Off grid luxury
As one of our guests wrote ‘The fact that Singdean is off grid is just the icing on the cake as it does your soul good to know that whilst staying here, you're part of the solution - not the problem'
When we arrived at Singdean in 2012, off grid was not the buzz word that it is now. Many places call themselves ‘off grid’ when they actually mean ‘it’s a bit quiet here’. We are totally off grid. Connected only by a old fashioned (and a bit useless) telephone land line.
We fell in love with Singdean, it was off grid and we had to learn how to live with that. Now there is electricity here. That's because we produce our own.
We do this through solar panels on both Singdean and Alpnhaus and a really large bank of batteries. We are currently waiting for a small wind turbine to arrive to help us during the Winter months and also have a generator to help out from time to time.
When we first moved here, we were advised to do ground source or air source heat pump. But, it used up too much electricity for us to even contemplate. Being off grid really makes you think of every watt.
So we installed an enormous log boiler which did all the heating and hot water. But it was just too hungry and we had to feed it all day. So then we got a biomass boiler. Which is great when it works, and when it doesn't we also have a backup.
Actually, when we first came here, one of the best bits of advice was to 'Always have a back up. Have more than one way of doing things'. Which we do : )
Not only are we off grid, we are also 350m above sea level. This means that we get Weather. All sorts of Weather! With a capital W. And it's Wonderful : )
Winter is a difficult time to be off grid. Del spends a lot of time trying to keep the panels clear of snow!
Eco credentials
Because we are off grid we are highly aware of electricity usage. This means that we have nothing with a heating element eg kettle, hairdryer etc.
We do however have all the luxury items such as fridge, washing machine, TV, light bulbs etc. It just means that when the sun is shining we do as much of the washing and ironing using the solar panels. And we also make sure we turn things off when not in use.
When we found Singdean, we had to learn how to live and run a business being off grid. And yes, sometimes that is very difficult. But we manage.
We recycle what we can. We use local where we can. We make when we can. We use natural and organic when we can. Our eggs and ham and honey are very local, we make the bread and yoghurt.
Our complimentary natural toiletries are in full size bottles. This way we don't have any single use plastics.
Our champagne glasses for hot tub use are in enamel mugs, or bamboo cups - no single use plastic.
Our cleaning liquids are all eco, so are also friendly for our septic tank. Our laundry liquid is goat milk based.
The luxury loo roll is made from forest friendly bamboo, plastic free and half of the profits go to help build loos in countries that are struggling.
Any packaging materials used in our shop is either re-used from deliveries or paper based.
We leave plenty of wild areas in our 4 acres so the little creatures can nest, meadow flowers thrive so all the insects can live. This all helps bring wildlife to us, which gives us and our guests so much pleasure.
Up until spring 2019 we have planted over 2,000 trees. Trees of oak, ash, hawthorn, hazel, maple, alder, eucalyptus, beech, birch, chestnut, walnut, willow, larch and pine to name just a few. It will be a while before we see them fully grown!
We were one of four finalists for the whole of the UK (and the only ones from Scotland) for the "i news staycation awards 2019' for sustainable tourism. An award for the whole of the UK 2019. Although we didn't win, we dressed up in our finest cashmere and kilt and travelled to London for the awards do.
