A total disgrace

Sorry readers, I have been very lax of late. Well not just of late, I note it’s been a couple of months since I updated this blog. A classic case of not practicing what I preach in terms of keeping communications, fresh, relevant and interesting.

Lots happening in the world since I blogged last. I’m delighted to see my favourite energy campaigner Mandy Meikle – dubbed ‘the Cheery Pessimist’ by the Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP – has taken to the blogosphere. Check out her musings on all matters energy at http://mandymeikle.wordpress.com

"Probably the biggest environmental disaster the US has ever seen" - White House aide Carol Browner. Pic copyright Greenpeace.

Crude oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, causing the worst environmental disaster ever seen in the US.  Meanwhile Britain explores drilling sites off the Falkland Islands, hmmm, the waters of the south Atlantic could prove somewhat challenging. Can’t help but ponder whether the money and ingenuity could be better spent on something other than more territorial pissings.

If you want to see what an incident on this scale might do here have a look here – not the most scientific but puts the things into perspective. I wonder if the Gulf Stream will bring some of the yucky stuff over here.

Closer to home there are lots of good things happening in the woods. Most excitingly the Firewood Festivalin the Cairngorms National Park is shaping up to be a worthy prelude to the Insider music festival at Inshriach near Aviemore.  Lots of activities, demos, talks, tunes, food, beer and a fine roaring campfire. Maybe even some hunky lumberjacks, who knows? Whooohooo! Hope to see some of you there!

On the home front, the wood burning stove is still on despite the fact it’s 1 June today.  Always feels a wee bit chilly in this office – I may migrate upstairs to the sunny attic room for the summer.  We’ve got lots of wood chopped and stacked and plans being drawn up for a marvellous new log shelter.  Thanks to all for the suggestions and ideas, and to Donald for the photo, appearing on this site soon. We’re going for a deluxe ‘lean to’ model, pioneered by my Dad and engineered into a 2nd generation model by Neil R. Photos to follow once construction starts.

The resident woodcutter has been on a course to get his chainsaw ticket and has procured a new – well second hand – chainsaw, of which he is most proud.

Chainsaw training at Kilfinan Community Woodland

Hopefully we’ll have enough drying throughout the breezy summer days to be able to avoid ending up in the soul-sapping soggy wood sauna situation again this winter.

Progress being made on the solar water heating; I should have more to report next time.  Plans are afoot for insulating the coombes. (How do you spell that?) So much to do, so little time.

In the meantime, a wee summer holiday is just round the corner, off to give sea kayaking a bash, then heading off to expend some dancing energy at the anniversary celebrations on the wonderful island of Eigg.  Hebridean islands have a reputation for being laid back, but the Eiggers are much more on the ball with their blogging than me  – check out www.islandsgoinggreen.org for the latest from there.

Right, off to pack adventure gear and dancin shoes! Cheerio the noo.

Winter wood stocks

A knight in shining armour just delivered a load of DRY wood right to the front door. What a wonderful surprise. A friend in need is a friend indeed. The stove is burning merrily and the grumpy mood in the ‘sauna’ is now one of sweetness and light.

We’re now planning a major shed building mission so we can stockpile firewood supplies and not find ourselves in the same situation next winter. So much to think about at this time of year; the importance of careful advance planning on that front has been hammered home to us the hard way.

Lots of free events going on in the Cairngorms National Park in the next couple of months for those of you interested in such topics as community firewood schemes, planning and installing a wood fired heating system and making the most of farm woods. Check out www.lowcarboncairngorms.org/woodfuel to find out more.

Still not having much joy getting quotes and the generous loans on offer from the Scottish Government have been scaled back dramatically. It seemed to good to be true. But getting the quotes required in time to apply is no easy task. Is customer service part of the accreditation process? With demand for solar panels, log boilers and other renewables growing by the minute, installers are probably running to stand still and customer service is suffering as a result. However consistency, courtesy and integrity are every bit as vital as technical know how.

Being honest about it it’s probably just as well. It’d be foolish to rush into anything. We’ve got so much to work out, as was highlighted by Martin from Transition Black Isle, who kindly called round to check out the place and give some objective opinions on our options. Great to be able to pick the brains of someone who is not trying to sell you anything. It’s becoming increasingly evident that a long term vision is required before we can embark upon a plan of action.

