Here is a basic graphic covering the time scales over which the various liquid fuels are intended to be available.
DONâT touch the stuff it eats money.
We owned a beautiful riverside cottage in department 24 that we let on 12 month long stay contracts to mainly brits who wanted to sample life here before relocating.
It looked down to a waterfall that plunged into the river below and in the summer was popular with canoeing and the whole setting was idyllic .
Thankfully as things worked out the letâs always started in the warmer months as no one likes moving in the winter.
The house was not big and open plan so the wood burner was ok in the autumn until it got really cold.
The house was north facing and the cliff face some 100m south of the house meant that the property only had direct sunshine heat for very few hours and winter sunshine doesnât heat!
The house also had gas central heating with gas supplied from a large submerged tank in the garden.
The tank was on a rental contract so gas had to come from same supplier although there never seemed to be much difference in price from one supplier to another .
Come the colder days our tenants would ask for the tank to be filled which thankfully was at thier expense as tenants although it had to be ordered through us as the contract holders.
When we explained that a full tank would cost 2000 euros then invariably we were asked to arrange a delivery of 500 euros and they would make it last.
Gaz doesnât last long when the heating is well used and each winter our tenants would use over 2000 euros of gaz and as it was bought in small quantities then it was more expensive.
Gaz is surely the most expensive form of heating, dont go there.
For us we did benefit in the end as when we bought the place back in 2008 we had to pay a deposit on the tank which was only refundable if the house was sold and the new owners took on the rental. We sold in 2018 and the new owners took out a contract for the tank rental with the gaz company at which point our deposit of 10 years was refunded.
We recieved 1000 euros! No idea why but you dont look a gift horse etc.
So not only is gaz as a fuel very expensive, the equipment to store it is too.
Town gaz may cost out differently but if in the countrywide gaz must not be considered as an option.
Town gas in the UK is around 1/3 of the price of electricity for the equivalent heat output. Just looking for a comparison. How much does tanked gas cost?
That may well be right,âŚbut we have noted that the difference in behaviour between tenants can double heating costs. I always thought it was normal to heat your home to 18 or 19, maybe 20 degrees. However over the years of renting properties have discovered that there are some people who expect to have their home at 24 or 25 degrees!
And did you ever live in that house in winter? What was insulation like?
Including my BIL! Last time I visited it was winter and my sister was out. I had to stand in garden and chat through the window as I couldnât stand being inside the house for more than a minute or two. Unbearably hot!
It was an investment and we never lived in it. It was well insulated and as soon as tenants realised how quickly the gaz was used they kept the house temperature as low as they could.
The comparison between uk gaz and electricity is totally irrelevant as this is France.
I stand by my advice gained from personal experience DONT CONSIDER GAZ POWERED HEATING IN RURAL FRANCE
Town gas OK?
4 houses I have done so know by comparison how well they were insulated as I did it myself, oil, gas, electric and electric, gas & wood, if the hot water was gas heated then that was the cheapest, will find out in the next year how the e,g,w house is with gas as we have only ever used the wood and electric option up until now.
I think a lot depends on the cost of the lpg where you live as I have found the price per tank varies wildly throughout France, my personal experience.
At the moment the wood burner with warm air heating from it keeps the house at between 20-22C but I am starting to struggle with the collecting, storing and cutting the wood and with my 87 year old FIL here now need to have the lpg as a back up option.
As this was a dairy farm they had outside showers so a 300l electric hot water tank which is in the process of getting replaced as it was a guzzler with electric, the little wheel on the meter goes into helecopter mode once switched on.
My experience is of bulk gaz, not town gaz so I couldnât comment.
Just a reminder: gas is a fossil fuel. The only solution to this is to âleave it in the groundâ.
Customer: âThis gas is so cheap! I canât believe it.â
Salesman: âDonât worry Madam - your children will be paying.â
Donât worry about it, by that time China, America, North Korea, Israel, Iran, or India will have had their nuclear war and we will all be nice an toastie for many, many years to come.
Global warming will take on a whole new meaning.
The OP has town gas
It was just a question, for knowledge sake, what is wrong in asking for the price, people coming from the UK will be used to town gas/tanked gas so in looking at alternatives for comparison makes it relevant. As you said âdont heat with gasâ lets examine why.
Insulation, insulation , insulation as Robert said is by far the best policy then you use a lot less of everything to heat your home.
Fair point, I missed that but my warning and experience re cost of bulk gas still stands.
Point taken John, just fishing for some prices.
