Indoor coats
Whilst planning our move to the Highlands I was very aware that I would have to prepare myself for some colder weather and I wisely invested in some heavy down coats and fleece lined boots which have come in very useful when the temperatures do tumble! The one thing I did not account for was having to dedicate some of my lighter fleeces and thermals to keep me warm inside the house! Our beautiful old house has a unqiue ability of keeping cool; once we patched up holes where we could, fitted stoves not just to pump out heat but also to block up chimneys, and stuffed every nook and cranny with insulation, how was it that in the summer I had to put my coat on to come inside and in the winter I was wearing my ski gloves in the house!! Having listened to Simon protest every time I switched the heating on and having to direct nearly all the bolier capacity to the apartments for our guests, we decided something had to be done!
New stove - waiting for a nice new fire place.
Our quest for heat
Early last year we began our quest for heat. The easy option would have been to size up the oil fired boiler but with prices rocketing this really didn’t appeal and whilst taking on such a potentially huge change why not look towards something a little more sustainable? We considered solar – too many tall trees; ground source heat pumps – too expensive; wind power – not enough wind where we are. This led us to biomass; using wood fuel from sustainable forests here in Scotland made perfect sense. Decision made, all we had to do was build a wood pellet hopper, get a biomass boiler put in and enjoy the benefits of a properly sized boiler fuelled by a renewable energy source, simple….
Another project begins
A couple of months went by whilst we considered what sort of system we wanted, how big it was going to be and could it be extended throughout the whole site! Eventually we settled on a system for the house and two aparements as a somewhat large and expensive trial run!
Never afraid to take on too many things at once or perhaps just plain daft, we started work on the 27th December (amongst friends and family coming to stay, Christmas parties, busy change overs in the chalets and of course the snow)!
We cleared the workshop ready for its transformation into a pellet hopper, cleared the store room to make way for the immense boiler and cleared the laundry for, well, everything else! Slowly but surely the business encroached into our house; the dining room became the laundry, the kitchen the store room and the garage the workshop. All hands on deck to get the installation completed!
Workshop - now a 14 ton pellet hopper!
Empty hopper, ready for the wood pellets!
Building in the boiler
With the prep work complete along came the boiler and all its associated bits and pieces, not without incident I may add as the delivery truck somehow managed to drive straight though our old dry stone wall!
After this, not only did the business take over the house but the joiners, plumbers, electricians and various other specially qualified professionals did too. Over the last few weeks our house has acquired several new holes in the walls, we have had to endure several days without water, washing machine or dryer (for the business) and several days and nights without heating. To top it all off all of my coffee cups went missing too!
Lots of pellets finally arriving!
Men at work
Now I don’t want to take anything away from the guys as they have done a wonderful job on a complicated project that most of them haven’t worked on before. However, having done a few projects now it amazes me how much time men spend standing around staring into a hole in the ground or at a box on the wall! Just yesterday there must have been 8 guys staring at a small electric box on the wall for approximately 4 hours – I’m told this is all part of the process!
Mega control panel!
Huge boiler!
It has all been worth it though as yesterday the boiler was commissioned and the house is warm. It is taking some getting used to though taking off layers when we come in from the cold! Bliss.
My tidy laundry back at last!
With Phase 1 now complete we’ll see how the system works for a few months before considering Phase 2 – that would involve laying underground pipes to heat 6 of the chalets too, moving away from electric which would help reduce our carbon footprint. But one thing at a time…
Bye for now
Tanja, Simon and Bennett
Scotland’s finest. Then there was the dressing of the Haggis with a local piper playing the traditional songs followed by another toast. Having enjoyed the Haggis Neaps and Tatties the reading of some of Robbie Burns’ more famous quotes and poems began and of course another wee dram. Then we listened to an extremely rude and very funny, rather male chauvinist speech that is probably too racy to divulge, followed of course by yet another shot of Scotch! The lassies then had our chance to retaliate and drink a little more whisky before the reading of some more racy, old Scottish poetry! Oad to a Fart is probably the only one I can quote on here without using too many rude words but I think it’s worth reciting!
