Articles by Argile

In winter, your clients don't judge a renovation by the thickness of the insulation, but by what they feel room by room. As a tradesperson, you can secure the result by relying on a few simple adjustments, even before talking about the work itself, to gain usable heat and limit cold spots. That means a more legible job for the client, and reviews that feel good to read.

5 min read

An hourly rate is built on chargeable hours, not on paid hours: a 39-hour contract pays a little over 2,000 hours a year, and statutory leave, travel, collection, surveys, callbacks and admin take several hundred of them back before anything reaches a customer. Two further gaps do the rest of the damage: the employer costs a bare wage figure ignores, and the margin coefficient, which is not one plus the rate you are aiming at.

5 min read

On the ground, a supplementary gas heater can help quickly, without major work, but it doesn't suit every home or every project. For your clients, the challenge is simple: gain comfort right away, without cutting corners on safety, ventilation and the bill. Here's a rundown, with clear benchmarks, to know when this solution makes sense, and when it's better to pass.

5 min read

Between a heat pump and a gas boiler, the difference isn't only in the quote: it's also in the environmental impact over the equipment's entire life cycle. This article works through the DESNZ conversion factors, the SCOP assumptions to use in retrofits, the role of the refrigerant (R32 vs R290), and gives sourced orders of magnitude for your on-site recommendations.

5 min read

An underfloor cooling system is not air conditioning, and the CSTB technical guide that governs it in France assigns it no cooling output at all. It even accepts that indoor temperature will rise once the load exceeds what the floor can absorb. What it does impose is written down: a minimum flow water temperature by geographic zone, a safety cut-out at 12°C, and limits on the covering's thermal resistance. Here are the figures, and what belongs on the quotation.

5 min read

On a quote or an audit, the same gas can display two calorific values, and the gap is not a minor detail. GCV and NCV change the result, so your billed kWh, your stated efficiencies and your comparisons between solutions. By mastering the conversion ratio, you secure your pricing and avoid endless arguments at the end of a job.

5 min read

A micro-storage combi is not compared on a flow rate quoted in litres per minute, it is compared on the load profile declared under Regulation (EU) No 814/2013 and the reference energy Qref that goes with it, from 2.100 kWh for an S profile to 5.845 kWh for an M profile. And the temperature setpoint is not a free choice: the French order of 30 November 2005 imposes a floor of 50 °C at every point of the distribution. Here is how to size on figures rather than on an impression of comfort.

5 min read

At your clients' homes, a poorly used heating appliance can quickly show. Odours, smoke at start-up, deposits on the glass — indoor and outdoor air both suffer. As a tradesperson, you control the right habits. Correct sizing, a suitable flue, regular servicing and simple lighting advice change everything, bringing real comfort and lower emissions.

5 min read

When you insulate from the outside with an applied facing, you're playing on two fronts: thermal comfort for your customers, and clean moisture management thanks to the air gap that helps the wall stay healthy. Properly installed, this system also lets you make up for irregular substrates and deliver a clean, durable facade, without piling up compromises on site.

6 min read

A gas boiler pilot light is not a trimming detail, it is a permanent load that the French 3CL-DPE 2021 method puts at between 100 and 240 W depending on the type and age of the appliance. Running continuously, that comes to 880 to 2,100 kWh NCV a year, before the first call for heat. Here are the default figures you can stand behind, the meter-reading method, and the NCV/GCV conversion that stops you being out by a factor of 1.11 between the data plate and the bill.

6 min read

The pressure of a sealed circuit is set cold, from the water column height of the building, then checked hot to validate the expansion vessel. That check is one of the mandatory service points on a heat pump connected to a water loop. This article gives the setpoint table by height, the cold-to-hot reading and the diagnostic tree for a drifting gauge.

5 min read

On a job, heat is often the item that weighs heaviest in the carbon footprint. When a neighbourhood is supplied by a network, your role is to check what's actually behind the substation and steer the client towards the right settings, at the right time. Wood energy, heat recovery, geothermal, gas top-up — the mix is evolving fast and it's changing how you size, balance, and control an installation. By understanding the sources used and their constraints, you secure performance and gain credibility when questions about decarbonisation come up.

5 min read