win two ways: you get a tax refund and you use less heating.

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Sorry guys it's just taking a while to assimilate the information, decent hardwood takes about twenty five to thirty years from sapling to get to something suitable for logging? 

Does the growth of the trees compensate for the Co2 emmissions? I don't know maybe we wil be having reburn system and catalytic converters on our chimneys.

I am not knocking the French way, far from it I am intrigued at the differing ways that we look at things.

It's funny ever since buying my wood burner for France when I am in the UK I find it hard to drive by a fallen branch without thinking that's fuel that is!

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[quote user="BIG MAC"]

Does the growth of the trees compensate for the Co2 emmissions?

[/quote]I believe it does (Chris pp???????????)

I think you forget just how much forest there is here (fewer people per square km) compared to the UK.  Again, Chris pp should help with this!

The fact is that by burning anything to keep ourselves warm, we are not at any time helping the environment along!  It's a lesser of two evils thing.  Just have fewer kids.....  Whoops, ducks for cover![:D]

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A local ramoneur fitted our flue (we had a chimney, but no suitable liner) and we had installed a Godin woodburning oven, supplied and installed by http://www.alpesfourneaux.com/ in Haute Savoie (not too far from Thonon).  In fact the ramoneur even contacted the store to make sure the liner was suitable for what we were buying .  Alpes Fourneaux were really helpful and a good range of woodburners in their show rooms.  We were charged the lower rate of TVA for purchase and installation and are eligible for the tax rebate next year... Worth having a chat with them.

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[quote user="Mister Fluffy"]At northern latitudes there may be an advantage to having less trees, there is certainly no benefit from having more in terms of CO2, or at least so I heard a week or so back on R4.

There is now more forest in France than there was in the middle ages...
[/quote]

 

I shall feel a little less guilty then....maybe :)

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[quote user="Mister Fluffy"]At northern latitudes there may be an advantage to having less trees, there is certainly no benefit from having more in terms of CO2, or at least so I heard a week or so back on R4.

There is now more forest in France than there was in the middle ages...
[/quote]That would be fewer trees, oh Fluffy one!  (Sorry, but this happens so rarely...)
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