The Bathroom
The bathroom is home
to several large plants in pots, giving the bather the impression of being
in a rainforest-like environment. The actual room, however is naturally quite
dark, without enough light for these plants, so a number of measures have
been taken to remedy the situation.
A
"sun pipe" has been installed at the end of the room away from the
window. This device concentrates daylight with a faceted lens situated on
the roof of Green Cottage, and carries
it via a reflective tube to a diffuser in the ceiling of the bathroom. This
diffuser acts like another window in the ceiling of the bathroom, bringing
daylight into the darker part of the room.
The
bath has a simple shower fitting, which uses no energy as it is not powered,
and takes its hot water direct from the cylinder. Taking a shower uses much
less water than running a bath, and in the summer the hot water is provided
free by the cottage's solar thermal panel. An extractor fan is located beside
the shower, to remove the humidity which is associated with the steam from
the shower, and thus prevents condensation in the room. The toilet is a modern
dual-flush water-saving toilet.
The light in the bathroom is a "Compact Fluorescent Lamp" (CFL), which, although it radiates the same amount of light as a traditional 100W bulb, uses only 20W of electricity. Every single bulb in Green Cottage is a CFL. The main lights in each room are rarely used, as table lamps normally suffice, using less electricity and giving a softer, more subdued lighting effect.
We use mainly desk lamps for illumination, and we have bulbs in those with dusk-'til-dawn sensors, which means we have light when we need it, and don't have to remember to switch the lamps on and off.
