An Exercise in Suburban Sustainable Living.
Elaine and I bought our first real house in August of 2000, a rather tired, 100 year old 3 bedroomed semi-detached house in a quiet suburban road, about 20 miles south of London.
Part of our long term plan is to improve the property and do what we can to make it part of a more sustainable lifestyle.
Having started as a modest dwelling to meet the needs of the expanding population in the early 1900's, with open coal fires, small rooms and no insulation, it is our intention to adapt the property to suit the needs of the 21st Century, minimising energy consumption, reducing waste and changing the fabric of the house to suit the changing demands of the modern lifestyle.
Finally in the Spring of 2005, we have commenced building work on the new extension, which will provide a modern kitchen, warm, spacious bathroom and useful utility room area.
We hope to complete this work in time for my 40th birthday, in mid-August.
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I am a 39 year old electronic engineer working in telecommunications. I work from home most of the time, but recently have travelled on business to southern China and the western USA .
Elaine is a primary school teacher, working in a small school of just 110 children.
My work involves the design, prototyping and manufacture of electronic products. I have worked for the BBC as a Research Engineer, for a scientific instrument manufacturer, for a telecommunications company and for a company pioneering the use of GSM and GPS for telemetry and telematics applications.
I mainly do hardware design, some embedded microcontroller programming and pcb layout. When it comes to software, I have learnt that it's best to get someone else to help.
I run a small company Powercubes.com, that is involved in the design and production of products aimed at improving domestic energy consumption, and investigating emerging renewable energy products.
I can be contacted at [email protected]
This site reflects a few of my interests and aspirations.
Life is one big experiment - like a double lesson of general science at school, so make the most of it before the bell rings.
My interests lie in the application of renewable energy and appropriate new technology to allow the Western World to achieve a sustainable low impact lifestyle. We are applying some of these ideas to our own property, a 100 year old suburban semi-detached house.
I have been involved in several projects some of which are detailed on other pages.
Between 1990 and 1995 I assisted a friend building a 4 seater electric car capable of 85mph.
I have been interested in the use of Stirling Engines and other external combustion engines as a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine for hybrid vehicles, combined heat and power systems and leisure boat propulsion..
I have had practical experience with charcoal burning and the use of waste wood products as a renewable fuel.
I have dabbled with solar water heating, wind power and photovolataics with the intention of finding a partial solution to minimising my household energy consumption.
