Little Wenlock C Red
Little Wenlock Carbon Reduction Action Group Newsletter
(Aiming to reduce our carbon emissions)
Newsletter 16
Going down? Graeme and Alison Eco-renovate Spring Cottage
Graeme and I moved into Spring Cottage in February 2007. If we had any dreams of a country idyll the floods soon disabused us. A large landslip in the garden and the consequent loss of our water supply resulted in no heating or washing facilities. For five months. Who would have thought we would manage on bottled water? But we proved that the art of strip-washing in the kitchen is not dead although we are very happy to have returned it to the category of ‘times gone by’.
We had decided to do some modernisation in the house, although most of what we have done has had a beneficial effect on carbon footprint, that wasn’t the principle motive in all cases.
Here’s what we have done so far that should affect it:
- Installed a new central heating system with thermostatic radiators and a Worcester Bosch boiler in order to provide on demand heating and hot water. So no immersion heater, no stored hot water going cold and no stored cold water getting frozen.
- Removed the old gas fire with back boiler. The plumber asked if he could have it as a museum piece for the college, as the students need stuff like this to practice on!
- Removed the range cooker. This was drinking LPG like it was going out of fashion as it was on 24/7 to provide cooking and hot water and the price hikes didn’t help. We replaced it with a dual fuel cooker (LPG/Electricity) which only uses energy when actually cooking.
- Replaced the back door and single glazed window with a double glazed door and window.
- Rebuilt the front dormer windows from the timbers to add interior insulation, and replaced the windows with double glazed ones.
- Removed the electrically powered shower and replaced it with a gravity-fed shower thanks to the humungous water pressure coming off the new borehole.
- Replaced all doors upstairs with thicker, better-fitting doors and started a ‘keep the doors shut’ policy. You may have thought that Larry Grayson was dead but he just moved to Spring Cottage.
- Replaced all the light bulbs with low-energy bulbs but have offset this somewhat by adding about eight additional light fittings... Larry’s brother ‘Turn that light off’ Grayson has also moved in.
To all who have suffered delays in Spout Lane caused by the fleet of builders’ vans etc., we apologise. At least you know that it’s all in a good cause! We have reduced electricity consumption by 15% this year (don’t have the LPG data yet) so we’re going in the right direction – down!
Cuban Ecological Study Tour
If you enjoyed Patrick’s talk, or missed it and wish you hadn’t, Patrick is willing to set up a study tour for anyone wanting to find out more. Take a look at the web site: www.cubastudies.org , and let Patrick know if you are interested.
Email him at patrick.pietroni@wanadoo.fr , or call him on 501933.
Next C Red meeting: Monday 2nd March 8pm, all welcome, come and join us
