Whether to bring a cooker from uk?

[MaryS]

Could anyone tell me whether it would be easier to bring a new/second hand cooker from England.  I am travelling down to my little house in Dept 66 by car quite soon and have room to bring one.  Or would it be just as economical to buy, say in Perpignon or around? With thanks Mary S

p.s could anyone recommend a b and b to stay a night on way down perhaps between Bourges and Clemmont Ferrand on the A71/75.

[Eslier]

Definitely NO Save yourself a lot of trouble and buy one when you get here.

Get one with an electric oven and a gas hob (maybe with just one electric plate for backup). Unless you are able to get town gas then the gas hob will run off bottled gas which is very economical (new ones in Franc eusually come with both sets of jets). By only having the oven running off electric you won't be putting too much strain on your limmited electricity supply.

[wolfsbane]

I have just taken a new UK spec electric Zanussi oven, and AEG Halogen hob to my apartment in 85, and installed them without problem. It really depends on whether you have existing equipment you wish to take, or can buy in the UK cheap enough to make the effort worthwhile.

 

[Owens88]

HI

I found the stuff in France to be fine and good value. I shopped around a lot but eventually a smallish Expert store (just outside Prades in 66) gave wonderful value, delivered and even wanted to fit it in !

We stayed at a Formule Uno just outside Clermont Ferrand (n. side). It was OK. we had tea in Bourges though and it would have been nicer to stay there !

Good luck.

 

[Liz]

we are in the process of buying a small apartment near Chamonix. Because of limited space I want to fit a combination oven/microwave. I have a Neff one at home and it is great, It works as a conventional oven, or grill or microwave, or a combination grill/microwave or oven/microwave. We have been trying to find the same thing in France and are struggling. I though I could look for the same model number as here on a French internet site, but apparently the model numbers are different and they have different features. So a couple of questions - If I buy one here and ship it over, will I have any problems fitting it there? If I order something similar from a French internet site and it says they deliver to "France Metropolitain" does that only mean they deliver in towns, or near paris, or what? will they deliver to a village near Chamonix?

thanks fo any advice

Liz

[zeb]

Try to buy a similar model In France as you may have a problem with the guarantee or repairs if you bring one from the UK.

Yes, if they say delivery to France Metropolitan, that's all over France. It means that they don't deliver to the Dom-Toms (French colonies).

There is a very good French website for ordering/buying electrical stuff on line if you know the model that you want, with very competitive prices and delivery. Unfortunately, I just can't think of its name but hopefully someone else will know. You could do a Voila.fr or Google.fr search.

[Dick Smith]

I thought I posted here - what happened?

Another advantage of buying in France is that if you end up using bottled gas, which you probably will, you can find a model with a cupboard for the gas bottle (they aren't pretty), and you can move the cooker easily for cleaning or decorating.

[powerdesal]

Dick,

I would never normally disagree with you but.... the concept of having

a gas cylinder in the house, in a cupboard or not, strikes me as a very

dangerous thing to do. Outside storage is really the best solution and

piped with a length of 'proper' flexi gas pipe still allows movement

for decorating. Only my own opinion of course - each to his/her own!

Regards

[Dick Smith]

It's absolutely normal in France. After all, I have 3x13kg bottles plus a 4kg in heaters, plus spares in the utility room...

Sometimes I think about that. Then I stop thinking about it sharpish and have a drink!

Conflagration from a faulty detendeur must be a major problem. I saw a TV programme on the pompiers and apparently the 'character test' for new recruits is to put out a lit 13kg bottle with an oven glove. You put on the oven glove, approach the bottle boldly and slap your hand over the hole at the top, thus putting out the flame. Then, presumably, you go and change your underwear.

They didn't show how you put out the rest of the kitchen, though.

[powerdesal]

I suppose I must be chicken really, the thought of a 'flash - burn'

suntan just does not appeal, I've seen it once and it wasn't pretty. I

will carry on being 'abnormal' by French standards, and have my gas

cylinders outside. Must have been an entertaining programme though, I

wonder what the failure / loss rate is?

