On 01/09/2013 09:20, Martin Brown wrote:

snip

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

Wind power from a ~6kW wind turbine backed up by a substantial array of
batteries in a shed outside. I am a bit puzzled how do you deliver a big
bottle of calor gas with no road - push it home in a wheel barrow?

In the early days of our climbing hut we carried the bottles on a pack
frame (the standard size ones, not the over large tall thin ones) but
that was little more than three quarters of a mile but is was a bit up hill.

You might get away with less depending on how small an electrical load
you want to run - lighting, PC, fridge and TV probably under 400W max
(but with vicious peak transients when motors start from cold).

You can buy 2kW generator sets for a few hundrerd pounds.

The only small generators I have seen have been petrol and red petrol is
unobtainable. :-)

--
Roger Chapman

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:48:28 +0100, Bod wrote:

I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be
the obvious choice.

In the Scottish Islands...?

Right on the coast - I'd be looking at wave power.

depends on the shape of the beach.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 11:32:09 +0100, charles wrote:

Right on the coast - I'd be looking at wave power.

depends on the shape of the beach.

Wave power comes from the deeper water swell off shore, not breaking
waves on a beach with the water level going up and down with the
tide...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 01/09/13 10:52, Adrian wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:48:28 +0100, Bod wrote:

I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be
the obvious choice.
In the Scottish Islands...?

Right on the coast - I'd be looking at wave power.
You might be looking at it. You certainly wouldn't be using it.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

On 01/09/13 11:32, charles wrote:
In article ,
Adrian wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:48:28 +0100, Bod wrote:
I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be
the obvious choice.
In the Scottish Islands...?
Right on the coast - I'd be looking at wave power.
depends on the shape of the beach.

depends on the depth of your pocket and stupidity.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 11:18:30 +0100, Roger Chapman wrote:

You can buy 2kW generator sets for a few hundrerd pounds.

The only small generators I have seen have been petrol ...

Small diesels set are about, we have a 2 kVA one but it's frigging
noisy.

Also being small and lightly loaded it's not very effcient, the last
outage we had (36 hours) it drank about a litre of red an hour,
powering a fridge freezer, upright freezer, CH system(*) and fish
tank pump. Peak load in the order of 500W.

... and red petrol is unobtainable. :-)

If you jump through the right hoops with HMRC you can claim the duty
back.

(*) CH system takes around 300W all running, 4 pumps & oil boiler.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 10:47:13 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries
would
be the obvious choice.
Not in winter. Useless.
you'd need wind power, too

nobody needs wind power

But quite usefull when off grid. How much do those old Russian RTG's
cost on eBay? B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.

And while I like the idea of mucking around with solar, wind,
generators, batteries and all that, on a hobby level, I reckon after all
that expense and effort, digging a trench and paying a fee might be the
best over all option. I'd want to stuff some sort of broadband down that
trench too though.



You can .. with the right gubbins, receive BB off a mobile phone system
thats if theres a 3G one not "that" far away..

Or satellite broadband, not the best but usable if all else fails....

--
Tony Sayer

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 08:30:03 +0100, John Williamson wrote:

Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could
be a
cheapish first move.

How much do you think red costs?

I just paid 90p/litre retail at the boatyard pump.

The local Spar garage has 25 l drums at 98p/l. The last lot I bought
from the garage across the road from Spar was 90p/l but that was back
in Dec '11.

I'd expect red to be around 73p/l *minimum* these days based on 28
sec heating oil being 60p/l and adding the 11p/l duty and VAT.

If you're buying a tankful, it'll likely be cheaper if you can get the
tanker to it.

That is a very big if in the context of the location in this thread.
B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.

News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting.

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and
drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No
gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current
occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep
in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds
idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the
coast. Isle of Mull.

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

Already been there, done that. And after a decade it gets a bit wearing so
I paid the huge bills necessary to lay on electricity, water and to provide
foul water drainage and rainwater storage.

In the period before that I used solar panels (thermal and PV) for a time
to provide hot showers and low voltage lighting. We also had a number of
generators starting with a 750VA two-stroke, then a 2300VA frame generator
and finally a 5500VA "silent" diesel generator. Only the last was really
suitable as a substitute for mains. It can be run on heating oil which is
cheaper than diesel. Budget about a thousand to £1500 for something
similar.

