Our green path to being carbon neutral and helping planet earth. We have been living in our Victorian detached house in the village of Weaverham for 16 years this year. Starting of with some large projects, once the B&B was up and running some smaller steps and soon the next big step on our way to being as carbon neutral as possible.
Insulation
After living in the house for about 3 years we came to the conclusion that the house was cold and the heating needed to be on lots, especially with two young children in the house. Lucy started to investigage what we could do? Cavity wall insulation I can hear you say! No cavity walls in our house?. External insulation? To costly! ?The decision was easy made and all external walls in all rooms to be insulated with 15mm Kingspan board
The results were amazing and we noticed a difference between temperature and size of our energy bills. It was a lot of hard work however definitely worth all the effort and investment.
Double Glazing
The next challenge was to look at the double glazing units around the house and also replace some of the stained glass & sash windows. The double glazing units needed replacing due age and sadly the sash and stained glass windows were in a very bad state.
The 60% of the windows of the house was replaced over the next 2 years including patio doors in our breakfast room and our back door.
Bed and Breakfast Northwich
After the previous years of replacing windows and insulating the house, we started to look at creating a small Bed and Breakfast in the house. This meant building an extension for 1 room and installing a full bathroom in our attic room and additionally replacing all the heating and water pipes in the house.
On top of all the plumbing, building and plastering we also replaced another 35% of the windows. Making 95% of all windows with up to date double glazing with 1 room left in need of new windows, which was completed a couple of years ago.
During the time we have now run the B&B, 7 years in November, we have taken little steps on our green path.
? Fresh milk in small metal or glass flasks (instead of small plastic UHT milk)
?? Solid plastic washable bins in bedrooms (no need for bin bags
?? Bio degradable bin liners for bathroom pedal bins
? Large refillable bottles of shampoo, shower gel and hand wash (no small plastic one use bottles)
? Start to replace our towels with eco towels (easy and quicker drying towels)
? Home made washing powder (3 eco friendly ingredients)
We are continuing to look at what we can do to reduce our waste and ensure what waste we have is recyclable. One of the biggest challenge is looking at the biscuits we offer our guests!
Coming soon……
Our green path to being carbon neutral is soon starting to see its next large project. We will start with installing Air source heat pumps at The Hive at 52 from the 1st August. This will hopefully soon be followed by the installation of solar panels on our roof.
Taking this next huge step will hopefully make us almost, if not fully, independent of the electricity network.
We are looking forward telling, or even better showing of how it all works.
The future going green plans
We hope that all of the small, large and huge steps we have taken over the years we will reduce our Carbon emission and reduce our total waste making us a ‘Carbon neutral, eco friendly, responsible bed and breakfast and being able to promote sustainable travel.
What else are we looking at?
? Electric Vehicle charging point(s)
? Electric car
? Possibly use rain water for toilets
We are sure that we will see many more sustainable, earth friendly initiatives coming our way, and we will always try and work towards a more carbon neutral B&B without impacting what we offer at The Hive at 52 Northwich.
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