No mains electricity

Samantha99

Thank you for all your replies.

No it isn't that property.

Werdnal, err, no, there's no mains water either. It has a well/borehole. So what did you mean "...bring its own problems"?

Hmmm, food for thought!

Anyone else any thoughts/suggestions?

WellKnownSid

Samantha99 wrote: »

Werdnal, err, no, there's no mains water either. It has a well/borehole. So what did you mean "...bring its own problems"?

It might kill you if it's a well/borehole that's full of dead sheep and cow urine. You'll need some form of filtration and means of killing off the harmful bacteria. There are plenty of other things the water could contain that you can't filter out. You'll need an analysis, but you can get grants for improvement in some cases.

What happens if the well runs dry? You'll need a hydrologist's report (£1,000).

What if your pump packs up? We learned that one the hard way a couple of Christmases ago. We now have a couple of spares ready to roll. And better control gear which will hopefully prevent our new pumps going wrong in the first place.

It's another endless list I'm afraid.

Werdnal

Samantha99 wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies.

No it isn't that property.

Werdnal, err, no, there's no mains water either. It has a well/borehole. So what did you mean "...bring its own problems"?

Hmmm, food for thought!

Anyone else any thoughts/suggestions?

New legislation came in couple of years ago which forces local councils to test and verify the quality of some private water supplies on a regular basis - at your cost. We have just had our letter and its £100 for the sample test - it may not be compulsory in your area, but worthwhile for peace of mind anyway. If they do find anything wrong, then obviously its a good thing to flag this to you, but you will have to install filtration, UV purifyer etc, also at your cost.

We have an acidity regulator, to stop the acid water rotting our copper pipework and immersion heater - this needs replenishing with granules every 12 months. A UV steriliser which needs a new UV tube every year, and a fine filter which also needs regular cartridge changes. We also have a pump which pressurises the water system so we can use the washing machine and shower. Whilst it is obviously cheaper than water rates, it is not without its cost and hassle.

Our water is relatively free of contaminants and pollution, but if the tests proved yours was unfit to drink and the normal filtration/purification methods would not correct it, you may have to have a new borehole installed! Contaminants can include eColi, Salmonella and other bacteria, animal faeces, heavy metals, nitrates from the soil, chemicals, lead, pesticides - basically anything that can get into the supply, but may not affect the appearance, taste or smell of the water!

There is also the chance that the water table may change due to dry summers - yes we do still have chance of getting them! Our spring reduces considerably in the summer months and so far we have never run out indoors, but it depends on the size of your family, how much of the day you are at home, how often you bath/shower, use the washing machine etc.

Before you commit to buying you need to verify it is a continuous and wholesome supply and I would recommend you ask the vendor to provide a verified test for its quality before you end up having to foot the bill for a filter installation or worse!

If they have lived there a long time, they may be immune to any bugs in it, whilst you/your family could end up with diahorrea in the first week! There was a post here a few month ago from someone who rented a cottage on a farm and their family were ill all the time. When they eventually had the water supply tested, it was found to be substandard, but the farmer landlord's family had never suffered anything as they had been exposed to the bugs in it for so long, it wasn't affecting them.

Even though I know our water has all the treatment we can possible give it, I still bought bottled water when my son was a baby, to make up his bottles with.

Have a look at this for more info:

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/stakeholders/private-water-supplies/

zzzLazyDaisy

What about heating? If it has oil fired central heating, that is another high cost.

Oh and I assume being so remote, it has a septic tank? In which case there is the cost of having it emptied.

Strapped

We have a back-up generator (power cut every time a gnat farts around here) and can confirm that you can legitimately buy red diesel for it! Still expensive to run though. OK for emergencies but I wouldn't want to run 24/7 on it.

Other things to consider about living in a remote area - is there a phone (landline) or mobile phone reception? If there's a landline, what about broadband? Cost of transport?

Samantha99

No landline, so assume 3G?

No heating, there's an Aga? LPG, not oil.

Yes I will ask about certification for water.

Definitely septic tank but that's not unusual, lots have them. I didn't think that was expensive? To have it emptied I mean.

I think the generator is the biggest problem. Off to view today, so I can ask vendor all these questions. Anything else I need to know?
Thanks everyone!

agrinnall

Run properly the septic tank won't be a major expense, I have lived in my house for 9 years and the tank, which serves 5 other houses too, has not been emptied at all in that time. We also have private water supply, but luckily we don't have compulsory certification here.

I'm doubtful if I could live without mains electricity though, I don't know how long the generator will run for without the tank needing to be refilled but what happens to things like your freezer if you go away for a couple of weeks?

Don't assume 3G, check and make sure. Plenty of remote masts don't have it (mine for one). And there may only be one company with a signal, which could force you to switch provider.

dauphin

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Say red diesel is 70p per litre - a small 4.5kVA generator will probably burn about 2 litres per hour - that's £1.40 for 4.5kW = 31 pence per kWh.

Unfortunately even the 31p per kWh figure is misleading because you won't actually be drawing the full current of 4.5kW; certainly not all of the time. The vast majority of the time the genny will be running on part load, but its fuel consumption will drop only slightly. So say you're sitting there with just the tv and lights on, fridge motor cutting in from time to time, you might only be drawing 0.5kW, but it'll still be costing you pretty much the same to have the genny on.

You need to look at it instead in terms of the genny burning x amount of fuel per hour and therefore it costs £y per hour to run. Sid's ball park figure of £1.40 per hour is not a bad starting point. Now if you were to try running the genny 24/7 (though impractical) that would be £33.60 a day/ £1022 per month!

If you are really interested in this property, you will definitely need to think about wind and/or solar because a generator alone is just not a viable solution in this day and age unless perhaps it's just going to be a weekend cottage.

WellKnownSid

agrinnall wrote: »

Don't assume 3G, check and make sure. Plenty of remote masts don't have it (mine for one). And there may only be one company with a signal, which could force you to switch provider.

I always laugh when I see those daft EE adverts for 4G. We can barely get Radio 4 here, it's a 25 minute drive to the nearest mobile reception.

As for the generator calcs - yes - that would be 'best case' under full load. Just 'idling' will cause the generator to burn probably at least as much but not produce much in the way of usable power.

Werdnal

No heating at all?

Agas are great, but to run them efficiently you need to have them on 24/7/365. Hubby's boss has one, and even in the recent heatwave they had the Aga running and the windows open!

LPG is expensive, although probably cheaper and more efficient to run than oil - is it individual bottles or a tank?

Septic tank, if running well, properly installed and maintained need not be emptied more than every 5 years or so. However, they do go wrong, the overflow/drainage system can fail and block, and they will backup and leak. You need to check the system is up to modern specs, as if it causes any groundwater pollution, you are taking your household supply from that - I am all for recycling, but drinking your own poo! Not to mention the Environment Agency beating a path to your door!

I am not trying to put you off, I live in the sticks with private water and drainage, although we do have mains power, and its fine, but a real lifestyle change and you do have to take this on board and understand that sometime you need to plan ahead for things which others take for granted.

What is access like? We live down an unmade track and some home shopping companies refuse to deliver to us because of it. Last time we had a large item delivered by Argos, hubby had to meet them up the road and put it on the roofrack as they refused to come to the house. Also, when we moved here, the truck would not fit and the removal company had to supply a little van to ferry everything in from the roadside. It can all be done, but even the simplest things may require some lateral thinking.