But believe me toting fuel around, filling tanks, fetching gas cylinders
gets to be a PITA. It doesn't seem to matter how you plan there are always
days when you run out and usually at times when all the suppliers are
closed.

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?

If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.

On 01/09/13 13:55, Matty F wrote:
On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

charles wrote:
In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote:

Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply.
So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand.

I would normally associate auto start with a standby generator, rather
than the main power supply.

Staying on Mull in the mid 1950s, the hotel had its own genny. That had
autostart.

As does the Tan Hill Inn

Bill

On 31/08/2013 21:04, Bod wrote:
On 31/08/2013 20:48, polygonum wrote:
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:

This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be
interesting.

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water
and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and
town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday
home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin
lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or
oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot,
right on the coast. Isle of Mull.

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

What's the broadband like?

Drums/mirrors & smoke signals?

IP over avian carriers, there is a real rfc to define that.

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:41:31 +0100, News wrote:

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water
and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and
town.

So only a footpath for access? Not even two tyre tracks across a
field?

google Not an old keepers cottage is it? I'll assume it is as your
description matches well.

Indeed. Most people seem to have found it :-)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...136.html/svr/3
105

I'm not really serious, but on some levels it is attractive.

Looking at the brochure (link in description above), which includes both
floor plan and map, that 80 acres includes a lot of trees. More than
enough to supply me with wood for the rest of my life. However, what is
doable now (age 61) gets less so as the years pass. Would I want to be
doing it at 70? 80?

Looking at the map and Google Earth, the track does indeed look like a
track, with limited, if any, vehicular access, even for a 4x4 or
tractor. Quad bike and trailer, perhaps? Imagine moving house. Imagine
moving all your possessions, the last mile on foot.

Interesting to note that the bathroom is described as a wash house, and
access is only available from outside the building.

Someone mentioned a washing machine. I told wifey I would buy her a
washboard. She could do the washing and form a skiffle band.

Did you notice the lime store? Presumably for treating 'waste
materials'.
--
Graeme

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:01:30 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full
time?

If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.

And where does thewood come from?

In this case imported from main land Scotland and either carried
overland along the mountain path or if still in good sized logs made
into a raft and floated around the coast when the weather allows.
they would then need moved up to the cottage, cut and split.

Another thought is one of the small CHP plants and a big battery bank
to to buffer any excess lecky. Still need to carry in the fuel
though...

--
Cheers
Dave.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/09/13 13:55, Matty F wrote:
On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?

Did you not see "Lord of the Rings" or "Top if the Lake"? If there's one
resource New Zealand has, it's trees.

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

In article , News
scribeth thus
In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:41:31 +0100, News wrote:

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water
and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and
town.

So only a footpath for access? Not even two tyre tracks across a
field?

google Not an old keepers cottage is it? I'll assume it is as your
description matches well.

Indeed. Most people seem to have found it :-)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...136.html/svr/3
105

I'm not really serious, but on some levels it is attractive.

Looking at the brochure (link in description above), which includes both
floor plan and map, that 80 acres includes a lot of trees. More than
enough to supply me with wood for the rest of my life. However, what is
doable now (age 61) gets less so as the years pass. Would I want to be
doing it at 70? 80?

Looking at the map and Google Earth, the track does indeed look like a
track, with limited, if any, vehicular access, even for a 4x4 or
tractor. Quad bike and trailer, perhaps? Imagine moving house. Imagine
moving all your possessions, the last mile on foot.

Interesting to note that the bathroom is described as a wash house, and
access is only available from outside the building.

Someone mentioned a washing machine. I told wifey I would buy her a
washboard. She could do the washing and form a skiffle band.

Did you notice the lime store? Presumably for treating 'waste
materials'.


Exact location..

http://goo.gl/maps/Kk24b


Does the lighthouse have power at all?, wonder if it does and is still
operational you might come to some arrangement, otherwise its a bloody
sight more away then I'd want to trek and its 255 grand!...

Ah!, hang on are those solar panels on the lighthouse at the bottom
entrance?..

Else 779 metres straight line from the nearest other housing wonder how
many leccy poles that'd be?..

Why didn't they put the lighthouse just up onto the top of the cliff
surely that would have "shined" out further and been easier to access?..


--
Tony Sayer

On Sun, 1 Sep 2013 16:47:43 +0100, tony sayer wrote:

floor plan and map, that 80 acres includes a lot of trees. More
than
enough to supply me with wood for the rest of my life. However,
what
is doable now (age 61) gets less so as the years pass. Would I
want to
be doing it at 70? 80?

