EcoDIY

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 Mark - Our friendly plumber for Solar panel and heatpump installation as well as conventional plumbing work
Rapidplumb 07952 928685

• We want to be as self reliant as possible without being fanatical about it.
• We try to structure our garden on Permaculture principles
• We aim to recycle our rainwater and grey water through a reed bed.
• We plan to use solar energy and waste wood wood to heat our water and home and to cook with and solar electricity to lower our use of mains power.
• We want to consume less and recycle more
• We want to grow and eat our own vegetables, fruit, eggs and honey or trade with others where we cant grow our own.
• We hope to create all of this ourselves (DIY) where possible from recycled materials.

Come and visit us in Clacton (193 Burrs Rd CO15 4LN) but contact us first.

Over 50 people to our last open weekend, fewer people than last time but that means more time to talk so a good weekend. If you would like to visit contact us for an appointment, click here for directions and details. Our next open weekend is with Heritage Open Days in 2010

Things are working well here.  If you want to visit us as a working or as a paying guest get in touch.  We have a three room unit to rent or trade. Also we are members of WWOOF and you can visit us through that organisation as well trading your labour for food and lodging.  We offer a friendly place to stay close to the sea where the focus is on low consumption and a return to some of the greener ways of living. 

We are proud to announce we have been assessed by the Sustainable Energy Academy as having made a 76% reduction in our home's carbon footprint.

Latest useful links and news:

We are trying out some new LED lights - see our blog for details

Thinking about climate change? check this out link
University of Bath data on embedded carbon in building materials
Post Copenhagen report
Good news on CO2
latest report on Antarctic ice melt
Lamas eco Village has finally won its planning permission (at the third attempt)
Independent committee on Climate Change report analysis
Easy to understand info on climate change from the UK Science Museum
New report on peak oil giving 2013 as critical threshhold
BBC report on sea level rise

1. We have installed a wood-fired central heating stove and cooking range to make use of the plentiful supply of waste wood available in the nearby industrial estate. 
2. We have installed a solar panel kit (20  vacuum tubes 1700mm long) from Solarsavings on eBay (Around £1000 for the complete kit, half the cost advertised by other suppliers!). 
3. I have found a source of insulation off cuts in the industrial estate  arn have used them to insulate our flat roofs.
4. We have planted 30 willow cuttings from Willowbank - 4 varieties for comparison - 3 sorts of super willow and one for making baskets etc.  These arrived as unrooted lengths of willow shoots and have been planted at 1 meter spacing.  They have grown over two meters in the first year!
5. We have built a rain water harvesting system and a grey water recycling system consisting of:
    - A surge tank to collect the water from the bath, washing machine and vegetable washing sink.
    - The reed bed: a combination horizontal and vertical gravel filter planted with reeds and rushes. We have dug out an old well which we are useing to water the garden in the summer.
   These systems feed:
    - A leaky pipe watering system watering the polytunnel, dipping ponds  and fishpond.
    - A series of vegetable deep beds made from scrounged turf & soil, horse manure & scrounged roofing tiles for edging.
6. We have completed a lean-to greenhouse obtained from Freecycle and using recycled concrete blocks from a demolition next door to give us solar gain and plant growing space, including a rock storage for excess heat recycling (now working well).
7. 1.6 Kw solar PV (electricity generating) system -   We are using a battery bank to store the electricity but will go over to feeding into the electricity grid when the government increases the feed in payment tariff.

Upcoming projects

1. DIY solar water panel system
2. Rainwater flushing system for the WC (see this article)
3. Making our own bio fuel from re-cycled chip oil (we have a supply of oil already).
4. Continuing to insulate the floor with insulation off cuts from the industrial estate - see pictures.
5. Continuing to develop our Permaculture garden
    

Contact: Chris Southall email