Easy enough to findâŚtown gas is cheaper
https://www.picbleu.fr/page/comparatif-prix-du-gaz-naturel-et-tarif-gaz-en-citerne
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I agree that insulation is the key to an effective heating system.
Back in 1990 I won a contract to build a new doctorâs surgery and the architect was a ground breaking eco warrior who had already recieved recognition for a house he had built in a hillside that didnât need a heating system.
The surgery we built was on open ground and the key to its success was insulation.
I kind you not I wish I had shares in the insulation company we bought from as their products made up a significant part of the materials required.
The floors sat on 600mm of insulation, the walls were of diaphragm construction with 1000mm insulation sandwiched between inner and outer and the roof, well you can imagine.
The system also relied on the body heat of those who used the building.
I had my doubts during construction but the building was a total success and still in regular use today without a heating system.
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When we re roofed the cottage, 200mm rockwool + more in the apex, backed up by 30 layer multifoil to seal the envelope. Stagering different building but nothing to what you have mentioned.
Before that the upstairs bedroom was 4c warmer than the outside temp ie zero outside 4c inside, it hurt to put your arm out of bed to switch the light on but boy you could get dressed quick! 
Hi, and I hope you are warm and well. I will give you my experience, based on advice from ten years ago. I am no technician, and took the advice from a reputable local heating company. I bought a house from the 60âs, insulated walls and roof (checked and told it is good) but single glazing. The house had the original oil heating, which I had serviced. The major part of the renovation was a review of the heating, and they pushed the PAC, air to water through the original (large) radiators. It cost a lot as I needed a large PAC (advised to have CIAT as they were one of the few to make one powerful enough) to power the house, which is 450m2 including the cellar, which has heating, but regulated to frost protection only. Fitting was not easy, but that is another story. It went into the garden, feeding into the cellar, where it joined a 300 l thermodynamic water heater and a 500 l traditional cumulus (for backup when the house is full). I am in Isere and it can get cold; the winter they installed it, we went down to -25! I also have a fireplace. The system warms the house well; I have 21 in the salon and hall, less elsewhere. However, oil was a lot cheaper, about 30-40% cheaper. When it gets cold, I can see a monthly bill of 650âŹ. I have a separate PAC for the pool, and in summer my bill is way less. Annual bill is over 5000âŹ. I have friends who have an air to water PAC, but smaller places and they are content. I am not, and I would not do this again. I should have replaced the oil boiler with a modern condensing one. PACs are not great or a cure all, in fact as someone has already said, it works best at an air temperature of 25 when you do not need it. Plus, do not regulate the temperature between night/day/going away for a few days, as it simply does not respond quickly and costs more to âcatch upâ. I went to the houses of others who had the same system, and they told me what the fitter wanted me to hear. They told me monthly bills of 250⏠(bigger, old house, no insulation), but mine is 450⏠and likely to increase as electricity always does. I am looking for another supplier, other than EDF, and I am quoted as being able to save the equivalent of one month a year, so itâs worth it, if it works out. Am I happy? No. It is money lost in the installation and running. I am warm, but at a cost. Would I recommend? Not for a large traditional house. In a new build, designed for it, it is probably great. Get a big log burner in (or more if you can), with back boilers and get that installed, with an automated back up. Or a PAC with solar panels to pay for the electricity!
Good comment Tim, sadly reading it, it is typical. Double or triple glazing and insulation should be well ahead of a PAC install.
As you would have read on the thread you need much larger radiator surface in order to reduce the temperature the PAC needs to reach, hence why they are better suited to underfloor and pool heating.
Lower temperature radiators need some small fans to circulate the air for more comfort.
Good real world example though.
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Iâve been looking at heating for a sixteenth century stone house in Brittany. Considered geothermy, wood, granules. Not air heat pumps because Iâve nowhere to hide it in the garden. Have been persuaded to drop the geothermy because of the size (200 sq m) and construction of the house. Water temperature less than that from a boiler so you need bigger radiators, or, preferably, under floor heating. I donât want to redo the solid ground floors and donât have ceilings, only floorboards. Now considering a granule boiler for room heating only. I live by myself and quite a few people have agreed it will be better to run domestic hot water from an immersion heater, and turn the boiler off for the summer months. Bulk granule storage with two 5 cm diameter pipes to feed the boiler. I donât want to manage logs in 15 years time. Iâll keep a log burner in the main room for top up/pleasure. Iâve done a grants questionaire online. There is a link on maprimerenov, which seems to be this yearâs grants application system. Grants are income related. However I am completely failing to sign up for maprimerenov, nothing happens when I click the buttonsâŚAnyone got a route to getting advice on grants?