Bucknell

Sarah welcomes you to her 1840(?) detached house (once a pub), very rural, 2 bedroom, tall ceilings, large single-glazed windows of vernacular style with some double glazing being installed currently! Brick and slate (wall/roof), cellar. 

At this venue, Sarah and Simon are developing a conservation field project on 11 acres next to the house with wildflower meadow enhancement, wetland and woodland creation, ponds and scrapes and the restoration of an old field barn (completed in 2022). The field is also a source of material for Sarah’s botanical printmaking. We will be happy to show people around the site if this is of interest as part of the 11am and 2pm tours.

There is more information on the field here: https://sarahnewinvention.wixsite.com/we-bought-a-field

Modifications:
Home came with no green features! We installed an air source heat pump and solar pv in March 2022 and got rid of our oil fired rayburn and oil tank. We did have hot water solar for a few years. We have 3 wood burners in the house, 1 in each of the downstairs rooms. The most recent is an Esse Ironheart which replaces the Rayburn which we can cook in/on. Installed by Derwas. We have added further (sheeps wool) insulation in loft space and are adding insulation to the ceiling of the cellar space etc. We are slowly replacing the single glazed windows with double glazed. The first units may or may not have been installed by end October this year (depends on builder but they are on order).

We are not a model energy efficient house by any means but we feel we have made an important start.

Motivation to make changes:
Because we wanted to become less carbon heavy in our lifestyle. We realise we have only just started and there is a lot more we can do. We are not a 'model' property by any means!

Approximate costs:
£21K for ASHP and solar PV (we expect to receive around £12K back via RHI for ASHP), plus insulation costs. The double glazed hardwood windows are costed out at 2 for £3,200.