What can we do?

P4270282.jpgP4250249.jpgIt looks like it's going to be one picture at a time.
I designed this building. Some local builders dug out the hole and then between us we built the shell.
I did the woodwork, made the windows, door, ceiling, etc and the interior.
 
I was disappointed with my result as I recycle everything. My non-recyclable waste is less than 10 litres a week (I empty the kitchen bin because it can start to smell, not because the 10 litre bin is full). 67% of my footprint is "Home" but they don't' give any real help except suggesting changing electricity suppliers, which I'm about to do anyway, but at the moment I have to go for the cheapest deal; changing to LED bulbs - maybe when I've run out of my present stock of bulbs, and basically getting a smart meter. Well that will only tell me my electricity usage and I have a good idea about what uses the most. I know the kettle uses as lot , but if I want a hot drink I have no option, and I always only boil what I need. I don't use the tumble drier unless it's absolutely necessary - stuff goes on racks in the conservatory if the weather's bad. I'm not going to turn the oven and microwave off at the mains as I'd have to reset them everytime I wanted to use them.

The plumbing pipework in my house is very wasteful of hot water - the kitchen sink is the last one on the loop, so I've even thought about an "under-sink" heater just for that. Oh and I've stopped using the dishwasher when I'm on my own!

I do live in a big house for one person but I like to have visitors and one room is set aside for my indoor hobbies - and that's why the house is heated above "cool" because I sit down for extended periods and wearing additional sweaters isn't always an option. I use more oil if I turn off radiators in rooms I don't use because there is no insulation between floors. Since I bought a wireless house thermostat rather than just relying on controlled radiator valves, my oil consumption has dropped - and yes I do drop the temperature when I'm out for a couple of hours because the thermostat is smart enough to do that. Keeping the house at a constant temperature during the day is much more efficient that letting it cool down and heat up again.

I spend about two and a half hours a week travelling (one round trip is an hour) so the quiz makes that 2- 5 hours ... One size doesn't fit all but it is useful to get an idea.
 
Margaid said:
Were you able to dig into an existing bank? Looks fantastic!
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Thanks. Yes, I live on a mountain so there is always a slope somewhere. ;) The house faces East so it gets solar gain in the morning.
There is a two tier hot water system; the water gets preheated by the sun on the black platic pipes that bring the water from the deposit and in winter there is an instant hot water heated mounted on the outside wall to bring it up to temperature.
It does freeze here in the winter and temperatures of -6 Centigrade are not uncommon. At the moment it's around 40 Centigrade outside.
I burn between a ton and a ton and a half of firewood each winter, some cut on the land here.
This type of building can be built anywhere the water table permits. Covering with earth isn't a problem on the flat. There isn't a shortage of earth yet. :)
I would have liked to install a 24 volt system and go off grid but you have to pay to do that here and it's rather a lot.
The waste goes to an existing septic tank system. The water supply comes from a well and is pumped to a deposit.
Oh yes, one important thing, the chickens come and go in the house at will. ;)
 
Wow the house looks fantastic, you must have put in a lot of man hours into that. Well done
 
chrismahon said:
Just out of interest, how much electricity do you all use per day?
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About 7KWh on a Brum work day (out of the house for 9 hours ish) and 10KWh at weekends and working at home Been running a cement mixer lately on those days but also that's when cooking on the electric mostly takes place I suppose.

I love the chimney poking out of your roof (i.e. lawn) Shadrach!

I wish the colour of LED lighting was better (not that we have much choice at the shops now.) 'Warm white' is narrow banded icy blueish most of the time.
 
The LED lighting here is sold in two colours Rick. 4000K is blue-white and good for work areas and 2700K is a warm yellow and best for anywhere else. We found the former too bright for our dark house so everywhere has the latter. Our electricity is freezers and fridge mainly. The freezers are in the garage which gets rather hot in Summer and unfortunately, at the moment, there is nowhere else to put them.
 
Brilliant house, Shadrach though it did put me in mind of Bilbo Baggins house!?
I think it’s incredible how people are embracing new technologies to try and reduce their carbon footprint, plastic waste and so on. Just yesterday I was reading about the huge proportion of the pollution generated by the clothing industry. It’s frightening.
However if I was a betting man I would put my money on the other side. I don’t think we’re capable of stopping in time or reducing the global population. We are, as they say, all f****d.
This, curiously, does not depress me. It’s just the fifth or sixth extinction event that our planet has experienced. Perhaps it will come up with a better model next time round!

