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 fibre broadband!
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 hoping for a small wind turbine and a small hydro power in the future to help us during the Winter months. We do 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 of gas.
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 : )
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. Every light bulb is LED and every electric item is thought about. No electricity is wasted because every watt is carefully made. We make sure we turn things off when not in use. We do however have the usual 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 power of sunlight.
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 have to plan well.
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 and natural so are also friendly for our septic tank. 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.
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. We have resident Barn and Tawny Owls, badger, fox, bats, Roe Deer, stoats etc and we do see red squirrel, otters and Osprey from time to time. Plus a whole lot of birds.
To date, 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!
Eco credentials
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.
Winter is a difficult time to be off grid. Del spends a lot of time trying to keep the solar panels clear of snow!