Renewable Living

We are committed to helping the UK reduce its carbon emissions by providing free and somewhat impartial information on all types of renewable energy products and their use in the home. Products and services we include are: Warm Roofs, Smart Insulation, Biomass Heating, wood pellet boilers, PV panels, log boilers, solar thermal and hot water accumulation tanks [Buffer Tanks]. What is biomass? Biomass is the biological material from a living or recently living organism; to us, Logs and Pellets. The wood pellets are produced from sawdust that is compressed.

There are two different kinds; Monocystalline and Polycrystalline. There aren't too many differences between the two except Monocrystalline panels tend to be slightly more efficient in the UK, but Polycrystalline are slightly cheaper to manufacture. Most panels come with at least a 25 year production guarantee and the inverter will come with a minimum 5 year guarantee and the whole installation come with its own guarantee for workmanship and installation. In England and Scotland, domestic solar panel installations are classed as 'permitted development' and you don't usually need permission, unless your home is listed or in a conservation area - Renewable Living can advise you on whether you'll need to apply for planning permission.

Renewable Living supports the introduction and development of affordable renewable products into the UK market place. Our support is through the co-ordination of activities around making sure that the installer feels confident to install a great product. This includes training of installers, attending trade shows, having good relationships with our suppliers. Our products include Warm Roofs, Insulated Flat Roofs, Biomass boilers, solar thermal, solar PV, accumulation tanks and thermal stores.

If insulation is fitted it will usually be between the roof joists and more often than not will just be a token amount of insulation - that falls way short of current building regulation standards. This type of flat roof design - a often referred to as a COLD ROOF STRUCTURE as shown in example below. To be clear - having a COLD ROOF is not necessarily a bad idea - and the term often creates confusion. You see, a COLD ROOF STRUCTURE is a term used to describe roofs with no insulation, little insulation or even substantial insulation between the joists.

The advantages and disadvantages of Solar PV Power are pretty clear, but if you're new to renewable energy, then it can be a little bit hard to get your head around. In this post, I'm going to break down the key reasons why you may want to make the switch youself. So there we have the advantages and disadvantages of Solar PV Power, but do the advantage out weigh the disadvantages, or is it the other way round? We know that is can be expensive to set up solar PV systems, often in the range of 6,000-8,000 for a standard home, so that is of course a hurdle for some people.

Renewable Living approved installers provide installation and consultancy services for organisations within the public, private and charity sector. Renewable living can provide an in depth report on how a renewable heating or energy product would work for you in your situation. This may be of benefit if you are unsure on which way to go or you would like calculations provided to show the payback or investment benefit of the item concerned. We have been trained and have industry experience in providing high quality and in depth feasibility reports.

If you are looking to purchase or install renewable products as an installer or homeowner we are very happy to hear from you. Our recommended installers service solar PV, Solar thermal, wood pellet boilers, wood burning boilers in the South west. We do distribute products nationwide, so we do want to hear from installers and companies involved in renewable heating and energy products.

From a traditional-looking wood burning stove to a contemporary design, there are plenty of alternatives available. Featured above is the: Westfire Uniq 17 Contemporary Wood Burning Stove - one of our favourites! Renewable Living approved installers can either supply and fit your new wood burning stove or if you prefer complete the installation only.