Almost certainly not but it would keep you fit and active. Half the
problem with "old age" is not keeping active.

Looking at the map and Google Earth, the track does indeed look
like a
track, with limited, if any, vehicular access, even for a 4x4 or
tractor. Quad bike and trailer, perhaps?

Think you might struggle with a a quad. Compare the width of the
tracks used by vehicles down near where the lighthouse track leaves
them. Quads have about a 4' track cars about 6' both leave two
parallel tyre marks. There only appears to be a single track about
the width of a single car tyre mark.

Imagine moving house. Imagine moving all your possessions, the
last
mile on foot.

As I've said access is the major stumbling block. Dealing with the
lack of mains electricity and space heating are not insurmountable
but require significant effort compared to simply pressing an "on"
switch.

Interesting to note that the bathroom is described as a wash
house, and
access is only available from outside the building.

Nice in the winter, with snow drifts up the the doors. B-)

Someone mentioned a washing machine. I told wifey I would buy her
a
washboard. She could do the washing and form a skiffle band.

And what was the response, surprised you are still able to post. B-)

Linking up with the CHP/RTG/Wind/Tidal/Hydro and BFO battery bank and
say a 5 kW inverter one might be able to use an ordinary washing
machine. Just be careful not to put the 3 kW rapid boil kettle on at
the same time as the washing machine is heating water. It'll deplete
the battery but if you are chucking 1 kW from all sources into it
24/7 you have 24 kWHr/day to play with. That's more than we use a day
(excluding electric space heating).

Did you notice the lime store? Presumably for treating 'waste
materials'.

Seems a bit excessive, brick septic tank(s) with the outflow piped to
the sea. But you wouldn't be allowed to do that now, it would have to
be an aerobic digester which requires power to pump the air and turn
the stirrer...

Does the lighthouse have power at all?

Solar powered with a BFO battery bank. Like almost all remote
lighthouses are these days.

Else 779 metres straight line from the nearest other housing wonder how
many leccy poles that'd be?..

The poles on our 11 kV feed are about 100 m apart.

Why didn't they put the lighthouse just up onto the top of the cliff
surely that would have "shined" out further and been easier to access?..

Presumably so that it marks the rocks that it is built on that stick
out from an otherwise fairly uniform curved bit of coast.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:01:30 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full
time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?

In this case imported from main land Scotland and either carried
overland along the mountain path or if still in good sized logs made
into a raft and floated around the coast when the weather allows.
they would then need moved up to the cottage, cut and split.

Another thought is one of the small CHP plants and a big battery bank
to to buffer any excess lecky. Still need to carry in the fuel
though...

By boat, possibly, which could moor alongside the access wall from the
house to the lighthouse at high tide. I'd say that was how Trinity House
got the supplies in when the lighthouse was staffed. It's hard to tell
from the pictures shown, but I'd hazard a guess at being able to get
anything up to four feet of draught alongside the wall at the right
high tide. There's certainly a reasonable drying anchorage for a boat there.

If all else failed, a jetty could be built near the lighthouse, if there
isn't already one there.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In article o.uk, Dave
Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 1 Sep 2013 16:47:43 +0100, tony sayer wrote:

As I've said access is the major stumbling block.

Taking a good look at Google maps, it appears that boat is the only
sensible access. There seems to be a slightly sheltered inlet beside the
lighthouse. ask the Northern Lighthouse Board how they access the site.

If they say "helicopter" - forget it.

[Snip]

Nice in the winter, with snow drifts up the the doors. B-)

Very little snow in those parts.

[Snip]

Why didn't they put the lighthouse just up onto the top of the cliff
surely that would have "shined" out further and been easier to access?..

Presumably so that it marks the rocks that it is built on that stick out
from an otherwise fairly uniform curved bit of coast.

and much easier to build with a sea access.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

In article ,
John Williamson wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:01:30 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full
time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?

In this case imported from main land Scotland and either carried
overland along the mountain path or if still in good sized logs made
into a raft and floated around the coast when the weather allows.
they would then need moved up to the cottage, cut and split.

Another thought is one of the small CHP plants and a big battery bank
to to buffer any excess lecky. Still need to carry in the fuel
though...

