The Kitchen
The
South-facing Kitchen is equipped with special 'low-e' glazing on the windows
and door, which means that as much solar radiation as possible remains in
the room, both in the summer and winter. This "solar gain", as it
is known, provides a great deal of the warmth in this large, light, airy room.
Both front and back doors to the cottage are made of thick UPVC, with internal
insulation to give a high 'U' value (insulation quotient).
The
windowsills are used for growing a variety of salads in window-boxes (picture:
basil growing, mid-November 2006), and large pot plants flourish in the greenhouse-like
environment. Herbs from the garden are dried hanging from a herb rail.
Appliances such
as the washing machine and refrigerator are modern and energy-efficient according
to the 
new
European standards. A low-wattage oven accompanies an electric ceramic hob.
All the electrical appliances in Green Cottage
are run on "Juice",
a green electricity tarriff utilising renewable electricity generated from
wind farms provided by Npower and Greenpeace.
We use an old bed linen chest as an interior log holder, which is great for keeping the floor clean and free of bits of wood and bark, and means that we don't have to venture outside every time we need a new sack of logs. The chest holds about three sacks' worth of logs.
