Heat pumps/pellet boilers - grants and loans

[Bayleaf]

Just putting this question out there on behalf of a client I do garden work for.

Long story short - her oil central heating is about to pack up. She has enquired about whether she qualifies for the total grant - sadly not, just 200€ over the limit.

So is now looking into if she can get any grant at all, or there is something about a loan (interest free?). Unfortunately, her French isn't good, she lives alone and is elderly, and a depressive.

I said I would put the question out there as apparently I have a "good network of help!". Her biggest problem is understanding where to look and how to apply. (She can also be a tricky cookie to deal with, so kid gloves needed!!)

If anyone know any helpful links (and easy way to translate it!), I will very gratefully pass them on.

[RobertArthur]

@ Bayleaf: income limits, it's the same old song. Several lookup tables on the website of Quelleenergie.

Pellets, poêle à granulés de bois: a technical overview by QueChoisir. And again: income limits.

[elsie]

This is the supposedly simplified main government web site https://france-renov.gouv.fr

[Bayleaf]

Thanks both for that. I'm finding out if she's had a second opinion about the state of the boiler. Being elderly and quite frail, I don't think she'd cope with pellets (don't you have to tip them into some type of hopper?).

As she's alone in a large house, and only uses a couple of rooms, am (tentatively!) suggesting installation of an immersion heater, then stand-alone oil-filled electric heaters in the three rooms she lives in. It seems a lot of upheaval, stress, and outlay for a 75yr old. Electric may not turn out to be much more than she spends in oil?

Plus the stress of trying to understand all those links might just finish her off!

[elsie]

There is nothing to stop old boilers being repaired it is just they cannot be replaced with new boilers any more. Whether 100% of replacement of the parts is permitted seems to be an unknown?

[RobertArthur]

@ Bayleaf, there has been a lot of misinformation about oil heating. And despite rumors to the contrary and sometimes misinformation by those who would like to install something totally new, you are still allowed to repair une chaudière à fioul in 2022 and in the years to come. Two years ago the only thing I had to do to revive such a "chaudière totalement foutue" was to change the fuel filter, so a second opinion can make a difference.

[Bayleaf]

Thank you, I'm asking her if she's had a second opinion, and try and get a Devis from a French company. Good to hear that ... cheers folks!

[niemeyjt]

+1 on the repair option.

Even if the heat exchanger has gone, you can get them remade. We had to do something similar in the UK - albeit for slightly different reasons.

Pellets - can come in a bulk lorry and get blown into a hopper - so no handling - but 1) costs and 2) needs space as pellets bulky for the energy they yield.

And if she is crumbly, she may not be around to realise the savings over xx years.