By boat, possibly, which could moor alongside the access wall from the
house to the lighthouse at high tide. I'd say that was how Trinity House
got the supplies in when the lighthouse was staffed.

wrong country - TH don't cover Scotland. Northern Lighthouse Board are the
authority there. (Used to be The Commissioners of Northern Lights)


It's hard to tell from the pictures shown, but I'd hazard a guess at
being able to get anything up to four feet of draught alongside the
wall at the right high tide. There's certainly a reasonable drying
anchorage for a boat there.

I reckon there's an artificial inlet to the west of the lighthouse.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

On Sun, 01 Sep 2013 18:26:05 +0100, charles wrote:

In article o.uk, Dave
Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 1 Sep 2013 16:47:43 +0100, tony sayer wrote:

As I've said access is the major stumbling block.

Taking a good look at Google maps, it appears that boat is the only
sensible access. There seems to be a slightly sheltered inlet beside
the lighthouse. ask the Northern Lighthouse Board how they access the
site.

If they say "helicopter" - forget it.

Rightmove text:

"For the avoidance of doubt, the lighthouse and access pier are excluded
from the subjects of sale, however the property does benefit from the
right to use the landing jetty to afford access from the sea."

On Saturday 31 August 2013 20:41 News wrote in uk.d-i-y:


This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be
interesting.

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water
and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and
town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday
home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin
lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or
oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot,
right on the coast. Isle of Mull.

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

I love Mull - been there a long time ago - but it is a brave man who lives
there - especially in winter!

A wind generator might actually be of some use there, coupled with a load of
batteries. Not for heavy power but rig the place up with some 12V caravan
type light fittings - flourescent strip style.

Presumably landrover accessible? You could move full sized propane bottles
yourself and run a proper cooker off those.
--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

Reading this on the web? See:
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

Think you might struggle with a a quad. Compare the width of the

tracks used by vehicles down near where the lighthouse track leaves

them. Quads have about a 4' track cars about 6' both leave two

parallel tyre marks. There only appears to be a single track about

the width of a single car tyre mark.

The answer then must be a donkey/mule/horse. Once well-trained perhaps it could be sent into town on its own with a shopping list.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Almost certainly not but it would keep you fit and active. Half the
problem with "old age" is not keeping active.
That only applies to the lucky ones who don't have a serious illness.

Bill

In article ,
scribeth thus

Think you might struggle with a a quad. Compare the width of the

tracks used by vehicles down near where the lighthouse track leaves

them. Quads have about a 4' track cars about 6' both leave two

parallel tyre marks. There only appears to be a single track about

the width of a single car tyre mark.

The answer then must be a donkey/mule/horse. Once well-trained perhaps it could
be sent into town on its own with a shopping list.

LOL!..

A bloke I used to work with many years ago lived and grew up in India.

It seemed to be the case that the rural farmers would load up their
produce and then set off at night for the town many miles away. Seemed
that the cart was pulled by an Oxen or two and Ox knew its way to market
as it had done it so many times before. More often than not the cart
driver would nod off and the Oxen would carry on down the one road there
being nowhere else for it to go. Anyways it would arrive at the market
and the driver would wake up and then that was that..

Except that sometimes the British Hooray henrys would quietly turn the
docile Oxen around whilst the driver was asleep so it would head back
home and driver would awake to find they hadn't gone that far.

Seems the native Indians didn't care that much for the Brits;!...

--
Tony Sayer

Huge wrote:

On 2013-09-01, Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/09/13 13:55, Matty F wrote:
On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?

Did you not see "Lord of the Rings" or "Top if the Lake"? If there's one
resource New Zealand has, it's trees.

New Zealand? It's on Mull!

Yebbut Matty is in NZ.

--
Burn Hollywood burn, burn down to the ground

wrote:


The answer then must be a donkey/mule/horse. Once well-trained perhaps it
could be sent into town on its own with a shopping list.

My wife's best friend's horse used to walk into town and help himself to
the cabbages from the greengrocer then **** on the papers outside the
newsagent. But then again he was a teenager.

--
Burn Hollywood burn, burn down to the ground

Huge wrote:

OTOH, two weeks out of three there's no policeman on Mull and the Tobermory
Hotel has a, shall we say, flexible attitude to opening hours.

And then there's the Wicker Man festival, very popular with the
tourists, less so with the one policeman.

--
Burn Hollywood burn, burn down to the ground

Have you got a tidal stream you could put a turbine in?

