Author Topic: Hello from Uppsala, Sweden! (Read 2835 times)

Lingon · « **on:** February 15, 2018, 08:33:31 am »

I've been at this for a while, but I guess my trip towards self sufficiency started the day I was born, as i'm a curious person that think outside of the box, care nothing about how society thinks I should live my life and is always learning something new.

I'm female and live in my over 300 year old cottage in the countryside with my sled dogs, cats and chickens. I love growing my own vegetables and tend to buy more seeds than I need. But I don't buy much else new, so my ecological footprint on this planet is very small. Upcycling and living small is important to me. So is leaving a habitable planet for the next generations, so you won't see me giving advise on how to use toxines.

Hopefully, you wont find me to annoying (people tend to do so).

Clarebelle · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2018, 09:43:26 am »

welcome to the forum!

chrismahon · « **Reply #2 on:** February 15, 2018, 11:09:22 am »

Hi Lingon and welcome to the forum. We probably have a lot in common as we too are trying to minimise our footprint and spend a lot of time outside working on our land. Unfortunately our plans for having solar heating didn't work out- it's still too cold even down here in Winter. Perhaps we'll end up with a pellet burning boiler eventually?

Lingon · « **Reply #3 on:** February 15, 2018, 12:34:07 pm »

Quote from: chrismahon on February 15, 2018, 11:09:22 am

Hi Lingon and welcome to the forum. We probably have a lot in common as we too are trying to minimise our footprint and spend a lot of time outside working on our land. Unfortunately our plans for having solar heating didn't work out- it's still too cold even down here in Winter. Perhaps we'll end up with a pellet burning boiler eventually?

Thank you!
You have solar heating and the house is still to cold, have I understood it correctly?

Have you checked to see if you can insulate your house better? Like installing three or four glass windows? Insulate the roof better?

Quote from: Clarebelle on February 15, 2018, 09:43:26 am

Thank you!
welcome to the forum!

Bionic · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2018, 03:32:29 pm »

Hi and welcome from Wales. We are always interested to hear from others outside of the UK on this forum.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2018, 04:35:36 pm »

Welcome to the forum

from another non-conformist.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this very active forum

Rosemary · « **Reply #6 on:** February 15, 2018, 06:02:15 pm »

Hello and welcome

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2018, 11:11:53 pm »

and welcome from Shropshire in the middle of England.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #8 on:** February 15, 2018, 11:26:34 pm »

Quote from: Lingon on February 15, 2018, 12:34:07 pm

Quote from: chrismahon on February 15, 2018, 11:09:22 am
Hi Lingon and welcome to the forum. We probably have a lot in common as we too are trying to minimise our footprint and spend a lot of time outside working on our land. Unfortunately our plans for having solar heating didn't work out- it's still too cold even down here in Winter. Perhaps we'll end up with a pellet burning boiler eventually?
Thank you!
You have solar heating and the house is still to cold, have I understood it correctly? Have you checked to see if you can insulate your house better? Like installing three or four glass windows? Insulate the roof better?

Hi and welcome to TAS. I agree about better insulation being the key to a warm house. We had the usual hard sell treatment for a wind turbine, but we calculated that we would never get a return on that, but we would be better using the money to re-roof our house, repoint the stone walls, fit double glazing, and build a stone porch on the front and a scullery on the back of our house, to act as air locks. Before that the wind whistled in every nook and cranny, and any warmth was sucked out when an outside door was opened, or up the chimney. Now we keep warm with a wood stove and occasional central heating, plus of course home grown, hand shorn, hand spun and dyed and handknit lovely woolly jumpers (I'm a hand spinner).
I love the idea of your sled dogs - how many do you have? Any chance of posting a pic? Although we do get snow here in Scotland, most people who use sled dogs have wheeled carts for forest tracks. It looks so much fun

Lingon · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2018, 03:36:05 am »

Thank you all!

Quote from: Fleecewife on February 15, 2018, 11:26:34 pm

Hi and welcome to TAS. I agree about better insulation being the key to a warm house. We had the usual hard sell treatment for a wind turbine, but we calculated that we would never get a return on that, but we would be better using the money to re-roof our house, repoint the stone walls, fit double glazing, and build a stone porch on the front and a scullery on the back of our house, to act as air locks. Before that the wind whistled in every nook and cranny, and any warmth was sucked out when an outside door was opened, or up the chimney. Now we keep warm with a wood stove and occasional central heating, plus of course home grown, hand shorn, hand spun and dyed and handknit lovely woolly jumpers (I'm a hand spinner).
I love the idea of your sled dogs - how many do you have? Any chance of posting a pic? Although we do get snow here in Scotland, most people who use sled dogs have wheeled carts for forest tracks. It looks so much fun

Extra insulation (more layers of glass) does a lot for the indoor climate. But if one can't afford new windows or as I live in a really old house where new ones shouldn't or can't be installed, a solution is to close the windows shutters and have thick curtains during coldspells. That to does a lot.
We certainly live in different climates, my 300 year old house has the original 2 glass windows, so we swedes giggle when watching interior design shows from Britain where two glass windows are seen as top notch.

I have three sled dogs, I used to have five, and unfortunatly I don't have any pictures from mushing as I mush alone. It is fun, but also dangerous, the number of times my dogs more or less have tried to kill me is staggering.

But here is one of my darlings:

Fleecewife · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2018, 12:32:42 pm »

Beautiful dog

What breed is it?

Here, it's triple glazing which is all the rage, but for us, we need some sound to come in from the animals. Also our windows have to suit an old building too, and triple glazing is just too intrusive.
We did think of shutters, at least on the north side, but again, they would not suit the type of house, and the 'vernacular' style. There are things our planners will allow us to do, and things they will not!

Can you grow a full range of vegetables in Uppsala or are you limited by short summers and frost/snow as we are?

Lingon · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2018, 01:57:46 pm »

Quote from: Fleecewife on February 16, 2018, 12:32:42 pm

Beautiful dog What breed is it?

Here, it's triple glazing which is all the rage, but for us, we need some sound to come in from the animals. Also our windows have to suit an old building too, and triple glazing is just too intrusive.
We did think of shutters, at least on the north side, but again, they would not suit the type of house, and the 'vernacular' style. There are things our planners will allow us to do, and things they will not!

Can you grow a full range of vegetables in Uppsala or are you limited by short summers and frost/snow as we are?

She is a scandinavian hound, so a husky on speed.

Have you considered removable shutters? That doesn't look so intrusive.

Yes, we can grow a lot of things, our summers are shorter, but we have more hours of daylight during summer, in the north the sun doesn't even set.