howiet01

Hello all.

My mission tomorrow is to try and get our contract sorted with EDF. Good news is that some of the website is in English and they supposedly have an English speaking helpline.
The bad news is that even in the UK I could never quite get my head around how the companies calculated electricity bills!

From what I can gather you can either select an EDF priced contract or a state priced contract, both with various options. After that I'm confused.

We live in a 3 bedroom house in a village in the Alps, approximately at 720m. The boiler looks quite old with only a thermostat, no timer. The heating would be used during the day. Any EDF gurus have a recommendation on the best tariff to go for?

Garonne

Can't advise regarding tarifs, but in France most central heating boilers aren't on timers because the French way is to leave the heating on all the time thermostatically controlled.

EuroTrash

I believe I have vaguely heard of the State tarif but not sure what it is.

It depends on what you have already but I think normally the choices are between the single standard tarif, or an 'heures creuses' tarif that is like the one in the UK where you have peak (more expensive than standard) and off-peak (less expensive than standard), and a complicated business where certain random days are surcharged. It all seemed too complicated to me so I stuck to the bog-standard one!

You also have a choice of I think 3 different currents, depending on how much electrical equipment you are likely to be running - the higher the current, the greater the standing charge, but if you get a current that is too low for what you run, the fuses will keep tripping all the time.

Re the boiler, it's common practice to not bother with a timer, as Garonne says they tend to either leave them on all the time, or if they want to switch them off, they use the disjoncteur. Ballons are wired into their own circuit with their own fuse so it's easy to use the disjoncteur as an on-off switch!

grannybunz

We use the heures creuses for the washing machine, tumbler (on the rare times we need it) waterheaters and dishwasher. We can choose either all the allotted time a night or 1½ hours at midi and the rest at night.

We chose night, fitted timers and considerably reduced our EDF bill after we did so. Mind you, installing the woodburner was the real return on capital,as is being very careful to turn electric radiators to eco when they are not needed.

It is a matter of common sense really - do your sums and get advice where appropriate.

bigglesworth

A French artisan installed our central heating last summer. He put in a central timer and thermostat as well as rad valves etc. Split the house into two zones. He is here at the moment fixing a leak in one of the bathrooms, and was surprised when I suggested French people might leave heating on all the time.

EuroTrash

I took it to mean, keep the hot water heater ballon switched on all the time - not have the heating on 24/7! I've seen long threads proving that it's cheaper to leave the ballon switched on all the time so that it keeps the heat in the water topped up constantly, rather than switch it off, wait until the water runs cold, then switch it back on and heat the water up from scratch. I've no doubt the science is correct, but I've tried it both ways and mine seems to work out cheaper if I heat the water up (five and a half hours cold to hot), switch the ballon off until it runs cold - it usually lasts 3 days - and then switch the ballon on for another five and a half hours. So that's what I do.

bigglesworth

Thanks for that Eurotrash. I will try your suggestion.
Assuming I can remember I switched it off.

EuroTrash

You'll remember when you get an unexpected cold shower one morning

bigglesworth

howiet01

English helpline is non existent even though the message while waiting in the queue states this is the helpline for English speaking only! (0562164908)
Apparently I need the details of who rented before me and their contract number?

howiet01

They have asked me for the meter reading? The don't believe me when I say there isn't one?

cyrian

I have had a search on Landis & gyr france but cannot find the instructions for your meter - not quite sure exactly which meter it is
I have to press the buttons on my meter (different make) and the display scroll through the 1) normal tariff meter reading 2) off-peak tariff meter reading.
My meter automatically switches from "heures plein" to "heures creuses" (off-peak) at arounf 11pm. (depend on meter and how it is wired).
My meter can also be read remotely - again it is a modern meter and is wired for this.
Why dont you search for landis & gyr zmd126 and try to get an instruction leaflet?
Try electrical stores or DIY stores for the meter and try to get a photocopy or even just a read of the manual.
On the other hand it could be that your meter display is broken but how do they charge you? Do they come to get a meter reading?
Good luck

EuroTrash

What happens when you press the big blue Selection button? Normally it is as howie says, the display scrolls through the readings for peak - off peak - total consumption. (It would appear that you are on an heures creuses tarif.)

Failing that, what happens when you press all the other buttons?

There will be a way, I don't think you need be too afraid to press buttons because they usually make meters fairly idiot-proof...

Presumably you are, in fact, connected?

howiet01

I will press a few buttons tonight and see what happens!

bjgironde

Hi,

If you press the lower of the two blue buttons (it is labeled 'Defilement') once it will display the meter reading for either 'Plein' (daytime tariff) or 'Creuse' night time tariff, (it should say which it is in the display) these are the meter readings you need.