In the meantime anyone up for a spot of wood chopping and stick shed building?

An idiot’s guide to the Renewable Heat Incentive

I found this useful wee website on the Government’s renewable heat tariff proposals when trawling around online. Look closely and you find a company behind it peddling their services. The information is well presented though and much easier to fathom than the boorach of bewildering documents on the website of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
You can’t get a grant towards the cost of buying and installing a wood burning stove, they don’t qualify for the current loan trial and they’re not going to be included in this scheme either. I think that’s a bit daft. Setting the technicalities of calculating your heat output aside, installing a stove is the single simplest thing you can do and should be encouraged. Linking a wood stove into your existing hot water and central heating can dramatically cut your household’s carbon footprint.
The final shape of the Renewable Heat Incentive has yet to be determined and consultation on it is open until 26 April
Solar water heating qualifies as do log boilers. Pricey kit – green bling some might say – but according to rhincentive.co.uk the feed-in tariff will make the payback time under 10 years.
I’m in the sauna again – damp firewood drying on top of the stove. So much to learn about supply and storage – does anyone out there have any clever ideas on woodsheds and logstacks?
There are some good events coming up in the Cairngorms National Park , including one on making the most of farm woodlands and a day for communities keen to try and get local firewood schemes going. Click here to find out more.

Dreaming in a patch of sun

Skye asleep

The dog’s asleep in a pool of sunlight. The scuffle of twitching paws and bursts of muffled yipping punctuate the peace. What a lovely life. Walk, sleep, eat. Sleep, eat, walk. Doze, dream, stretch, yawn. I’d love to be able to stretch like she can. It must feel great.
She’s curled up on that bloomin’ red carpet that has to go. Don’t know what it is about carpets, particularly bright red ones. Nothing to do with republicanism. I just don’t like ‘em. I know it’s an insulating layer between us and the concrete. And that layer of spongy stuff underneath that probably helps keep us warm too. But anyway, go it shall.
None of this is going to be quick I feel. Got a quote in for the solar water heating yesterday. The Scottish Government’s trial period of offering interest free loans for installing such technology runs out at the end of the financial year. ie in about three weeks.
We’d need an interest free loan to be able to do it. But too many decisions… New tank here, new tank there, how to replumb, panels inset into the roof, on top of the slates, what’s the best way to go ahead? Information overload, the curse of the modern age. I don’t want to make decisions. I just want to drowse blissfully in the spring sunshine.

Insulating under the floor – HELP!

We’ve been lucky enough to procure ourselves a piece of history. Fifty square metres of it to be precise. Rock solid oak parquet flooring from the National Museum in Chambers St that a sharp eyed contact saved from the skip.
I reported on a court case once where someone was being prosecuted for taking stuff from a skip in the Borders. Bonkers. The sheriff clearly thought so too, rolling his eyes and scratching crossly at his wig. The accused was admonished. It’s the folk who chuck things like this out in skips who should be prosecuted, not the people taking it out.
So… the parquet is in boxes in the garage and the fun of working out how to lay the stuff has not yet begun.
Is this a golden opportunity to insulate under the floor? The floor is concrete, doesn’t look very old. I don’t know when that was done and why, it would have been floorboards once upon a time no doubt.
I’ve asked for advice from various quarters and generally have been advised to stuck it straight on the concrete. Is it worth the expense and cufuffle of trying to find a way get some insulation under there while we’re at it?
Help!

Soggy firewood

The sauna-esque scent of hot wood once again permeates the office. Logs steaming on the stove, a gentle hiss as the water I’ve just forked out for merrily vapourises into thin air.

It cost 55 quid for the load of softwood which was just delivered. The firewood guy didn’t pretend it was bone dry, rather lamented the fact the wind and rain had been blowing into the shed. The wood has been cut for two years apparently.

‘When was it actually CHOPPED though?’ I should have cried indignantly. ‘Why don’t you sort out your sheds so the rain and snow don’t blow in?” ‘What’s the discount on this wood my fine fellow, coz quite clearly it is sopping wet?’

I should have whipped out a moisture meter, exposing the fact it’s really not suitable for burning in my stove – and sent him packing. Instead we exchanged pleasantries about the weather and I meekly forked out the cash. He seems a nice enough guy and didn’t try to pretend anything. As for how much the load was and how much you should pay – well it’s all total guesswork anyway, isn’t it? That’s the thing about firewood.

