Off grid house build Orkney

This will be finished soon and you will be able to really enjoy everything it has to offer. I like the way you personally reply to people who make a comment on your thread ( no need to!)
It’s like when someone you’ve just met remembers your name- makes you feel good! 🕺

This, so much.
Ok somewhere on the continent, sorry islanders.
Would fit very well in the Uckermark I guess.

Flush gables (?) look great.
The gradients will be very nice in that wood.

@PhilDAS Thank you very much sir, island life does take a little getting used to, but becomes the norm pretty quickly. And it makes me realise just how rushed everything felt before. To be honest, we’re closer to most services here than a lot of rural spots but it’s the quiet that does it!

@almac68 Ahh, I’ll need to have a look into that, thanks for clearing that up! Think it’s maybe too dense to get the insect problem but I’ll need to double check!

@johnnettles2 that’s really nice to hear, thank you! I reckon it’s only right for me to do that though. Like I’ve said before it can feel pretty isolating up here so it means a lot having people check in and see how things are coming along ☺️

The joiner was back yesterday to do a bit of cladding and speak to the sparky who had brought across our solar panels. The wind is forecast to be low enough on Monday that the two joiners (who seem to also specialise in roofing, climbing, engineering, maths, problem solving and staying positive with challenges, as well as now renewables..) will be able to fit them and the rails to the roof. Hoping Monday works out as one of them is away to one of the other islands for a week on Tuesday!

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Haha yeah I don’t know what they’re called either but I love how cleanly it closes everything off too! I know right, I can’t wait to see how each piece ages. I took this photo yesterday and you can see the difference already between the back of the house, which was clad first, and the side of the house which was done a couple months later.

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The joiners showed up on Monday to realise that they had to close the other gable off on the workshop too as the solar panel rail would overlap that slightly so they’ve got cracking with that. We had to buy some more lengths of larch as some had too many knots in some of them for him to be happy putting them on the house as a weather shield but will be really useful for other projects and the cabinet doors. Got lucky as we needed 20 lengths and there were only 50 left in jewsons and they’ve said once that stock has gone they’ll never be getting that wood in again due to supply issues. One of the joiners left yesterday for a family holiday so panels won’t be going on until Monday when he’s back I don’t think.

My mum and dad came up to visit in their campervan and are here to help with the house for a week or so as there’s a lot I’m just not able to physically manage with one person. Days one and two were cleaning up the house and clearing all the boarding out for the workshop walls and ceilings as well as getting the rigid insulation cut for the trusses.

Yesterday mum got onto priming a bunch of wood and the mdf windowsills (the joiner dropped off the finishings for the house, goddamn it’s nice to hear that word, “finishing”). Dad and I put some 2” extenders onto each truss to allow for an air gap behind the 6” insulation and got to packing it in. Managed to get the whole workshop roof done yesterday which is more than I could have hoped. Today is starting on boarding the ceiling as it would be amazing to get that and the walls in before dad leaves. That would leave folk free to come in and have walls to start fitting inverters and all the associated bits and pieces on for setting up the off grid system If I’m doing anything near as much when I’m pushing 70 I’ll consider myself a badass!

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Beautiful.

there were only 50 left in jewsons and they’ve said once that stock has gone they’ll never be getting that wood in again due to supply issues.

I'd be tempted to buy the lot if your cash flow allows it!

Those skies!!

Your Dad is a badass.

Yeah just when you think you’re getting used to it this place surprises you with another aspect of how pretty it is!

@Bearlegged those were my thoughts too, but unfortunately our cash flow shouldn’t even have allowed these 20 never mind the rest..

@Cazakstan I know right?! Would have been pretty stuck without him!! We got the first layer of plasterboard on the ceiling today too. Has to be double boarded and then fermacell on the walls for fireproofing..

Joiner is getting close to finishing the cladding on the workshop. Think they should have it finished or close to it by the end of the week for the panels going on on Monday 🤞🏻

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Just spent at least an hour and a half scrolling through this delightful thread. What an amazing project - genuinely inspiring and one Hell of an undertaking.

I'm drawing up plans to sell up and move to France in a few years and am going to set up an 'off-grid' brewery. Well, as off-grid as possible. Was half thinking of building my own place too, but I reckon I've probably only got one massive project in me before I retire, so I'll probably end up buying a pre-built instead. That said, your thread has got me thinking.

