Superb service from Enedis

[Blaze]

We had a power cut yesterday afternoon - typically just before we would have had our showers before going out to work for the evening.
OH contacted Enedis and their engineer was round first thing this morning to sort things out. We only had 4 hours sleep (big yawn) but will snooze in front of the fire this afternoon ... zzzzzzzzzz

He changed the Linky box installed in 2019 as it wasn't transmitting the changeover to the water heater (we wondered why our showers had not been very hot). He also changed the main Enedis tripper which was at leat 25 years old. We've still got the old type circuit breakers set to 30 amps while the Enedis tripper was set to 45amps. He reckons we should be able to go from 9kw to 6kw because it would appear that we've never drawn 30 amps. He's set the new Enedis tripper to 30amps so we'll do this tomorrow.

Excellent service both on the phone and with the engineer. He could have come yesterday evening but as we were going to work, it wasn't possible. They'll get 5 ***** when we get the inevitable feedback questionnaire.

[Hotrodder]

A shame Orange isn't so good.

[RobertArthur]

@ Blaze, just a quick aside. A familiair question, already from August 2010 when the EDF began to change the pricing. Are EDF's off-peak and Tempo options still worthwhile? This is what the consumer organisation Que-Choisir has to say about it.

The website of Selectra has several examples to make the calculations easier.

About the behaviour of Linky, now the place where it all happens, counting and current limiting, again this little help for techies. Something to bear in mind with a 6 KVA supply.

[Hotrodder]

We are on the 6kva supply here at Little Hell. When the Linky was first installed we became aware of what to expect thanks to your explanation (probably your third link above). It took a while to get used to the need to be aware of what was running or about to be switched on. If someone has just finished a shower while the oven is on, don't switch on the table saw or the compressor, etc. After a while we got used to it. Our leccy bill is about €1500 a year (last time I checked) for a small one bed place. If we bump up to the next level it will be more expensive even though we will not be using more.

[Blaze]

@RobertArthur Interesting you should mention this and thank you for the Selectra link. We've noticed that the difference between day and night time electricity is a lot less marked than it was, to the extent where we're going to look at other options.
Tempo sounds a good possibility and could be easily manageable for us. I always look at the comments and I see that EDF get a huge number of negatives. However, on reading the complaints, they seem to be all about the problems of getting hold of EDF rather than comments about the service itself ! How very French !

[demi]

Just a shout for TotalEnergies. I had both my gas & electric with them in the place I was renting & stayed with them when I moved to my own place. They were endlessly helpful, patient with my not fluent French & made life very easy for me. I was allocated a dedicated person who I could ring or email with any problems.

[RobertArthur]

@ Blaze, the EDF is the only energy provider equipped with safety belts, le tarif réglementé. In the recent past we've witnessed free market prices go sky high. You never know these days....

[Blaze]

@RobertArthur, we'll stick with EDF for just that reason...

[widge]

We have had tempo for several years, it can take some managing depending how much time you spend at home, it is not unusual to get 4 or 5 red days in a row, we are retired and at home a lot, we use electricity and a log burner for heat in the winter, jane tends to do the main cooking on the weekend, things thay can easily be reheated, which we stick on the top of the log burner to heat up.

[Blaze]

Thanks, Widge. I think it shouldn't be too difficult for us to manage : we have a gas hob and a woodburner and our heating is oil. Even if we did use electricity on the red days, we'd still be better off than we are now. I think people who are totally dependent on electricity must have the most juggling to do, a situation we've always tried to avoid.