Domestic architecture is awesome isn’t it. You watch some of those TV shows where folk are building their dream homes and it takes your breath away. Not only really green and functional but beautiful too. But we really need not just pilot projects for the relatively affluent but mass housing that meets the needs of the environment. I guess this was once the vision of tower blocks even though most folk don’t thrive in hamster cages.
A bit of tech that I recently came across is a large battery that in the event of a power cut will run your fridge, freezer, lighting and TV for twelve hours. Then when the power comes back on it recharges itself. Goodbye generator with all its noise, pollution and inconvenience. And that really was an epiphany for me. These new technologies don’t only have to be green but they also have to be cheaper and more convenient or people won’t use them, wind up torches being an example.
 
I took pics yesterday of part of the land that I'm "re-wilding". I'll see if I can upload them. I'm really pleased with how it's going, for it's first year. By next year, I hope to have a bigger variety of flowers.
 

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These white flowers are feverfew. I had a pot of feverfew a few years ago, and now it comes up in several places.
 

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I'm going to leave the area another couple of weeks at least, and then cut it. I've definitely seen an increase in bees and butterflies this year, but that may be coincidence. My son in law had 3 beehives out in the back of my property, and this year, they moved one over to their own garden, but at the weekend, they had to put a new hive back here, because the bees had reproduced so fast, and they were in danger of losing a swarm.
 
Hen-Gen said:
Brilliant house, Shadrach though it did put me in mind of Bilbo Baggins house!?
I think it’s incredible how people are embracing new technologies to try and reduce their carbon footprint, plastic waste and so on. Just yesterday I was reading about the huge proportion of the pollution generated by the clothing industry. It’s frightening.
However if I was a betting man I would put my money on the other side. I don’t think we’re capable of stopping in time or reducing the global population. We are, as they say, all f****d.
This, curiously, does not depress me. It’s just the fifth or sixth extinction event that our planet has experienced. Perhaps it will come up with a better model next time round!

Domestic architecture is awesome isn’t it. You watch some of those TV shows where folk are building their dream homes and it takes your breath away. Not only really green and functional but beautiful too. But we really need not just pilot projects for the relatively affluent but mass housing that meets the needs of the environment. I guess this was once the vision of tower blocks even though most folk don’t thrive in hamster cages.
A bit of tech that I recently came across is a large battery that in the event of a power cut will run your fridge, freezer, lighting and TV for twelve hours. Then when the power comes back on it recharges itself. Goodbye generator with all its noise, pollution and inconvenience. And that really was an epiphany for me. These new technologies don’t only have to be green but they also have to be cheaper and more convenient or people won’t use them, wind up torches being an example.
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You wont be surprised to read you're not the first person to mention Hobbits and my house in the same breath. ;)
There are some incredible concept houses. The problem with many is apart from the expense, they are highly dependent on technology.
My goal was minimum technology and low cost to build. We have some fairly entrenched ideas about housing and the communities that are expected to live in them.
 
Friends of ours built an ultra modern house - all solar, under floor heating etc. I helped char timber for the cladding, looked great but it was surprising how close to prototypes the systems were. I guess these houses tend to be personal, often very individual designs so nothing about the systems is off the shelf.
I looked into an electric replacement for our gas combi boiler at the weekend. Everything about them sounds fantastic - no annual servicing, higher efficiency, no flue, easy to fit and no more expensive to buy. Problem is they draw similar current to the main fuse for the house supply so put your kettle on on a cold day and bang goes a big fuse you are not allowed to replace yourself. The manufactures recommend getting a second mains phase installed - I suppose it should be similar to getting mains connected to a new build. Still checking out the options.
 
Well Rick, you will be surprised to learn that houses in France are usually 3 phase so the wiring is very complicated. Even worse than that they are limited to 3 KW per phase unless you pay massive amounts for more. So balancing the kettle with the immersion heater is very important or the overload switch trips. This is why all French houses have the fuse board right by the front door so they can run and reset the overload switch.

You will find that the electric boilers are far more expensive to run than town gas Rick. Worth considering if you are on oil, but gas in England is unrealistically cheap so best stay on it at the moment. I would expect, as the UK only supplies less than half of the natural gas it needs and Russia sells to the highest bidder things will change. But the UK is in the same situation as France in that it can only meet 95% of the peak electricity demand, so best not have all your eggs in one basket. This is something we will all have to wrestle with soon as when retired our income won't meet both food and fuel bills. The average pension in France is 3x the UK standard and they are already complaining!
 
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