France has over heavy regulation of small businesses and while I understand the desire to make sure everyone has the right qualifications for their trade in order to protect consumers from cowboys I think ultimately it is not in the consumers interest to have so little choice. This means there’s no guarantee that a full set of bookings actually equates to a high quality of service - when you have your customer over a barrel there is no incentive to actually do a good job or charge a fair price.
I agree it’s no guarantee, but can be an indicator. We took time to ask around about prices and workmanship to select who we wanted, before asking for a devis.
What about overnight?
When you say a fireplace, do you mean an open fire? Log burners are far more efficient because open fires send much of the heat up the chimney not into the room.
I assume you have experience of heating a house with solid fuel and you know it is not light it and forget it. Keeping it fed all day every day can feel like a burden sometimes. Thesr days we tend to just light the woodburner in the evening for ambiance.
There are 2 sides to this debate of course. Another aspect is that in fact iit tends to be the cowboys who have the attitude, get your customers over a barrel, do a shoddy job and fleece them. Genuine artisans who have taken the trouble to learn their trade and are proud of their skills and thei reputation, not so much.
I may have been lucky but I have had no real issues with artisans in France. They are not cheap and patience is a virtue but they are “sérieux” and they do high quality work in my experience.
Good morning, im also lucky because my husband grew up in Luxembourg so he speaks fluent french so i can take my time abit. Luckily all our neighbours seem so friendky so hopefully i will learn it faster x
Good luck to you. We did the same 35 years ago,moving permanently a couple of years later for good and have never ever regretted our decision. We had two small children who were the first ever brits in the local school and nearby collège eventually and we just flung them in the deep end and within weeks they were jabbering away with all their new friends. Originally we went to scale down on the business side but back then with no internet, OH ended up working longer and harder than ever so that idea did not work out but for the quality of life, the freedom for the kids and living right by the sea,it was a dream come true and now I have french grandchildren. Unfortunately brexit has put a big spanner in the works for many who would love to live here due to the obligatory income demanded but for some it will be possible still. We renovated a 400+ year old granite farmhouse and even when I sold it in 2021 and moved down here in 2022, it was not finished so do not try and do everything at once, you just can’t especially with children about.
I do love a happy ending. We had originally planned on moving back to my husbands homeland in greece but as everyone knows greece has many issues and we wanted to be closer to the uk. We cannot wait for our kids to just enjoy village life and do more in nature. You are right, and we are prepared for things to move slower and ofcourse there is always a budget it will cost us however we do it. The main thing is to notbw rich out of it but to just be happy and live a better healthier way.
6 of them have been french and 1 british all registered in france but all give us different inputs and have no availability until late spring. My husband is in there stripping the place down but as everyone knows you cant do much without electrics in place first. The good news is we have managed to get a plumber booked so at least hats something. Now its just deciding best way for heating
Its very hard to be rich here if you work or are self employed like my OH was with a very good building business as the more you earn, the more your charges go up so you cannot escape that. As you say, its the quality not the quantity and you do learn to be more frugal, not use the car and walk instead and generally spend more time as a family doing stuff that has all but disappeared for many in the UK these days.
Have you considered buying a gennie (groupe) that runs on petrol or diesel for using tools and providing lighting to work? They can prove a godsend in power cuts too as we often found out. We had one for years, proved very useful and I sold it before moving and then found I was to be without power and water for six weeks until it could be connected and had to borrow one to get the decorating done.
Thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to take their time to respond but i cant seem to respond to everyone personally the system is not allowing me. Everyone seems to have different ideas but all will be considered. Our main issue now is the heating system, we do love the idea of solar but what do we do if its horrible weather for 2 weeks? The heat to air/ water pumps are also good but we bought a town house with neighbours and have a garden of only 200 sqm so its abit tight for space which is why want to demolish the old system with a huge tank taking up most of our garden space. In regards to the electric water heater it was an english french registered electrician who said i should get one for hot water on demand and they are from leroy merlin, again not sure how great they are but he said its my best option
You are talking chauffe-eau (hot water tubular tank that hangs or stands). My son’s went bust this year so he got an airpump model from Leroy Merlin that stands on his garage floor which the listed price in the shop was around €1500 but as the outside casing was slightly dented and marked and had been refused by someone else, he got €500 off and was able to pay in three payments with his store credit.(the old ballon was up high on the garage wall and is being left alone). If you have electric water heating like this you can get the night and day tariff where it comes on at a set hour and then goes off again but a 200L plus tank will easily be enough for a couple of days.
Hi, im in a town house huge window’s with shutters i would say more modern rather then old although it was build in 1955. Its big on the outside but cosy inside.
Does anyone know with reasonable certainty the grant situation with solar? I was looking at Octopus and noticed they also install solar but there seemed to be minimal available, just a reduction for using what you generate. Is solar not covered under Ma Prime Rénov’ etc like heat pumps, pellet boilers etc?
It’s a big subject. If you do a websearch on ‘pompe à chaleur’ (PAC) you will find lots of info.
You probably need to talk to a local specialist, especially as the only way to get any grants for such a system would be to use a professional. You do need to find out that they really do know what they are talking about though!
A friend of mine had months of trouble when they had a combined heating & hot water PAC installed to replace a gas boiler - the installers were not familiar with the complexities of the unit (it was a new model) & there were many false starts before the system was set up properly (but they are very happy with it now).
I agree with your English French registered electrician and wish I’d gone to Leroy Merlin for mine (who will also fit for you). I have a 200 litre ballon (too big for my needs but the size usually recommended for families) and have very hot water on demand. If and when it needs replacing I will use LM and get a thermodynamique ballon.
It is a Chauffe-eau 200L he says they are good for what we wanted but i dont know how expensive they are to run. It would go under the stairs in our garage too
but as everyone knows greece has many issues and we wanted to be closer to the uk. We cannot wait for our kids to just enjoy village life and do more in nature. You are right, and we are prepared for things to move slower and ofcourse there is always a budget it will cost us however we do it. The main thing is to notbw rich out of it but to just be happy and live a better healthier way.