by Steve Byrne | Apr 15, 2016 | buildings
We are now starting our fourth year here at Lackan Cottage Farm, and what seems like an endless series of building projects is at last coming to an end. The cottage refurbishment, polytunnels, compost loo, stables, the little cottage, outhouse, woodshed, bike store, paths, ponds, wind turbine and solar arrays, and most recently the rebuild of the old hay shed into a workshop and bigger hay shed.
by Steve Byrne | Feb 19, 2016 | events
+++ PLEASE NOTE WE ARE NOW FULLY BOOKED +++
We get a lot of requests from folk who would like to come and have a look around, find out more, and share their stories with us, so this year we have decided to have an open day, when anyone can come and see what we get up to, and ask questions about any aspect of what we do here at Lackan Cottage Farm.
by Steve Byrne | Feb 6, 2016 | renewable energy
Last winter we were the masters of firewood. Ample supplies, thanks to kind folk,and having our own huge sycamore fall over in the wind. The summer of 2015 saw the woodyard completely cleared, as amazing volunteers helped us split, chop, and stack the whole lot inside.
by Steve Byrne | Jan 3, 2016 | renewable energy
After all the hoo-ha, storm Frank didn’t hit too hard, and everything remains standing. Seeing as we have so much in the way of weather here, I asked Santa for a weather station and she has obliged, so now I have even more things to measure, and finally I know what it takes for the wind turbine to do its thing.
by Steve Byrne | Dec 29, 2015 | renewable energy
Well, our climate chickens are fairly coming home to roost tonight, as storm Frank rages around us. Destructive winds are raging, huge amounts of rain falling, and we genuinely don’t know what will still be standing come the morning.
by Steve Byrne | Dec 23, 2015 | volunteering
Midwinter is upon us, the weather continues to play tricks – outside a sycamore tree is starting to bud, and the temperature remains in double digits while the fifth storm of the winter has begun to rage. All very strange.
by Steve Byrne | Dec 4, 2015 | renewable energy
Storm Desmond is upon us, and the wind is fairly howling around the house, but for the first time, it is howling outside and not inside. I am delighted to announce that the floor repair worked a treat, and the filled-in floor in the classroom is warm and draught free.
by Steve Byrne | Nov 29, 2015 | renewable energy
Weeks like the one we’ve just had are an off-gridder’s nightmare. After some lovely cold autumnal days, it is now seven days since we saw anything approaching sunshine, and output from our solar PV is negligible, to put it kindly. It is weather like this...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 28, 2015 | buildings
Usually I post about the things that have gone right, but we are on a learning curve, and things often don’t work out first time around. The floor in the new build is one such case. After much deliberating, and mainly due to budget constraints, I put in a...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 8, 2015 | renewable energy
The windy weather we normally get in October didn’t put in an appearance, but finally it is here, and today’s weather perfectly illustrates the need for a mixture of generation to keep the lights on all winter. At 10m on an overcast day the PV is producing...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 4, 2015 | off grid
In our world turned upside down by changing climate, we began the year with a cold, wet ‘summer’, and have ended it with a warm sunny autumn. Strolling around in a t-shirt in November is definitely not normal here in Northern Ireland, but we (and our...
by Steve Byrne | Oct 17, 2015 | climate
Today we were inspired to meet Morgan and Garrett, who are undertaking an epic journey from New England to Paris, via Canada, Iceland, Scandanavia, and the UK by bicycle. Their destination? The COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris in December. Along the way they...
by Steve Byrne | Oct 7, 2015 | renewable energy
For those who can’t already claim some form of payment for generating their own energy, or who will face vastly reduced incentives from 2016, there would seem to be few reasons to invest in renewable energy such as solar PV. Recent coverage of the Tesla home...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 24, 2015 | off grid
As we come to Mabon – the Autumn equinox, our busy season draws to a close, and the place has quietened down as our band of volunteers head off, and we host the last events before we take a break. Last weekend’s course – ‘Finding You – A...
by Steve Byrne | Aug 3, 2015 | off grid
Solar power is wonderful but here in Northern Ireland sun is often in short supply, especially in winter when the days are short. Hence the need for an alternative – in this case a wind turbine. Bornay, who make this particular model have been building turbines...
by Steve Byrne | May 13, 2012 | off grid, renewable energy
We returned home today to discover that the wind turbine had suffered a catastrophic failure and lost all three blades. 2 of them were embedded firmly in the ground below the turbine, and one has yet to be found. I repaired one of them a week ago, and straightening...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 12, 2012 | renewable energy
For a seemingly simple setup, the wind turbine certainly involves a lot more that I ever thought it would. A lot of folk with ‘big’ turbines certainly view the small, chinese made end of the market as very suspect, but my view has always been that at least...
by Steve Byrne | Aug 3, 2011 | smallholding
Today we put up the wind generator – a huge thank you is due to all those who very kindly gave us something towards it – with any luck that gift will keep on helping to make power for us for a long time to come. Thanks also to Sinead, who unwittingly came...
by Steve Byrne | May 2, 2011 | smallholding
Had a moment today so made up some wind chimes from odds and ends – the striker is an old bowl core left over from turning.
