Preparing for the post-hydrocarbon era

For the last two years we’ve been working with a specialist architect Jerry Harrall, seeking planning consent to build Dial Corner, an earth sheltered passive solar dwelling on land we own just outside Wymondham in Norfolk. In November 2022 planning consent was granted.

Our plan had been to downsize into Dial Corner, but circumstances have changed and we needed to move back to Suffolk to help care for Belinda’s now aged parents. We’re having a barn converted on the edge of Leiston, and while that is built, we’re renting a place in the town centre.

With photovoltaic panels on the roof, a powerwall and high levels of insulation, our new home in Leiston will be hugely energy efficient, generating the power we need to power both our home and our car. But Dial Corner, which we will sadly now sell, will be in a different league; with a design SAP of 167 it will be a net exporter of power.

What both dwellings will clearly demonstrate, is that we do not need to burn oil, gas or coal in our homes. The sun provide all the energy we need, if we care to capture and use it.