Anyway, keep up the good work and I wish you every success and happiness in your (almost finished) new home.

I'm drawing up plans to sell up and move to France in a few years and am going to set up an 'off-grid' brewery.

I am subscribing to that thread too

LOL. That's almost as much of an undertaking as building it.

As you know all about sustainable practice, and you're insulating your home, I reckon you're the right person to ask.

I noticed you're using PIR insulation. Do you know anything about the balance of using a more eco friendly option? ie the impact of producing PIR vs how much less energy you'll use to heat the home.

We have the option to insulate a new roof with rockwool etc rather than PIR, can't really work out what the best, least impact route is.

Thank you so much! It has been a bit of an effort to make myself do this when there’s enough going on already, but I’m really glad I did and have it to look back over in time. It’s been a ton of work and stress and I’ve added a good few new scars and things but as we’re seeing the finish line it has been so worth it, and to be able to say “we drew this” or “I put that ceiling on with my dad” feels pretty special.

I’d be really excited to see your plans start coming to fruition as well. Do you have a specific region in mind and is there a reason you chose there? All the best with that endeavour and by that point we should have a proper understanding of how best to manage our system so if I can help out with anything please get in touch!

@dbr unfortunately I’m not as educated on that as I should be.. we told the engineers that we wanted the house to be as low drain as possible and the eco nature of our intentions and this is what they specified for us. We’re hoping that our “least impact” will be that this and our gardens allows us to leave as little a footprint as possible after the impact of the materials that built it.. I know someone on another island doing straw walls but they’re going to be about a metre and a half thick! I’d read about sheeps wool insulation but that can be problematic with it dropping in walls. I’ve also heard ash is a fantastic and fireproof insulator that won’t degrade but I think that’s more in wall panels than the roof.. sorry I’m not any more help..

Yesterday we got the second layer of sheeting on the ceiling and started filling the walls with wool before sheeting them with fermacell. We’ve got loads of 1 inch PIR left so we’ve been cutting and jamming that in where we can too. Done it all along the back wall where batteries/inverters are going to be and have enough for the full north facing wall too. Also got some left over wool so I’ll double stuff that into the frame on the sea facing side as that can have some pretty severe winds coming towards it too, bonus warmth!

The joiner also finished this side of the cladding and has started on the final run on the door side of the workshop. Hoping that will be finished off today or Monday morning. I love our wee wooden box!

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I would look at woodfibre insulation. Really good stuff

Do you have a specific region in mind and is there a reason you chose there?

Yep. Off to the Loire valley. Somewhere between Blois and Angers, but haven't worked out exactly where yet. Outskirts of Amboise or Saumur would be great, but I need to head out there for a proper recce.

Chosen for a few reasons. I worked there just after I finished school, it's not a million miles from my cousin, who lives in Brittany, and it's also not too far from some friends in the Vendée. I also want to age the beer I brew in wine barrels, of which there will be plenty in the region. And there should be plenty of farms from which to source ingredients locally (barley, fruit) - though I may have to grow my own hops. Plus it's not too far from Paris, meaning it'll be easy for the kids to visit via Eurostar/TGV.

I'll definitely bend your ear about energy generation/solutions once I'm out there and the build gets under way. Cheers for the offer of lived experience!

Amazing, sounds like you’ve done a whole lot of planning for it and found an area that would tick all the boxes! Good luck in your search for the perfect spot! Feels like the kind of place a farmer may offer some old buildings they don’t us anymore for sale for you to renovate or something. Loads of good kit companies in Europe that you wouldn’t have to pay huge tax and fees on if they’re going to France which could be a good option if you find a good wee spot of land too. It’s probably different there with the climate, but I’m so glad we went for a new build rather than renovating as I feel it would have been a constant fight with old buildings to stop them being damp or cold.

Really excited to hear more about this as it progresses!!

We got cracking on again yesterday, 8mm ply nailed at 75mm centres (phew..) on the gable ends for rigidity. Then we started on the walls which are fermacell fire barrier board because of all the batteries and power electronics. Fitted all the full boards and started on corners yesterday and dad and I will do all the other bits today before they head off this afternoon.
We also fitted 18mm ply to the back wall for where all the inverters and batteries will be mounted.

