When in 1993 we arrived at the farm there was no electrical power to the house . The previous owner had used a 20kva Generator to power everything but the house had been empty for some months before we arrived and the generator had gone ‘missing’. So our first job was to install a generator . We fitted a smaller 4kva generator which had come from a milking parlour . We nicknamed it ‘ Noisy Norman ‘ . Even though ‘Norman’ was in a barn 50 feet from the house he could be heard and his ‘vibrations’ felt !
So for the first 10 years we ran ‘Norman’ in the evening from 6pm. to 11p.m and clothes washing / house lighting / videos etc happened. The hardest adjustment to this lifestyle initially was not being able to have a fridge . Eventually we got a LPG gas powered fridge which helped up until then ice cream had to be eaten on the day of purchase SAD !
Around 1997-98 we installed a Rutland 24volt Wind turbine to power a set of car batteries to provide power for Leisure Lights ( Caravan ) in the house for when the generator was switched off .
Although this system worked well as a back up we began to need consistent electrical power more regularly to support the medical needs of our youngest child Mair . Around 2000 we enquired about the cost of installing mains power . £40,000 plus we were quoted . Gratefully at the time we met Charles Holford of West Wales Renewables who guided us through installing a 2:5 kw Proven Wind turbine from a company in Scotland . Small wind turbines had just started to be safer and more powerful . Being a bigger system than the Rutland we had to build a place to store all the electrical gear .
