Christmas is coming!

[Fraise]

quote]
Fraise, I assume it´s the people who are maintaining the pool who are telling you they need to come 2 or 3 times a week. I´d ask around if I were you. I´m not an expert on pools, but pools around here, including mine, are cleaned and balanced once a week, and are sparkling.[/quote]

Yes, you are right. Iwas surprised, they were going to come 3 times a week but now it is down to twice!This is for a pool (brand new)that will have 7 people maximum in it!Our own pool always looks great but then we are here to look after it some of the time,and put the cover on when we're not.It's also got automatic thingumijigs that are supposed to sort all the dosing out!!They were brill when new but 5 years down the line are not so good- machines wear out!
How often do others have their pools "serviced"? If you are on site all the time it is quite a different kettle of poisson of course!

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[alexia s.]

"2 or 3 visits are needed?"
We have a lot of trees and unpredictable Provencale wind patterns: we used to have the pools tended every day, which is not as unnecessary as you might think: pollen, leaves, insects,etc - we leave nets by the pools for manual cleaning but a lot of guests never do this. Last year we decided to economise and cut back the pool cleaning to every second day, cutting down the branches that left the most debris. It is so important to have the cool & the shade provided by trees (no parasol can give this!) that we cut back the minimum of branches.
If you live in a built-up area with more concrete than trees once a week should be fine. Most French owners prefer concrete to garden (less maintenance), so I figure we are doing our bit to maintain the French countryside. (We used to have a neighbour who refused to respect our property rights, walking his dogs regularly across our land: he said that the British had no right to be in France.........AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!)

[alexia s.]

No, Brooke, the red/blue/white system -which is still available - is less advantageous than, and replaced, the preceding binary "peak/low" system that I referred to. It is the older, binary system that has not been available to new subscribers for some years.

[Alan Knighting]

We have a special contract with France electricity

Presumably you are referring to the old domestic tariff EJP (Effacement Jour Pointe) under which you received off-peak electricity 24 hours a day for 343 days of the year. On the other days you paid eight times that rate. Worthwhile savings on the annual cost of electricity could be made by opting for the EJP tariff but only if the consumer was prepared to suffer the inconvenience and discomfort of using almost literally no electricity at all during the “red� days; i.e. the coldest days of the year, determined by the meteorological centre in Toulouse. The tariff was ideal for those with second homes which were not occupied in the winter. The tariff was withdrawn due to a poor take-up, according to the EDF announcement at the time. No new contracts under the EJP are now available so it is part of history.

EDF still has a number of domestic tariffs available, each with it’s own particular characteristics. Which one is right for the consumer depends entirely on the individual circumstances which should be discussed with an EDF representative. The advice is free and without bias.

[tansy]

Alan...I would give my eye teeth to meet one of these representitives...whenever I request I'm sent a technical buff...one time I had one chap so drunk at 9 a.m. in the morning he couldn't stand up!! Needless to say I got on the phone...so they sent another chap out - then lo and behold didn't the drunk turn up again to do the work at 2.30 p.m. (after lunch) and yes he was drunk!!

So I have to say EDF are not exactly helpful here in Carentan!

We still have our house clacking off if there is too much on...we are complete Electric - no gaz de ville as our village is on a bed of rock...to have oil fired central heating installed would cost a fortune as all the walls etc are almost 5 ft thick...blah blah blah....so IF EDF had someone to help me I'd love it.

Anyone else having the same?

I love the fact EDF are hedging their bets by sponsoring both London & Paris fo the Olympics!!

[Alan Knighting]

Tansy,

I am sure the service from EDF will vary from area to area. It is very good here but that doesn't help you one little bit.

With regard to the clacking off if there is too much on that its a simple function of the KW rating on your supply. You can have it increased (a totally simple and quick job done by your local drunk EDF man). The higher your KW rating the higher your standing charge, it's up to you. If you want the convenience and flexibility of being able to use everything at once you pay a little more for it. If you are prepared to put up with using your kettle or your toaster then stay with a low KW rating but, is life not too short for that sort of thing?

Alan

[tansy]

Alan..done that!

That's where the drunk came in - he was swaying on his feet sucking between his teeth ...non pas possible...so the resulting calls were that we do have encore electricity but only a little more...but there is another debate - some 'experts' are saying we have got maximum - if we want more it is a new branch to the house - beaucoup cher - but because the village is on a bed of rock....the new cables have to be buried for the whole commune so we have to wait for a new cable before we can have a branch...this is apparently going to be a mammouth production and at the same time as we go on main drains....because we are above the marais (back flooding in the winter if the levels aren't correct), as well as on a bed of rock, plus the fact that no one can agree where the sewage works are going to be!!