The joiner also finished the last run of cladding on the workshop!! Just needs to router a couple of the corners and then the flashings and solar panels should be going on on Monday which is pretty exciting, we’re getting close!!

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Love this thread and inspired by your wind turbine! Any tips on where I can start researching on getting wind power?

Folks left yesterday and we managed to get everything finished! Started at 7 and finished at 11 yesterday morning just to get the last couple pieces of cement board in and the place tidied up. Long, tiring week for all of us but pretty proud of what we achieved. It was a shell when we started moving all the sheeting and things in on Sunday and now the trusses are insulated, there’s wool up in the ceiling for laying, 2 layers of 15mm plasterboard on the walls and then insulating and sheeting the walls with ply and cement board. I think if the trades had achieved the same in the week I might have been pretty impressed too!

It means a lot to me as they’re getting older that I’ll be able to point at parts of the workshop and know we did that together. A large memory from my childhood was following behind my dad trying to carry his red toolbox as he did up or repaired things. Nice that it’s kind of come full circle.

Because my life is just to do lists these days we went straight from dropping them at the boat to helping sheet a big polytunnel for friends of ours yesterday. They’d helped get the sheet on ours last summer so was only right I reckon!

Also, I love the cladding when it’s wet!

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This is looking so good now. Thanks for sharing everything and allowing us to live your dream vicariously!

I would also be interested in the turbine details. What's the expected lifetime, cost to maintain and output profile over a typical year of weather conditions up there? And also, how much power do you lose through making the output supply suitable for / compatible with "domestic use"?

Feels like the kind of place a farmer may offer some old buildings they don’t us anymore for sale for you to renovate or something.

Not to derail, but I'd look for somewhere with old farm buildings then put a new build on as the main accommodation. There are always plenty of old properties in France for sale due to the way inheritance is mandated and the fact that almost no young people want old houses.

I'd look for somewhere with old farm buildings then put a new build on as the main accommodation.

TBF, the accommodation bit is less important in terms of how energy efficient it is (although I would hope to power it mostly through solar/battery). The brewery is where I really want to be as 'off grid' as possible and, since it'll be a brewery, it'll need to be really clean too, so new build (probably metal) will be more important. Old farm buildings might look great and be plentiful, but if you stick a brewery in them, you're going to struggle to make a beer that isn't infected with something or other.

Ideally, I'll find an old place that's got enough land to build on and isn't in too dilapidated a state. Might be asking too much, but we'll see. My cousin's a qualified carpenter who's built his own place out in Brittany, so I'm gonna be drafting him in to help out (he doesn't know this yet).

Amazing, sounds like you’ve done a whole lot of planning for it

Hehe. A lot of 'thinking about', not a huge amount of planning yet. It seems so far away, tbh, so at the moment I'm just compiling a list of 'stuff that needs to happen before I can even begin actual planning'. That said, I'm also thinking about stuff like how to treat rainwater to potentially use it in the beer, how I can treat the wastewater and what I could use it for and what I'm going to do with the spent grain/hops. In short, a bit scattergun at the moment.

@jv sorry I haven’t got back to either of you on this yet.. the one we’ve gone for is an sd6. It used to be owned by kingspan but guess it’s a Japanese company now. Expected lifetime is about 25 years, although now the tower is up replacing the head completely would only be about 6k. Think it’ll be in the region of £5 or 600 for an annual check and the guy says with these all he really does is maintenance and doesn’t get many faults (although, he would say that haha). We got ours through Orkney renewables so don’t know where you would go locally for more info, maybe the energy savings trust? I think I’ve got the output profiles earlier in the thread but I’ll try and dig them out again. We get an average wind speed of 7.2m/s over the year which is significantly higher than average in the uk I think. No idea about the loss in power but hoping minimal, think this will be stuff we properly learn when it’s in situ and functioning over time.

@ketsbaia I’m really excited to follow your search for potential places! Now you’ve said it online you know you kind of need to now don’t you?

Everything is closed off for the flashings and solar panels to go on today now the wind has died and the builder is hoping to start on the external render today too 🤞🏻 I spent some days going through and tidying the larch as well as getting every board in the workshop screwed to 150mm centres.

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