Our Off-Grid ECO Lodges

[darrenjames10]

We work with the Clophill Heritage Trust, they own a remote set of holiday letting ECO Lodges that are totally Off Grid, we also live and are based on site, so we see and reap the rewards daily, we would like to tell you how we operate the site to it's full efficiency.
please pm me to learn more.
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[Silverback]

Darren welcome to the forum. Although many folks would undoubtably be interested your post breaches the non commercial not for profit ettiquette of the site and its creator. Please amend accordingly if you need further clarification please PM any of the admin / mods

[jus_young]

Keep looking at the schematic and still can't fathom out the ECO part. Diesel generator, LPG heating, Crystal Right that requires constant supplies of salt to regenerate the water filtration. Or am I really just missing a bigger picture here?

[midas]

Looks like a lot of hard work !just keeping upto it!Think I'd settle for a log cabin,log fire,n dig a dunny.

[Silverback]

Your a plumbing and heating engineer aren't you Jus ?

[jus_young]

Your a plumbing and heating engineer aren't you Jus ?

Giving the game away now Wayne ;)

Electrical Contractor and Water Filtration Engineer. Spent five years as a Further Education Lecturer teaching Electrical Installation and Renewable Technologies.

[darrenjames10]

Its as eco as we can make it, the lpg is really only a backup and should never be needed if I run the system as I designed it to run, crystal right to pass regs and the genset to get around the British climate, any suggestions to eliminate these are welcome.
Thanks
Darren

[ratcatcher]

Its as eco as we can make it, the lpg is really only a backup and should never be needed if I run the system as I designed it to run, crystal right to pass regs and the genset to get around the British climate, any suggestions to eliminate these are welcome.
Thanks
Darren

I don't think it's a case of anyone needing to suggest how to not use items your using, more a case of you dropping the word ECO until YOU find a way
saying they are only for back up is a bit miss leading really

a bit like me saying I have a eco car that runs on sunlight, but as it's rarely sunny in uk, it also has a petrol engine for back up

[jus_young]

Unfortunately options can be very limited when staying Off Grid. Solar PV has some pretty obvious limitations and generators may be the only way to go when a reliable electrical supply is needed. The term 'Eco' can be used to describe the most efficient way of doing something and this is always going to be a contentious topic of discussion.

My comment was more an enquiry into why this particular method or the reasoning behind these chosen technologies. Enquiring minds like to know as it is a subject I have a great deal of interest in.

[darrenjames10]

Thank you Jus,
We have to live by what ever we can use, I know it is not ECO but we have to live, the kit is as ECO as we can make it and if we were not protecting the St Mary`s church we would not need to rent out our lodges to support the project which would cut our power needs down to the very minimum. I probably have not explained enough about why we have to use such un-eco resources, and you are defiantly right in the fact that they are not that ECO but as ECO as we can make them.
Thank you again
Darren

[rik_uk3]

I do have a bit of a problem with the 'ECO' label being used so often when really 'Low Energy' would be a more apt description and a more attainable goal for many of us to achieve even in the cities and towns we live in.

[darrenjames10]

Low Energy! you cant get much more LOW ENERGY living than we are, it is ECO living as far as I am concerned in our circumstances, cant do anymore than we do, unless you can see better.
Than you
Darren

[rik_uk3]

Calm down Darren, I could heat and cook on one of the two woodburners I have in the house and make candles to see by and use a wind up radio...but I don't. I've also got generator backup and propane gas backup together with various paraffin/naptha stoves and lanterns but I'm not an 'ECO' house.

Dump the 'Eco' badge, its a bit 'passe' these days and well overused.

[Fraxinus]

Nice schematic but I feel it misses some very important illustrations, aside from the fuel and water procurement issues that have been raised by others, that have a large bearing on dwellings that use the "ECO" tag. Such as:-
Construction materials of the "lodges", insulation and glass.
Waste disposal systems.
Water recycling, i.e. washing machine, bath/shower to flushing toilet or some such.
The geothermal heat system needs more land area/piping and construction effort than a Parabolic roof panel water heating systems and storage, (very interesting kit, used in Holland and Germany to my knowledge and I fitted such a system in Crete in the late 90's) per accommodation unit.

Rob.
PS. feel free to pm me the company link as I would like to see what the company has to say about their accommodations, ethics and the like. Thanks.

[Midge_Fodder]

I'm a plumber and heating engineer to trade, and I specialised in energy efficient systems. I'd have to have more accurate plans with material lists so I could calculate the BTUs and thermal mass units, plus the CO2 tonnage to say that this is Eco. But more info is always a blessing.