JGH

On Monday, September 2, 2013 9:47:19 AM UTC+12, Huge wrote:
On 2013-09-01, Steve Firth wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 01/09/13 13:55, Matty F wrote:

On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:



How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?

If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a

wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.

And where does thewood come from?



Did you not see "Lord of the Rings" or "Top if the Lake"? If there's one

resource New Zealand has, it's trees.



New Zealand? It's on Mull!

There's millions of trees here, I'm always chopping them down for the steam tram.
Why do trees not grow in Mull? Did someone chop down the last tree, like on Easter Island?

On 02/09/2013 00:23, Matty F wrote:

There's millions of trees here, I'm always chopping them down for the steam tram.
Why do trees not grow in Mull? Did someone chop down the last tree, like on Easter Island?

Back when they were building boats out of wood it all got finally
chopped down. Then deer and sheep made sure it didn't grow back again.

So long as you don't chop down as fast as they grow back you'll be ok.
But it's not hard to remove the forest you have permanently.

On 01/09/2013 22:45, Huge wrote:

Mull has recorded the
highest wind speed ever in the United Kingdom.

How fast was that then and when was it recorded?

--
Roger Chapman

On 01/09/2013 18:40, Tim Watts wrote:
On Saturday 31 August 2013 20:41 News wrote in uk.d-i-y:


This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be
interesting.

Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage,
a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water
and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and
town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday
home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin
lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or
oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot,
right on the coast. Isle of Mull.

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

I love Mull - been there a long time ago - but it is a brave man who lives
there - especially in winter!

A wind generator might actually be of some use there, coupled with a load of
batteries. Not for heavy power but rig the place up with some 12V caravan
type light fittings - flourescent strip style.

Presumably landrover accessible? You could move full sized propane bottles
yourself and run a proper cooker off those.

Looking at the agent's particulars only by boat, and of course
helicopter. A very high price for what might be idyllic in summer as the
pictures show but dire in winter. Only for the seriously hardy who want
few of the 21st century's essentials. None of the suggestions I have
seen so far make realistic and economic sense.


--
Peter Crosland

On Mon, 02 Sep 2013 08:49:25 +0100, Peter Crosland wrote:

Looking at the agent's particulars only by boat, and of course
helicopter. A very high price for what might be idyllic in summer as the
pictures show but dire in winter. Only for the seriously hardy who want
few of the 21st century's essentials.

Or, of course, those with absolutely no intention to live there all year
round.

Huge wrote:
On 2013-09-01, Steve Firth wrote:
Huge wrote:

On 2013-09-01, Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/09/13 13:55, Matty F wrote:
On Sunday, September 1, 2013 7:41:31 AM UTC+12, News wrote:

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time?
If I didn't have a stream for hydro power, obviously I'd have a
wood-burning steam engine driving a generator.
And where does thewood come from?

Did you not see "Lord of the Rings" or "Top if the Lake"? If there's one
resource New Zealand has, it's trees.

New Zealand? It's on Mull!

Yebbut Matty is in NZ.

Yebbut "there" refers the the lighthouse keepers cottage on Mull.

And when Matty says he'd have a wood fired steam engine he's thinking in
terms of the resources available to him. As he made clear later with his
bemusement that Mull has no trees to speak of.

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

Huge wrote:
On 2013-09-02, Peter Crosland wrote:

I love Mull - been there a long time ago - but it is a brave man who lives
there - especially in winter!

A wind generator might actually be of some use there,

Until it blows away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBYJul2ykZs

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

There is about 3% or so indigenous woodland left in the entire UK,
most of the trees were felled by neolithic farmers. So what relevance
has 'The Jocks'.

On 2 Sep 2013 11:15:22 GMT, Huge wrote:

The Jocks cut them all down and burned them in a desperate attempt to keep
warm in the winter.
--
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On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:41:31 +0100, News
wrote:

Huge plot,
right on the coast. Isle of Mull.

How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or
would you not bother?

Even TNP will have to admit there is a place for this.

Right; a windmill, solar panels and a battery bank.
It will cost, but over five years, how much would you have paid for
conventional service anyway? Budget for replacing teh battery bank
every five years or so.

You could run everything on lower voltage - LED lighting is incredibly
effective and efficient and your TV/radio/entertainment can all be
done easily on low voltage supplies.
I'd still keep a gas lamp handy and some paraffin around, just in
case, though.