Living off Grid in France - no more, we have hot water and a bath!

Подробнее о видео

For the for first few months of this epic French farm house renovation, we have essentially been living 'off grid'. We are however, slowly getting connected to mainstream services.
This week we installed an 80L compact boiler and gained hot running water.
We can have a proper bath, at our own house! We are no longer feral!
We'd had some quotes from professional plumbers, that were outside our budget and one was booked way into the new year. Just to route the pipework was €12,500. We decided to go the Do It Ourselves route. We have saved a fortune; close to €12,000.
The big plumbing expenses, not included in the quotes, were the boiler and the shower cubicle. We bought a large 1.8m multi-jet all-in-one shower cubicle in the 'Black Friday' sales. We also bought a 80L wall mounted compact boiler.
Our total plumbing spend, with pipes, fittings, shower and boiler, still came to less than a tenth of the original quotes. Plus, we had it working before Christmas.
Having done the installation, we now fully understand why the quotes were so high. Routing pipes through meters of granite and concrete walls was a horrid task, that left both of us at breaking point.
We suspect the quotes were astronomical, purely because plumbers saw the task and thought, 'No Way! Not for me!, Let someone else have this one'.
The temperature was at times -9C for days in a row. Finding motivation at times was hard, especially when your tools were frozen to the ground.
The water pressure in this region is incredibly high at 95psi (6.5bar), so sealing leaks was frustrating. Some of our fittings, like sinks and baths were bought for pocket change off auction sites. They had no washers and were of different threads and fittings to those available over the counter in France. Some plumbers may have lost their patience with these so called bargain finds.
There are challenges left. The washing machine; although it now has water; has no electrics. It needs a dedicated supply running through the caves beneath the house. Maybe soon we'll be able to wash our clothes?
During all of this we've even managed to fit in time for French lessons. Plus, we have joined the local Quiz evening at the local pub.

My French at times does come out a little too Franglais.

Background music
===============
(Audio) Guitar and Accordion No Copyright Music Free Download Background Music


Like and Subscribe
===============
​