At Valley Farm care of the environment is an established high priority. Many carbon footprint reduction measures have been introduced.
At Valley Farm care of the environment is an established high priority. Many carbon footprint reduction measures have been introduced. Solar panels provide much of the hot water in both self-catering cottages and a huge solar thermal tracker heats the swimming pool and provides hot water. This has greatly reduced reliance on oil as the primary source of water heating. In fact, almost no oil is burned from May until the end of October.
A 5kW wind turbine, installed in August 2007 stands on a 12 metre pole in the corner of the paddock. On wet, windy days when there is no solar gain for the hot water, it is good to see the turbine spinning. More recently, 4kW P.V. panels have been added to the pool roof. These are proving very efficient and have further reduced electricity requirements from the grid. A charging point enables electric vehicles to re-charge their batteries for a small fee.
Rookyard Cottage, being the most recent self-catering cottage, has been built with care of the environment in mind. It is timber-framed and clad and is insulated with recycled newspaper. This makes the cottage very thermally efficient and with wooden framed sealed double glazing, it requires very little heating in the winter. Oil-fired central heating is supplemented by a wood burning stove. The roof drains into a rainwater harvesting tank which supplies the lavatories and washing machine. Lighting and appliances have been chosen for their low energy consumption.
The local Council has an excellent recycling scheme for household rubbish. At Valley Farm this is enhanced by composting green waste for use on the garden.
Choose Valley Farm for your holiday and you will have all the benefits of a comfortable, well-equipped holiday cottage, without it “costing the earth”.