We moved in here in autumn so haven’t got it together with getting a good stock of seasoned logs in for the winter. There’s some lovely beech in a shed out the back, but as the old poem says ‘Beechwood fires burn bright and clear, if the logs are kept a year.’ These came from a tree struck by lightning in the back end of the summer so they’re not going to be burning bright and clear til next winter.

So sooty softwood it is. I dread to think what it’s doing to the lovely new flue. Still at least it smells nice.

Teeth from a hen

Back in the east and enjoying solar heating direct in the window. It’s crisp and frosty first thing of a morning but there’s heartening heat in the sun’s rays and the birds sound like there’s something afoot…
Checked the post and e-mail and no sign of any quotes or information from the installers who have already been look at the place. Maybe they didn’t like the look of it.
If you say you’re going to get back to someone I reckon it’s only decent to get back to them. Even to say you don’t want the work. I’m distinctly unimpressed. Haven’t heard a cheep from an ‘approved’ guy who lives five minutes away who checked out the place almost two months ago. A wee e-mail to say he hadn’t forgotten or was mega busy would have at least been courteous.
The others who came I’m reserving judgement on, as I told them there was no rush.
To qualify for loans and grants from the Energy Savings Trust – whose own staff have been great – you have to go through one of their approved installers.
But I’m fast getting the feeling pulling together the range of ‘approved’ quotes required could be like getting teeth from a hen.

Heading west

Masses of snowdrops appeared in the garden in recent days and crocuses were pushing their hopeful wee heads up. Giving rise to that classic February delusion that spring is just round the corner.
Snowy bunnets all round today, the flakes are falling thick and fast.
If in doubt head west…where the balmy spring rides the mild Atlantic air. That’s the theory anyway. We’re getting packed up and heading for Ardnamurchan. Where the sun shines more than you’d ever imagine and burns gush cheerily from steep rocky slopes.
From there it’s onwards to Eigg. Where the islanders have cut their carbon footprint in half since installing their own renewable electricity supply. Significantly, it’s the only small rural community I know where young people who grew up there are going back and building houses. Innovative, insulated, energy efficient houses. Just shows how a bit of local control and spark of imagination can help overcome the crushingly dispiriting lack of opportunity for young people in the Highlands. A way to live and work on the land surely isn’t too much to ask?
The recent shambles in Copenhagen, where the world’s international leaders failed to come up with a desperately needed agreement on climate change, highlights the need for communities to spring into action themselves. Good to hear this thinking coming from former government scientist Sir David King http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8505854.stm

Rantathon over. I’ll be back from the west next week fuelled with enthusiasm and ideas. In the meantime, keep the comments and suggestions coming!

The Mohican in the Loft

The bill has come in for the kerosene. A hefty £433.94. Yikes!  Time for scrabbling about and sending some invoices out. The hurdle being that I really need to finish some of the jobs on my lengthy list before I invoice for them. That seems only fair…

Thanks for all the comments – some great suggestions and useful insights flowing in already.  A particularly pertinent point is that of focusing first on reducing energy needs. Quite right. We need to do something about the icy gale that blasts in through the front door for starters. And as for the insulation – well plenty room for improvement there.

What’s the craic REALLY about insulating the coombs in the loft? It seems a bit crazy that the insulation only runs in a strip along the middle in a  Mohican stylee. The rest of the space – which is a lot of it – is happily toasted from below.  The insulation guys give dire warnings about how the house will be riddled with damp and rot if we put any insulating material in there… Is it true???

Solar generation no go

A most pleasant young chap from a company called Solar Technology www.solar-technology.co.uk just came to visit.

In reality he probably isn’t that young but I’m getting to that telling age at which I find myself thinking people seem awfully young to be doing the jobs they’re doing. While I’m researching renewables and having a nice cup of tea and a hot cross bun on my birthday. Oh dear.

Anyway I digress. Tom from Solar technology told me that although we have a lovely, south-facing roof photovoltaic panels won’t work as they’d be shaded on either side by the dormer windows. A good, clear answer. Means I don’t have to bother thinking about that any more.

If you do have a clear run of unshaded south facing roof, Tom says now is the time. He’s running about like a heidless chook all over the country. The Guardian appears to agree. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/feb/06/solar-power-bright-investment