Gas combi boiler installation

[SandyC400]

We are soon to move to Belabre and want to change our oil fired central heating to a gas combi boiler. Has anybody in the area had experience of,or can recommend, a good plumbing engineer. Also does the engineer arrange for gas tank installation or does this have to be sorted beforehand. Any advice on this would be most welcome.

[Brian]

Hello and welcome SandyC400,

I'm afraid all our heating is done with woodburners so I am not in a position to recommend any installers who are familiar with this new-fangled gas...

It's likely that someone will pop up with an appropriate recommendation but why not ask your neighbours or the local mairie for some suggestions? I'd be inclined to get at least 3 people round to look at the job. They will then give you a binding written estimate (dévis) for the work, and the work will be insured. Even if your French is not 100%, the dévis will give you an opportunity to compare the quotes.

Good luck with the installation!
Brian


p.s. Your user name of SandyC400 puts me in mind of one of C3PO's relatives from Star Wars...

[SandyC400]

Thank you for replying. We will of course ask our neighbours when we get back there but was just trying to get ahead of the game and try to get an idea of what we are up against. We have to have an lpg tank installed for our cooker so thought it sensible to replace the antiquated, enormous oil boiler and water heater that takes up two pigsties. It would appear, from looking online, that gas is not a widely used form of energy in France.

[Brian]

I think you're wise to look for an alternative to oil. For the last year or so oil has been comparatively cheap but the price is like the fuel - quite volatile!

Out in the sticks I'd say that gas is probably the most common fuel for cooking, but most people use the 13kg or 15kg bottles that are available in every petrol station and most supermarkets. We use the 15kg bottles and they run our cooker (5 rings plus oven) for about 10-12 weeks at a cost of about 30 euros. Butane bottles are designed to be stored inside. In fact many French gas cookers have a single oven, with the gas bottle housed where the second oven would normally be.

For heating, it may be worth considering a wood burner. Some can burn pellets which are readily available. Wood  is a much more common fuel in France than it is in the UK and the price is pretty stable.There's a good company in Montmorillon who could advise on the various systems but I suspect you're outside their catchment area.

If you Google chauffage and your postcode you should find some local firms - possibly a good place to start.

I'm sorry if I'm telling you things you already know - please feel free to ignore me!
B

[Fred]

I don't know of anyone that installs them. But if it helps we had a huge tank (Gaz en citerne) buried in the garden of a house we once rented when we first came here. The central heating, cooker, oven and hot water ran off it, once we got our own house we found it to be as economical as wood.

We never got around to installing Gas, and where we are now there is no space for the giant container. But having tried Wood, Electric and Gas I would choose gas. It's much the same price over a year and clean, low maintenance and delivered by a truck.

The top ones I know of are:

https://www.butagaz.fr/

https://www.antargaz.fr/

It may be worth contacting them first as they may have deals on.

And to agree with what Brian said. What ever you go with make sure you get it written down on a Devis (Quote) from a registered business.

Having said that, if you're up to it you can buy all the parts from somewhere like https://www.leroymerlin.fr/ and I think the gas company will send someone out to check it over.

[SandyC400]

Thank you for the gas links. We have a wood burner in the salon solely for that room. We have to have an lpg tank as we are having our gas aga re-installed and the engineer who is doing that needs the tank installed before he starts as he is coming from Paris, so not from around the corner. We shall certainly get several devis from heating guys before we decide on combi boiler.