Firewood finally

Firewood finally

by | Apr 21, 2014 | renewable energy

The past two winters have involved a constant battle to find enough wood fuel to keep us warm, and at times when trudging around in sleet and snow to retrieve sodden timber from the woods has been nothing short of miserable. So this spring we built the lovely new...
The finer points of firewood

The finer points of firewood

by | Feb 5, 2014 | renewable energy

When you rely on wood for your heating and cooking, you realise that there is a vast amount of knowledge that was once common but is now largely forgotten, all of which is really quite vital to your success. Our first year has been a steep learning curve, but...
Small solar PV

Small solar PV

by | Jun 28, 2013 | renewable energy

One of the most common questions people ask when they see our little PV setup is ‘what will it power?’, and the answer is always a bit vague, because I know people are hoping that those little panels might be what they need to disconnect from the grid and...

Let there be light

by | Nov 8, 2012 | renewable energy

 One of the reasons that many people are put off installing renewable technologies such as solar PV is that in order to generate enough to power a typical house, you need a lot of it, at fairly vast expense. Being simple peasant folk, that’s not an option open...

A new toy

by | Oct 17, 2012 | renewable energy

As a result of some lucky trading, we were able to pass on the truly massive stove that came our way, but which was way too big for the room, and get ourselves a shiny new Stanley stove for the living room. The gas bottle stove has gone back into the truck where it...

Autumn sunshine

by | Oct 16, 2012 | renewable energy

Evacuated tube solar collector Someone told me last week that they wouldn’t have solar water heating because ‘It doesn’t work in Northern Ireland’. Funny that, I said, because every time the sun comes out it heats our water to 40 degrees, at...