And when Matty says he'd have a wood fired steam engine he's thinking in terms of the resources available to him. As he made clear later with his bemusement that Mull has no trees to speak of.
The Jocks cut them all down and burned them in a desperate attempt to keep warm in the winter.
Away, not up!
Even TNP will have to admit there is a place for this.
Right; a windmill, solar panels and a battery bank. It will cost, but over five years, how much would you have paid for conventional service anyway? Budget for replacing teh battery bank every five years or so.
You could run everything on lower voltage - LED lighting is incredibly effective and efficient and your TV/radio/entertainment can all be done easily on low voltage supplies. I'd still keep a gas lamp handy and some paraffin around, just in case, though.
In message , Grimly Curmudgeon writes
Most could be run on low voltage and DC thus reducing the need for and losses in inverters.
I'm afraid he has already proved his irrationality wrt to this situation by saying: "nobody needs wind power" - perhaps not if you produce as much of your own as he does.
However, I think almost everyone else has suggested it, which must mean something. There have been one or two rather loopy ideas such as wave power - I suspect it would be cheaper to build a road and bury an electricity supply along it than get involved in that.
And a back-up generator.
Yes, definitely.
I still think he should look up the Eig installation, and maybe visit the Alternative Technology Centre in North Wales, if it's not too far.
The problem with wind power in the UK is that whatever the size of the windmill a backup generator is *always* needed.
On a related note my local paper (Keighley News) has two reports this week of failed applications by farmers to erect dinky (35m tower) windmills by local farmers. One denied by Bradford, the other by Craven. Nimbyism rules where prospective developers are too small to have politicians in their pockets.
In the 1980s the BBC installed a small tv transmitter in the west of Scotland powered by a combination of solar and wind power - no back up generator. The IBA retalliated by building one in Cornwall , but did put in mains power, too. Just as well, since a storm broke off the turbine blades which fell and shattered the solar panel !
Or, as in my place, with a steady stream, albeit with a low head but reasonable flow, a scoop-type wheel driving a PM alternator, unregulated/unrectified, the raw 3-phase AC simply feeding an immersion heater in a bulk tank. When I get a round tuit.
Living there full time and expecting modern conveniences would be expensive. There appears to be no appreciable area of land with the property such as a few acres of forest to harvest so its going to be hard to exist without outside assistance / fuel.
There is a possible line of sight to the south at local noon for a few months of the year, but not all year round and maybe not all day even in summer. So a possible fit of Solar PV on the rear aspect preferably the rear garden as solar on the roof will be vulnerable to wind damage. Wind turbine, or even two, the biggest you can afford or are permitted to erect, preferably on high ground. DC sources feeding a battery bank sized for 'essentials' A diesel generator for when wind doesn't blow, given the remote location and the fuel supply logistics this emphatically should **NOT** be auto start, you need to reduce generator run time and fuel burn to an absolute minimum. Could be once a week for a battery top up followed by a bath etc. Maybe have heat recovery from the generator to preheat water. Maybe solar thermal too. Run all lighting off DC to avoid inverter losses. Install silly amounts of insulation so heating demand is very low, come to an arrangement with nearby farmer / forestry owner to hack a few trees down, maybe a woodburning stove for heat and cooking.
Or run a cable in
Or simply forget it
Or for half the price get a decent (40ft ish) sized yacht and admire the scenery from the water, no midges, you carry your own home comforts and can sample 'civilisation' in various ports.
Asshole.
Asshole.
if it has a lot of land, you could easily accomodate a solar pannel farm. there are ones that track the sun for best performance along with ones for the roof if you wanted. i found a diy solar panel building kit a while back, it didn't seem very complcated to build and set up.
there is also the option of a wind turbine, i saw a rather impressive one on some tv show a while back that produced enough electricity for use even on a light breazy day.
as long as you have a decent battery system, you'll never need worry about electricity.
i'd be very tempted by the place to be quite honest.
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mhm x v i x i i i
It's on the dark side of a north facing hill, unfortunately.
If I were (a) a lot richer and (b) not needing to work for a living, so would I.
Then again, (a) could take care of the electricity supply and broadband problems, as I could afford to run a cable from the village. A quad bike and small trailer could take care of gas bottles in the Winter, and stock up on oil in the Summer by boat to the jetty
that is unfortunate.
its a damn shame everything comes down to money.
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mhm x v i x i i i
It's the best part of 2 miles! I think the voltage drop would be excessive. You have to get the electricity supply so invoved. Then you have to be a very big lot richer beforehand.
run it at 11KV and have yer own transformer.
As I said probably cost not as much as you think, esp on overheads
would you be allowed to on land that you don't own?
It is a little over 1 mile following the path and only half a mile from the nearest habitation, Erray House.
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