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Don't think I've ever not been able to get a cup of tea at any time of day and night when I've visited as well as getting a hot shower in the morning. It's just about adapting to the circumstances. I can't speak directly for the people who currently live on the island but they have to use the resources they currently have. In general it is a low income island and not everyone has the finances to change. So for most burning wood is the only option. Therefore the initiative to try and manage the wood resources better. My preference is not to use any wood and I'm in the process of trying to persuade my wife that the wood burner is not necessary. We are used to one however as I put one in our current house about 20 years ago. We were forever having power outages in the winter and needed some form of heating we could rely on. Very few power outages these days but we still use the fire, I have a free source of wood offcuts and it still provides most of our space heating. Thanks for the info on walls U-values. I had been looking at kits with a value of 0.12 but I was concerned about the costs of transportation. JJI joists does sound like an option. @Simplysimon Can you tell me your supplier?

The difference in noise pollution on the island from before the grid was installed is pretty significant. All you used to hear was the noise of generators where ever you went. Most folk still have them as backup but I don't think they have ever been used since the grid was installed. Don't think my neighbours would be best pleased if I had a generator that was running occasionally. Even one that is "silent", the noise would travel for some distance when you have complete silence. Most folk live happily with the 5KW limit (its 10KW for businesses like the shop and tea room). I believe at present the system is approaching it's limit not so much on generation but storage for any new builds on the island. I think there is moves to add more batteries. This is one reason I wanted to generate some of our own electricity as well as I like to play around with these things. I'm an electronics engineer and have worked in renewables in the past (although it was wave power). There is plenty wood on the island and most folk have a wood burner. The problem up till now has been it has not been managed properly. There is now an initiative to address this and people employed to ensure there is a sustainable supply of decent wood for heating. So BIomass is an option for hot water. Most people have a back boiler on their wood burner along with solar thermal.

Thanks for all the replies The system will be separate with PV and probably wind, powering the office with battery storage. The island grid will power the main house and I will use it to charge the batteries if local generation is low. Hopefully remove the need for a diesel generator. No problem with any DIY aspects of this. Think I still have bits of a home built wind generator I started after being on a course at CAT in the early 90's run by Hugh Pigott. Heating and DHW is still something I'm thinking about. Thanks for all the advice. I'll use the appropriate forums to follow up on this. Answering a couple of other comments further up. @jamiehamy Have fun on Eigg. Where are you staying? @Cpd Our friend on Eigg used to be Schellenberg's gardener back in the 90's, might be the same person,. Do you remember his name? @ProDave Thanks for the offer, all help will be welcome. One question has there been any bulk buys been setup before on the forum? I've heard of groups of self builders organising containers of PV direct from China as well as other material direct from manufacturers.

Try and respond to some of the comments. Not to worry we've been going to Eigg since 1990 so know all the advantages and disadvantages (weather, people etc) of living there. We have friends on the island so will have support in getting this done and there has been quite a few self builds on the island so there is a pool of knowledge to call upon. For instance there is a digger and driver on the island who I've already used to get the trial pits dug. I think there is a cement mixer which attaches to the rear of a tractor which I will investigate the next time I'm up. Regarding PV the rules at the moment are no private PV is allowed to be connected. Something I will discuss with them over the next year to see if there is anything we can do. If not I will have batteries which can be topped up from the island grid when needed. Still a bit of work to be done on this to develop the ideas further. "Storage wall" and "Ward" are just built in storage cupboards and wardrobes the full height of the wall.

Hi Thanks for the quick replies I'll try and answer your questions: The plot is is on a slope (about 5 degrees) and has about a 1m of sandy clay before hitting bedrock. The front of the house will face west, I've attached a picture of the view looking west. It is on the Isle of Eigg they have their own integrated renewable energy system (solar, wind and hydro) that supplies electricity to the island. Each house can take up to a maximum of 5KW from the grid. As this is not the national grid but a small self-contained system run by the island at present there is no possibility of individual house being grid-tied to it. Building the timber frame on site is very much something I want to consider. Has anyone got any contacts for this so I can explore the possibility. I have only spoke to timber frame kit manufacturers so far. This summer we hope to be in a position to get the access road laid and build a self-contained office at the bottom of the plot which we will use for accommodation during the build which I will eventually use to work from. Bulk materials are usually brought across on a local landing craft then there are various vehicles around to take the material across the island. I've also attached our current idea for the build. Thanks Elevations.pdf Roof Plan & Section.pdf Floor Plan.pdf

Hi After reading the forum for a while thought it was about time to introduce ourselves. Having bought some land earlier on this year we are now just about to start the process of getting planning permission for our build. The build is off the west coast of Scotland so does have its challenges: Accessibility Needs a ferry journey plus a 3 miles trek across a single-track road to get to the plot. So no large lorries, cement lorries. There has been a number of self builds around the island so not impossible just need careful planning. Does make everything you do more expensive. Water No mains water, supply comes from a spring Electricity There is electricity available but I can't grid-tie any PV I put up. I want to generate some of my own electricity so both systems would have to be isolated. Main thing we've been looking at just now is the cost for the structure so have been getting quotes from timber frame and SIPs suppliers. Some of the SIPs quotes I've been getting have been very expensive so will probably go for a timber frame. Now need to decide on which one although I need to look at where I can save cost. Initial plan is to get structure wind and watertight then carry out most of the work myself, probably with the help on neighbours. I can post my initial plans for people to look at if people are interested. Looking for suggestions on where I can reduce cost.