Imagine now with all the bits we have become accustomed to, we have made ourselves dependent on others hence it being a good idea for a Genny. We are lucky in as much as we heat with wood and we have access to plenty of it. Solar panel to heat the Water mostly summertime but our first real winter with them so hopefully some sun might help raise the temperature in the storage tank. Every little helps.
We knew when the cuts would be and arranged things accordinglyā¦ sandwiches and salads were fine, but no chicken & chips, scampi etc ā¦
I recall customers complaining about unchilled lager etcā¦
but the lovers of āreal aleā had no problemsā¦
and the candlelight returned the 12th century inn to its previous gloryā¦
8 euros a day was to heat one room only.
The difficulty of ārunning the houseā on a generator is one consideration that is putting me off. As is typical for UK installations we have no isolator between the meter and consumer unit so there isnāt a safe point to DIY a changeover switch - that would mean running extension cables throughout the house, and Iād have to botch something to run the boiler/CH.
Ultimately it boils down to whether power cuts are likely this winter which is difficult to predict - we donāt use much Russian gas, but a high percentage of our electricity is dependent on gas for production, and we have zero storage (though I think that storage facility which was closed is now being made operational - but who knows what state it is in).
At least battery technology has moved on enormously since the '70s
Must confessā¦ the situations in France which I have been talking aboutā¦ the generators were linked-up to keep folksā freezers at the right temperature and not for other purposesā¦ a few hours in one location, with cables running to as many houses as could be maintainedā¦ depending on the size of the machine available.
Seems the farmers had the great big generators and they were marvellous in sharing them across the commune.
Maybe not so great then. Stoves I was looking at earlier would do about 24 hours on a single 15kg load (IIRC) which at the time was about 5 euros, but pellet prices have gone a little crazy in such a short space of time.
Indeed that is one of the first things Iād want a generator for.
Unfortunately or fridge/freezer plug is essentially inaccessible 
So what is the best answer?
Do we stick with our radiators electric or move on
to a pellet fire?
something to think about for the future then, the feed for the fridge/freezerā¦ must come from somewhereā¦
Ours plugs into a socket on the wallā¦ so itās easy to simply unplug from there and plug the freezer directly into the generator extension leadā¦
Iām sorry but I donāt honestly know. Emotionally a wood fired heating system is better because itās renewable and France is a producer of wood. How future economics works out is unknown - prices of both forms of heating may fall in the future, but equally once up it may be hard to get them back down to where they were before.
The other question is whether itās worth spending quite a chunk of cash on a new heater if what you already have works ok.
what we already have cost us a fortune.
Iām just wondering if the electric radiators you have are properly adjusted (thermostats/timers/whatever)ā¦
We have 2 electric radiators which we use to great advantage, moving them from room to room as requiredā¦ rather than use the oil CH on occasions.
Fan-assisted, each will heat a room swiftly and certainly they donāt cost a fortuneā¦
I am extremely careful with all expenditure so I know what works well for us.
I am sure that they are not properly adjusted. The electrician we used was not very helpful at all. Are the gov helping to pay for pellet ovens here?
Oh, I know exactly where it is, itās just a b****r to get to 
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Personally Iāll be sticking with my wood stove. I was thinking about a pellet stove, but seeing how the cost can suddenly rise has now put me off. As far as wood supply is concerned, France have vast supplies, so I donāt expect the cost to be as volatile. The only other source of heating that I use is one of those oil based fan heaters - I use that where I need to have a quick boost of heat, and it works very well. Between these two sources, my heating is quite economic. Oh yes, on top of this I also have two split units which can also heat, but I use them primarily to give a blast of cold air on hot days, and mainly in the bedroom before sleep.
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Oh dearā¦ thatās rotten luck. Perhaps there is someone else who might be more helpfulā¦ what do your friends sayā¦ do they know someoneā¦??
It will surely be cheaper to adjust the existing heaters than buying new stuffā¦ got to be worth asking another person to tryā¦ ???
Would be interested to keep hearing how you fare if you wouldnt mind?
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Hi Stella, would you mind sending me details of your heaters & where you purchased them please. Many thanks
Certainly, will report back end of March or April.
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Doing my usual stroll around the village this eveningā¦ discussions with various neighbours confirmed what I had readā¦ that wood pellet supplies are like hens teeth and expensive if you do manage to find 'em.
One lady has a full pallet, which she bought a while ago for 8ā¬ a packet instead of 4ā¬ previouslyā¦ another has only a few packs left and is unable to source suppliesā¦
Her local agent claims that Dordogne is totally out of stock.
This is somewhat supported by one of the Mairie staff, who has been phoning around on behalf of various council tenants who have pellet stoves. Seems Pellet Agents have even been contacting folk in Gironde, who reckon theyāve already trouble supplying their own clients without leaving any to āexportā to Dordogne Agents.
Our council replaced oil boilers with pellet stoves in most of the council housesā¦ but this winter might well be causing problems for some of them.
If anyone knows of suppliesā¦ please do tellā¦
I reckon my electric radiators could be out on loanā¦ as and when needed. Done it before several timesā¦ mind you, everyone rallies round, not just me.
This is not my radiatorā¦ mine are 20 years oldā¦ and bought in Mr Bricolageā¦ but similar models are on the market and donāt cost much.
Ours are portable, have a choice of using 1kw or 2kw; Convection NOT Fan (my mistake); Thermostat
EDIT: I think providing an alternative option for cooking and for heating is a wise way to goā¦ when folk are planning a new home or a makeoverā¦