Cottage owners’ hearts warmed by cave system
ACOUNTRY cottage has underfloor heating like no other – because it is warmed by giant caves discovered 120ft underneath the home.
The rural property sits on top of vaulted caves inhabited by rare bats, trout, carp and even salmon in its still waters.
Owners Greg Brash and Tim Dean decided to instal the eco-friendly energy system, which generates power from the caverns below.
And the caves generate so much energy that Greg and Tim are even able to sell excess power back to the National Grid.
Tim said: “It’s an amazing property and we loved it from the start because of the location and the fact that it had its own caves.
“But the old heating system was noisy, expensive and inefficient. Deliveries were difficult too and we wanted to have a more ethical energy system, which was one of the rea- sons we switched.
“Now the system is much better – only half the electricity generated is needed to power the air-source system and the rest goes back into the National Grid – and we even get paid for it.”
Greg and Tim bought Coed-yGlyn Uchaf cottage, near Llangollen, for £450,000, along with 10 acres of land.
It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with caves 100ft high and more than 120ft deep.
The homeowners installed an airsource heating system powered by solar panels on the roof.
It will knock £743 a year off their £3,000 annual heating bills.
Greg, a procurement consultant, and Tim, an accountant who trades in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin online, both work from the home.
The caves are the legacy of granite, slate and quartz mining up to 1907. Some of the granite went into the construction of the house itself.
The cave generates power from a heat exchange and is 100% ecofriendly.
David Jones, managing director at Hafod Renewables, said: “We wore out three drills in a day and a half boring one hole through the wall.
“It was incredibly hard but it’s a remarkable property and now it has a reliable heating system as well, which brings it right up to date.
“It operates like a fridge in reverse, but the coolant in it has a boiling point of -400C, so as long as it’s warmer than that, then it can extract energy from the air it sucks in and heat the property.”
The pair will get a Renewable Heating Initiative payment of £2,000 a year for seven years – meaning it will pay for itself.