We have a Chateau which is a Haras in the village with 160 horses including some that ran in the America Cup (equivilent to Grand National)...the proposed and natural place for the works is a cote the chateau...they are not very happy with the suggestion!!

Then we talk to someone else and it is a different story...ever felt circle was in the story?!!



But you are right - I'm going to give it another whirl - may as well as I have to do a day at hotel des impots on Monday - so in for a penny... may as well have a BIG headache....the impots is another story!! Now that one is even better than EDF!!!

But I do love it here

[Fraise]

[quote="alexia s."]"2 or 3 visits are needed?"
"We have a lot of trees and unpredictable Provencale wind patterns: we used to have the pools tended every day, which is not as unnecessary as you might think: pollen, leaves, insects,etc - we leave nets by the pools for manual cleaning but a lot of guests never do this. Last year we decided to economise and cut back the pool cleaning to every second day, cutting down the branches that left the most debris. It is so important to have the cool & the shade provided by trees (no parasol can give this!) that we cut back the minimum of branches. "


So is every other day OK for you? We have woods behind us- so lots of leaves!I'm hoping twice a week is enough?At least the leaf problem is at the end of the season!

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[alexia s.]

Yes, Fraise, every other day is OK: there are days when the wind is strong and the pool is full of leave but the tenants can wait 24 hours.

[alexia s.]

"The tariff was withdrawn due to a poor take-up"
No, the tariff was withdrawn because it was too good a deal for the consumer: nobody who had this old contract chooses to switch to the more recent one. (The exhorbitant rate doesn't apply to nights, by the way, so if machines have to be used on one of these days they can be timed to come on after midnight. This is useless information, since the deal is no longer available.)

[Ju]

ps Don't ask about our "special contract with France electricity": it is so advantageous to the consumer that it has not been available to new users for about 5 years!

Alexia - I think you are talking about the Tempo offer, which is still available. Blue days are less than half price, white days are around the normal price and then red days the price goes sky high. We have the same system, and a little box in the corner which tells us what day it is going to be tomorrow.

We are going to take the decision whether to open in Low season after this week. Our first guests arrive today, and we have been heating the gite in preparation. I guess we will break even, and at least it kicks the year off.

Ju

[alexia s.]

No, Ju,
the red/blue/white system(the "tempo" offer) -which is still available - is less advantageous than, and replaced, the preceding binary "peak/low" system that I referred to.
But this is ancient history.....

[John Borg]

having read through this thread, started by sazzleevans, it is food for thought really, as winter bookings in a "spring/summer/autumn destination" like Malta are sometimes not at all that added bonus. Let me make it straight, we do not have very cold winters, but when the mercury drops to around 10C, our houses, the vast majority without central due to the normally mild climate, get terribly cold.
This February I had a 7 night booking and March (unusually cooler than normal) was nearly full, back to back.
Considering that I have 3 heaters installed, each consuming 2000 watts, if they are left on 24/7, it becomes very expensive!
A small calculation makes you think twice if off season bookings are really worth-it after all.
1 heater x 2000 watts = 2 kilowatt hours per hour. Let's assume that in Malta, 1 kilowatt hour of electricity is worth nearly 15 euro cents, therefore 2 KWH is worth 30 euro cents and that each heater is left on for approx. 10 hours daily, each heater would cost €3.00 per day, therefore 3 heaters would cost, on average €9.00 daily.
Add that to the added cost of heating more hot water (also approx 2KWH per hour) and you quickly realise that heating alone takes off around €12.00 daily, approx 30% of the average low season rental fee.
As for the pool, I admit that the chlorine/acid and othere chemical doses are much lower, but the regular cleaning still has to be done. No body swims in December/January/February (they do in March!) but still it must be kept clean if only to give the place a fresh, tidy and welcoming look.
I will have to seriously reconsider my "low season" tariffs, if only to have a "high and mid season" tariff structure and drop low season rates alltogether.

[jimadept]

I agree. Our flat is currently rented out long-term until June, and the electricity and gas bills for February and the first 2 weeks of March, which were very cold here, were 91 euros. The tenant is paying these separately, thankfully, which also means they are lower than would be the case if holidaymakers were in there, as they wouldn't bother turning the thermostat down when they went out, etc. I think we will have to think about either another long-term let this winter (excluding utilities) or closing up for a few months.

Jim

[Alan Knighting]

Alexia,

I agree, EJP is ancient history and is useless information. So much so that I wonder why you raised it in the first place.

The following EDF webpage might be of use to people wondering what tariffs are currently available and what each includes:-

http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?hl=en ... D%26sa%3DG

On the basis that most forum members speak English I have pointed in the direction of an English version. For those members who might prefer it, the original French version is available at:-

http://particuliers.edf.fr/rubrique12.html

Alan