Regards

[Dick Smith]

I don't know. Certainly the TV prog reckoned this was a very common form of fire. Perhaps there are issues in areas with cold winters, not with the gas, but with failure of the tube. I know of people who have bottles in the basement (we don't have one) and then pipe it up through the floor. On the other hand, gas heaters are very common and they all have a gas bottle inside - but you have to close down the valve on the bottle to turn them out, unlike cookers.

That said, the bottles and gas valves are pretty robust. I think you would have to take a hammer to one to break it. I suspect that most fires are caused by tube failures.

[powerdesal]

Agreed, The weak point is the gland nut at the valve outlet plus the

tube joint on the spigot which is usually a jubilee type clip. The

problem is a very small leak which leads to a gas build up at low level

followed by a flash off. Age of the rubber tubing is also an issue,

most people dont really look at the need for change and you get

cracking with small leakage eventually. You would have to be seriously

destructive to damage a cylinder but the valves can snap off if hit in

the right way ( or wrong way in this case!). You then have an

uncontrolled and uncontrollable gas release which only needs an

ignition source, this leads to a totally spoilt day!!!!

[zeb]

powerdesal - it's sooo normal to have your bottled gas in the kitchen if you live in rural France without town gas.

Because of the high price and idiosyncracies of the electric installations/system in France a large proportion of the population buy gas cookers/or gas hob/electric oven cookers. It's difficult to find all electric cookers and many folks haven't got a handy barn attached, so we all put our gas bottle in the cupboard/kitchen unit next to the oven or, indeed, inside the handy compartment next to the oven if you have that type of cooker.

We change ours every month and the pipe/valve gets checked every time. I'm sure most folks do this.

[powerdesal]

Zeb,

As I said earlier, each to his / her own. I dont believe in gas

cylinders being inside anywhere, kitchen or barn. My personal choice is

outside, under a sunshade, but open to fresh air/wind just in case of

leakeage. If security is a worry, chain and padlock the cylinder to a

secure eyebolt fixed in the wall, thats the method I have adopted. I

realise each person has their own view but I am happy to do it my way,

abnormal for France or not. I did exactly the same at my farmhouse in

deepest Wales also.

Regards

ps. I'm not sure that most folks check the pipe / valve integrity each

time or even regularly. A lot of Brits are not really used to the use

of bottled gas rather than mains gaz de ville

[Meg]

    Hi

I would say buy from UK!

Mainly because the range over here seems pretty limited. You don't seem to be able to get ovens with a seperate grill or double ovens. Ovens are available in the UK which you can attach a gas bottle to if you prefer gas and don't have mains.

[andyh4]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Dick,
I would never normally disagree with you but.... the concept of having a gas cylinder in the house, in a cupboard or not, strikes me as a very dangerous thing to do. Outside storage is really the best solution and piped with a length of 'proper' flexi gas pipe still allows movement for decorating. Only my own opinion of course - each to his/her own!

Regards

[/quote]

 

The problem with outdoor storage is that at -15°C (winter temperatures for many areas)  butane is liquid (and won't evapourate significantly to gas - bp -0,5°C) and propane (bp - 42°C) evaporation rates have fallen off so much that you cannot maintain a good flow of gas.  Indeed because of evaporative cooling you can reach -42° in a propane bottle when the external temperatures are -15° and then they won't work either.

 

And that is why the French keep their bottles inside.  Believe me they are not all suicidal, but they do want their cookers and heater to work.

[powerdesal]

Andy,

Your point is very well made, Having experienced some very cold weather

in January this year, -8.5 C at 0900 hrs I must assume that the actual

minimum temp during the wee small hours was (probably) somewhat lower.

I did not however have a gas flow problem due to lack of vapourisation.

Perhaps in a more exposed situation I may well have had problems, only

time will tell whether I have to modify my thoughts and actions on this

point.

My external cylinders are not that far from the redundant bulk GPL

citerne which still resides in the back garden. I am not sure if such

bulk installations are insulated, it doesn't appear to be, I haven't

heard/read of anyone having low ambient temp problems with those, maybe

Normandy doesn't get cold enough.

