Is fuel oil holding up in Indre-et-Loire?

Of the approximately 404,000 housing units listed in Indre-et-Loire, 8% are individual houses equipped with oil boilers. A highly carbon-intensive energy, whose days – well, years – are normally numbered.

Getting away from fossil fuels is in fact one of the objectives of the Paris agreement. And to achieve a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2050 – objectives that France has set for itself – it is necessary to turn to renewable energies. Easy to say.

Indeed, in some municipalities in South Touraine, fuel oil remains – paradoxically one might think – the most used heating method, as in Faye-la-Vineuse where 42% of housing is concerned (Insee 2021).

“Neither the town hall nor the municipal buildings are heated with fuel oil”specifies the mayor, David Cailleteau, even if, on his farm, it is always the oil derivative that heats the home.

A farmer, the councilor is delivered by the same supplier for fuel oil and non-road diesel (GNR) but, given that he does not consume more than 1,200 liters of fuel oil per year, this does not allow him to obtain prices preferential.

On the other hand, in the village, Pierrette, 83, makes arrangements with the neighbors when the truck comes to deliver, to benefit from the journey. “I’ve been using fuel oil for thirty to forty years”she remembers. “It suits me like that. » Especially since having replaced her oil boiler only five years ago, she is not about to change energy.

As for the price of fuel oil, she copes with it by filling her 2,000 liter tank more or less… in the best interests of her wallet. And then his children, notably a son who is in the building, take care of everything.

Fuel oil while it works

Philippe – known as Jackson – is also loyal to good old fuel oil. “When I lived in Ballan-Miré, I was on town gas and that’s what I would have chosen if I had had the choice here. » But this neo-Fagian since the 2000s has always heard that, “for old walls, there is nothing better than fuel oil”. So, to heat your perhaps 200 m² on three levels, it has retained this method of heating by opting, seventeen or eighteen years ago, for a low temperature oil boiler producing hot water. “You know, as long as the burner is in good condition, a well-maintained oil boiler is fine. » However, the retiree would not be hostile to a pellet boiler, “but not at the moment”.

In the village, there is increasing interest in renewable energies. In this city of character, great importance is attached to its environment and the renovations are resolutely careful. Insulation, in particular, is crucial and some even manage to combine wood stove (pellets) and small additional heating, “to remove humidity and for the bathroom”. Here as elsewhere, energy sobriety is gaining followers.