Remote island crofter

[kaygoo]

Hi all - just here doing some research.  I just moved home to a remote Scottish island and am have a small croft I am hoping to build on.  I have always harboured dreams of self-building something very eco friendly but, what with a limited budget and full time work, I have also been looking at kit housing...

 

Still - I am quite interested in turf roofs, cordwood, and renewable energy - especially ground source heat pumps using boreholes*.  I would be interested to figure what local materials I can use without making the build so specialist it ends up costing more.

 

Looking forward to learning form y'all, and maybe even contributing!

 

K

* by 'interested' I mean gshp and boreholes are part of my day job...

Edited November 2, 2018 by kaygoo
clarification

[ProDave]

Hi and welcome.

 

I wonder which remote island you live on, I am guessing one of the smaller ones?

 

Connections and ferry costs will probably play a big part in deciding how to build.

[kaygoo]

I'm on Jura. And yes - connections and ferry costs are a big factor....  It has taken 6 weeks to get a heating engineer to come over on the 5 minute ferry journey from Islay to fix the boiler in the house we're currently in!  Maybe that is why so many people self build here.

 

K

[A_L]

Hello and welcome,

 

Boreholes are costly, I assume you are thinking of them because of rocky/thin soil? Also the contractors probably will be reluctant to quote for your location, further increasing price.

 

Here is the blog of someone who has built a low energy house with renewables on a 'remote island' (Raasay).

 

https://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/

[Guest Alphonsox]

7 minutes ago, kaygoo said:

I'm on Jura. And yes - connections and ferry costs are a big factor....  It has taken 6 weeks to get a heating engineer to come over on the 5 minute ferry journey from Islay to fix the boiler in the house we're currently in!  Maybe that is why so many people self build here.

 

K

 

Nice place, used to visit frequently - I loved walking in the wilds up on the northern half. The closest I've been recently is by boat to view the Corryvreckan

[ProDave]

Ah yes the Ferry to Jura can be interesting on a big spring tide.  The midges there when I was there (25 years ago) were savage, the worst I have ever known.  There has long been talk of a direct ferry from the mainland but I don't think it ever got beyond talk did it?

 

An air source heat pump will save you having to get a drilling rig over to the island.  I am guessing even simple things we take for granted, like getting timber and plasterboard delivered from a builders merchant are not trivial?  I suspect a decent size trailer you can take over yourself will be very handy?

[kaygoo]

7 minutes ago, A_L said:

Hello and welcome,

 

Boreholes are costly, I assume you are thinking of them because of rocky/thin soil? Also the contractors probably will be reluctant to quote for your location, further increasing price.

 

Here is the blog of someone who has built a low energy house with renewables on a 'remote island' (Raasay).

 

https://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/

 

Thanks - we actually have someone over drilling boreholes for water at the moment and someone else had boreholes drilled a few years back for £3k a hole, so we know it is doable locally.  Plus my job has involved getting to know a fair bit (from a laymans point of view) about gshp using boreholes, and we're looking at using them to create a small district heating system with relatives houses on adjacent land (and using the funding available to help with this).

[kaygoo]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

Ah yes the Ferry to Jura can be interesting on a big spring tide.  The midges there when I was there (25 years ago) were savage, the worst I have ever known.  There has long been talk of a direct ferry from the mainland but I don't think it ever got beyond talk did it?

 

An air source heat pump will save you having to get a drilling rig over to the island.  I am guessing even simple things we take for granted, like getting timber and plasterboard delivered from a builders merchant are not trivial?  I suspect a decent size trailer you can take over yourself will be very handy?

Ha - yes.  Luckily the plot is bloody  windy which helps with the midges.

Yeah - the gshp are part of a wider plan for a small district heating system which can offer non-domestic renewable heat incentive over 20 years (rather than 7 for domestic) and attracts additional funding through Scottish Government schemes. (There is method to my madness...)

 

Passenger ferry from tayvallich in 45 mins during the summer now. 

[Roger440]

3 hours ago, kaygoo said:

I'm on Jura. And yes - connections and ferry costs are a big factor....  It has taken 6 weeks to get a heating engineer to come over on the 5 minute ferry journey from Islay to fix the boiler in the house we're currently in!  Maybe that is why so many people self build here.

 

K

 

Lucky you! We are at 6 weeks and still waiting for our boiler chappy to come. And we are 10 mins from Milton Keynes!!

[NSS]

3 hours ago, Roger440 said:

 

... and we are 10 mins from Milton Keynes!!

And in a 'roundabout' way, therein lies the problem 

[Thedreamer]

Hi @kaygoo

 

We are about halfway through a self build on Skye. 

 

Probably the hardest bit for us has been the delays in getting materials to site. I would imagine being in Jura this will be a little more difficult.

 

Are you able to benefit from the Croft House Grant Scheme?