As winter draws in and the temperature plummets, many people in France will be looking for ways to save on heating costs.
While electricity and gas are the most common forms of heating, according to the ministry of ecological transition, many rural homes favour wood and fuel oil, and a growing number of people are also exploring renewable alternatives.
Install a thermostat
Government experiments have shown that houses with programmable thermostat systems use on average 15% less energy than those without, which is why there are plans to make them compulsory in most homes by 2027.
Unfortunately, grants to help people install programmable central heating thermostats for electric radiators ended in 2024.
Ventilate
Even in winter, it is worth opening the windows and ventilating rooms for at least 10 minutes a day. This allows water vapour to be released. Humid air needs more energy to be heated than dry air, resulting in higher consumption.
Watch out for scams
Some seven million people use wood for heating in France, a figure that has risen since the 2022 energy crisis and spike in gas prices. But with the rise in use has come an increase in scams involving firewood and wood pellets, according to consumer protection body the DGCCRF.
Common online scams include people posting adverts mimicking well-established companies on sites including Leboncoin or Facebook Marketplace, or via Whatsapp or Telegram groups.
They may also use attractive photographs to advertise and request payment before delivery. They then deliver a lower quality product or, in some cases, never deliver at all.
When buying wood, the DGCCRF recommends checking the length of logs and its moisture content. Logs should have a moisture content of less than 20%, while the moisture content of pellets must not exceed 10%. Your invoice should include the species sold, the length of the log, the moisture content and the optimal drying time.
L’affouage
The collection of dead wood and branches from the forest floor is forbidden from any forested area (including public land), except for ones that you own or for which you have affouage (wood collection) rights.
If a forest is publicly owned and not set aside for industrial use, the mairie will tell you how to apply for affouage rights. You will need to pay an affouagère tax, which is usually very low compared to the value of the wood, costing €15 or less in some places. However, you must chop the trees down and manage transport and storage yourself.
Change your boiler
Government grants are available to replace oil, coal or gas boilers with more efficient options including heat pumps, hybrid heat pump-condensation boilers, solar systems and high performance wood stoves.
The main grant is MaPrimeRénov’, which is available for all homeowners and is income based.
Supplementary grants are available mainly through energy suppliers, and are known as certificats d’économies d’énergie (CEE).
Other grants include the Coup de pouce chauffage, which is calculated on your income, how many people live in the house and where the property is located.
An example of a grant for an air source heat pump is €4,000 for lower-earning households and €2,500 for other households.
People can apply via France Rénov', where advisers can explain which grants they are entitled to.
Air-source heat pumps can help save up to 50% on your electricity bill, according to home insurer Luko.
This fan system, installed outside, is connected to existing central heating via radiators or underfloor heating. It captures heat outside, raises it to a higher temperature and transfers it into the home, providing heating and hot water.
The average cost of installing a heat pump is €15,000 according to Ademe. With government grants, on average, the cost is just under €10,000.
Ministry of ecological transition analysis of 100 households with heat pumps found “spectacular” savings, but noted that because of the purchase and installation costs it can take from six to 17 years to become more financially attractive than staying with gas heating.
Other boiler tips
The temperature of your boiler has a direct impact on your electricity consumption. Most boilers will have what is called a potentiometer, which allows you to adjust its temperature.
The potentiometer is usually under a cover that you can unscrew. Turning down the boiler by a degree or two will save money without substantially reducing the availability of hot water in your home. It is advised to keep the temperature to at least 50C to avoid bacteria growth.
You could also check if your electricity provider contract entitles you to off-peak hour savings. This will allow you to only use your hot water boiler at off-peak times (in the same way as you might a washing machine).
To do this, you can install an ‘off-peak contactor’, which will start heating your water as soon as the off-peak time begins. You can also set your boiler to only turn on if your tank runs out of hot water.
Finally, remember to switch off your water heater if you go away.
Limit hot water use
Being careful with your hot water is another everyday way to save.
Tips include washing your hands in cold water, taking short showers rather than baths, not leaving your hot water tap running, for example while washing up, and installing aerators on your taps and shower heads.
Fioul (fuel oil)
Some 2.8 million households (8% of households) in France heat their homes using fioul domestique (domestic fuel) via oil-fired boilers.
The price of fioul has risen sharply over the past decade, with the average for 1,000 litres now between €1,100 and €1,200 compared to less than €700 in 2016, according to UFC-Que Choisir.
One way to save could be to join a nationwide group order, such as is offered by UFC-Que Choisir.
A group buy in October 2025 resulted in savings of €155 (€940 per 1,000 litres down from €1,095).
In 2025, UFC Que-Choisir also launched a group buy scheme for wood pellets called Choisir son pellet.
Reader tips
“Living out in the sticks in an old farmhouse we had a gas tank buried in the garden so it is unobtrusive. We have a very efficient combi-boiler that samples outside air; works for us supplemented by a wood burner in the salon. We also have top-of-the-range argon-filled double glazing and 40cm of insulation in the loft.” T.B.
“We have an old stone house of around 140m². We use a wood pellet boiler for background heat (18-19°C) and a woodburning stove for the lounge in the evenings and if we are not running the boiler in March/October.
"We use two tonnes of pellets per annum plus 6m³ firewood. The total cost is around €1,000. Our installer secured €15,000 of government grants for our pellet boiler/silo/hot water tank installation; our contribution was €8,000.” Name withheld
“We live in a 300-year-old stone farmhouse. We have had new double glazing fitted, have just purchased two solar panels and have two log burners.
"We buy logs during the summer, and have heavy velvet curtains over the doors. We utilise the skylight blackout blinds to allow sun in during the day but keep cold out at nights.” R.A.
“We live in an old stone winery conversion but with double glazing and 10cm-thick insulation panels under the roof. We have electric heat pumps for heating. Normally we only use the one in the main salon/cuisine and that heats up the house enough to turn it off at night.
"The bedrooms have them too, but are rarely needed. We have just installed a 6kW solar array that should cover 50% of the heating costs as we are in Pyrénées-Orientales, the department with the most sunlight hours in France.” J.H.
“We had an LPG tank sunk into our drive and an end-of-life gas boiler. We managed to get a grant to replace it with a heat pump, which seems fine. Obviously our electricity bill has gone up but overall we are spending less.” L.B.
“Insulate, insulate, insulate! It made a huge difference to our winter heating bills – not only the cost but the improvement in comfort.” D.H.
“We have a closed log fire with a back boiler to connect to the radiators, and buy wood from a farmer. The heat that used to disappear up the chimney now heats our whole house. We save about €2,000 a year in gas that would have normally heated the radiators.” T.A.
“I have a central fireplace with a pellet stove. Clean and easy. Otherwise, I use paraffin heaters – fast, efficient and cheap to run. I have never used the electric heaters in over 22 years so bills are very low.” A.M.