Regards

[Rob Roy]

Personally I think the French cookers are c**p! [:P] The gas burners run from front to back (as opposed to being at the back from side to side) and if you are not careful they burn the bottom of your cakes, pastry etc before the rest is cooked [:@]. It is impossible to find a free standing cooker with a separate second oven/grill, so you cannot cook at two different temperatures or use oven and grill at once, and the grills are pretty useless as the French don't generally grill food, so aren't bothered whether they work or not! [:)]

The frequency of electricity cuts in the winter rules out electric cookers in this area, so I am waiting for the opportunity/finance to bring a decent bottle gas cooker from the UK. [:'(]

[powerdesal]

Mary,

Ours is not a French gas cooker, its an Italian made indesit range type

with 4 gas rings + two electric and a gas oven plus grill. Came with a

set of jets for mains and a set for butane. I agree its a pain that the

grill and oven cannot be used simultaneously or even at the same

time!!. The need for a heat deflector plate clipped in place when

grilling is also annoying. Having said all that we think it is a

marvellous piece of kit. We have the same type here in Sharjah and in

fact exported one from here to fit in France. The saleman here thought

a major selling point was the fact that the oven would hold a full

goat!!!!!!!!! Haven't tried that part yet. It does have a built in

rotisserie though.  Have tried to put photo but  this is a

first time! Cant seem to get the size small enough.

[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? We have just bought an apartment in a village near Chamonix, and it is all electric. We are plannng on fitting a wood burning stove - should we be looking for one which also can at least heat a kettle?

Lisa

[andyh4]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Andy,


My external cylinders are not that far from the redundant bulk GPL citerne which still resides in the back garden. I am not sure if such bulk installations are insulated, it doesn't appear to be, I haven't heard/read of anyone having low ambient temp problems with those, maybe Normandy doesn't get cold enough.

Regards

[/quote]

 

The large external gas cylinders carring 750Kg or more have a very different thermodynamic than small mobile upright cylinders.  Basically the gas/liquid surface area is very much larger (evaporation in a less concentrated area) and the volume of liquid is also very much larger (heat sink to help maintain temperature).  The effect of evaporative cooling is therefore much reduced and propane will continue to gas off even at -15°

 

Re power supply near Chamonix.

In my experience in Rhone Alpes (but nowhere near Cham.) the main causes for power outages are lightning strikes to the grid system.  This is a fact of life in France and even more so in mountainous areas.  So you should be prepared for them to occur.  The good news is that they are usually very quickly rectified.  The downside is that often a strike may trip out your household supply as well and unless you are there to reset it, then things can get chilly - except in the freezer, where they get warm.  Had experience of both[:(]

[Dave Plumb]

I feel I should inform U being a gas fitter,  Gas cylinders should be stored away from direct heat including sunshine and in an area well ventlated at low level to outside air as propane is heavier than air so if you have a leak it will settle and be concentrated in the bottom of any room, celler or storage cupboard and may not be noticed till it is too late, ie you light your low level oven with a built in spark generator and BOOM  [:'(]

[hastobe]

zeb, that's exactly how our French cooker works.  We also have a calor gas cooker in the UK (no mains gas where we are) but in the UK we have the gas bottles attached to the outside wall.  But then they are 'huge'  bottles compared with the little one we have in France. Most rural French places we have stayed in or visited seem to have a similar arrangement with the gas in a separate cupboard in the kitchen.

Kathie

[Alison]

If you take a decent bottled gas cooker from the U.K. to France - will the French gas bottle connections fit? Sorry if this sounds ignorant as I have never used a bottle gas oven before, but you have answered my doubts about bringing my wonderful electric double oven with me.[:)] 

[powerdesal]

Alison,

I dont know if the UK bottled gas cookers are different but ours has an inlet pipe spigot that you fit a rubber gas pipe to and secure with a hose clip. The gas bottle and associated regulator will be bought in France and are then connected to the cooker with the rubber pipe, again a hose clip at the regulator outlet. There should be no problem on that score.