Blimey and I thought our ch oil was expensive at £1.10 a litre, but I guess most of you won’t need to use it as much.
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I’ve learnt a lot about oil boilers recently and they’re fairly simple. Electric motor that drives a fan and the fuel pump. That squirts it through an injector where a tiny fella sits with a box of matches ready to light it.
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I turned the heat back on here in Normandy 
the advantage of living in a small 30-square-meter house is that it gets cozy quickly. The thermostat does its job (and so does Enedis !)
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I use fioul on my big classic generator. With the sun now on holiday for a while, the batteries will need charging in a day or two, and as it’s around 15 degrees inside I have started up the woodstove to cheer it up. I can boil kettles on that to save battery power.
Yesterday I got the hot water cylinder fully heated off the sun and all batteries charged.
So when I have to start the big genny, it will heat that back up and also charge the powerbank batteries and a secondary set I use for 12v DC lighting.
The genny uses about 3.25 litres per hour on average load. It takes 4 hours to heat the water from stone cold, so you don’t want to have to do that. The 6 kw powerbank only takes less than an hour, so you heat the water while it’s still fairly warm for an hour or two along with the powerbank and 12v batteries
So at current prices it’s expensive to back up. But there’s no standing charge for 3 phase, which I need for my wood machines and which the genny also provides.
More fun than just switching stuff on 
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And lots of thermostats and safety thermostats.
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Indoor thermostat and an overheat one on the boiler, as far as I can make out. The engineer is coming back this week to do the annual service so I’ll ask then.
Obviously there are differences but BIL’s had 4 thermostats inside the boiler, it’s an old one, I have a schematic for the later one so had to produce my own circuit diagram, not easy when he pulled the connections and swapped the stats over without marking where they originally came from, possibly adjusting their settings as well 
We tend to only have the ch come on for a couple of hours in the morning, to take the chill off, it’s getting a bit “ parky” overnight now. During the day we’re usually fairly active so no need for heating but the log burner gets lit late afternoons now, it’s a small, modern one and very efficient. We have a log pile that’ll easily last through the winter and enough wood to cover at least 2/3 more winters.
We had a generator in France but had to sell when we moved, we’ll maybe get one now, just incase, at least we could keep the freezers going.
On Saturday morning, got up in southern Spain. At 9 am temperature was 21. Sunday morning hotel stop in Burgos 9 am temperature 6. And home now with CH on. I think it barely rained at all here during our four week stay in Spain. Now it has been raining non stop since before dawn!
The time to keep the freezer frozen is now … . Use bottles of water . A layer of say 2 litre milk bottles 80% filled with water will be more effective in keeping the food below freezing point than running a generator for 3 days .obviously you lose a bit of space . But when the zombie apocalypse comes you are sorted for a few more days with fresh water after the power has failed for a week.
That would be a good idea Dan, problem is my freezers are already rammed to capacity after this years veg and fruit harvest. I gave a lot away, as usual, but I’ve still got a load of pears to bottle, if I can rustle up some more bottles/ jars.
Well obviously if it’s full it’s full , and the object is food storage and vegetables are 80 to 90% water anyway ..It’s when there is space fill up the gaps. An empty freezer heats up quickly in a power cut.
If memory serves, you live near Perpignan. It will be now that I, and probably others, will be envying you. I’ve had to dispense with my shorts whereas you, or your male associates, can continue to wear them for weeks probably. Downside for you, I expect is June to September when you probably boil.
Hope that you have a carbon monoxide alarm.
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Just cracked and lit the wood stove. Can’t turn on CH as several radiators are lying in the front garden, so worry that the plugs in the pipes where they normally are won’t hold.
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Our CH came on a couple of days ago, but only in the morning. The evening temperatures aren’t low enough to trigger it to start up. But we do have the wood burner on in the front room (we don’t have the radiators on in there). Stuart cleaned the stove pipe and renewed the tape(?) around the door a couple of days ago, just in time to start lighting the fire. It’s nice and warm and dry in the house at the moment. 
p.s. but I haven’t turned the electric blanket on yet !
Our central heating is powered by gas, whereas our hot water ballon d’eau is electrically heated.
I’ve been paying the standing charge for gaz de ville for months without using any gas, so I’m happy to finally switch it on even if it’s only needed in the morning so far 
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Madame couldn’t wait!
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We don’t have central heating but the woodburner is on and I’m typing in front of it. Electric blanket has been in use for a few weeks and is a basic essential in our lives.
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We got home to the UK 22nd Sept and the house felt really cold after our amazing summer weather in Cussy - about 12’C downstairs - and the oil-fired Rayburn went on immediately and has been on ever since , providing background warmth in the kitchen and warming the bathroom through a radiator. Last week I programmed the central heating pump timer to run between 6pm and midnight just boosting the background warmth in the evenings. We have also been using a 1KW fan heater in the livingroom, but last night I lit the log burner.
It’s been typically 6-9’C overnight and 11-14’C during the day for the last couple of weeks, and with small windows there’s no solar gain to speak of during the day. Livingroom was 14’C this morning, although it feels warmer than that now.