cotswold cottage

	image courtesy J Carpenter

This 300-year-old Cotswold cottage has a range of renewable energy features, and is self-sufficient in electricity and hot water in the summer months. Optimum use is made of design: the stone walls form a dense thermal mass that moderates temperature changes, and an east-facing green-oak conservatory channels heat into the cottage.

Natural energy technologies incorporated include solar water heating and solar electricity generation, and a log-fuelled stove powers the heating system. The stove is fuelled using offcuts from a local furniture factory.

The solar panels are mounted on the log store in the garden. They feed into a battery store which makes the cottage self-sufficient for electricity in the summer. In the winter, some electricity is purchased from a green electricity supplier.

The old cottage's door opens onto a public footpath, with the garden the other side of the path. People walking along this path can see the conservatory on the one side and the solar-roofed log-store on the other, and many interesting conversations have resulted from this exposure.

Jackie Carpenter, who owns the house, is director of the energy charity Energy21. You can access their website and see the work they do by clicking on the icon to the right.