Solar project

If a self-taught DIY amateur builder like myself can design and convert an old stone stables into an almost energy self-sufficient home, then the mass of new homes being built around Edinburgh and the Lothians could also all be constructed as “passive” houses.

They would be affordable as well as having very low fuel bills. In my case, historic building conservation interests of ten years ago frowned on solar panels built on to the roof. So I complied by replacing the slates and sarking with polycarbonate sheets which in a new build would avoid the high cost of slates.

The insulated loft warms up (helped by black surfaces inside) and the warm air is blown into the house by fans driven by small 12-24V solar PV panels. When the sun shines, the whole house, not only the room with southfacing windows, is warmed.

Typically in spring, when the outside is between freezing and 50, we have been at 21-24, without any other heating. The loft space can house other solar equipment – being indoors eliminates the need for weatherproofing or holes in the roof, or any of the other complications of external solar heat or PV panels.

For example, we have installed hot water vacuum tubes which supply nearly all our hot water from March to October and would produce some in winter were it not for trees surrounding the house.

It works and is highly cost effective. Why is not every new house, in which it is much easier to install solar equipment, constructed in this way?

It is cheap and simple, it could easily be made the norm. Having a self-heated home should be as normal as our usual heating systems are now. Not having a self-heating home would be like not having a kitchen or bathroom. I say, come on, get on with it. ULRICH LOENING

The Loft House Ormiston Hall, East Lothian