This cottage near Whitby is for sale and costs nothing to run. Here's why...

Neil and Denise Davidson are happy to admit that they will never get back a large chunk of the £400,000 they spent on transforming a run-down cottage into one of the most energy-efficient, eco-friendly homes in Yorkshire.The property is on the market for £695,000 with Cundalls and the Davidsons will effectively sell at a loss, though they aren’t upset because this renovation wasn’t all about money.Saving the planet also figured high on their list, as did living in a glorious location on the edge of the pretty moorland village of Glaisdale, near Whitby.The determined couple, who are now in their seventies, have achieved their primary aims but family reasons have prompted a move well before they could generate a decent return on their investment.The renewable heat incentive payments and the feed-in tariffs, which amount to almost £7,000 a year, will be passed onto the next owners. The buyers will also have the benefit of barely any bills.“The house effectively pays for itself, including the council tax, and it is toasty warm,” says Mr Davidson, who bought the property nine years ago.“It belonged to old friends of ours and we had always loved it and the location. The house needed entirely refurbishing, which gave us the chance to reduce the impact it had on the environment.”The tired, five-bedroom home, which is set in almost an acre of land, had no insulation and needed rewiring and replumbing.

The Everhot induction range, which also radiates heat

Greening our home

The Davidsons did all this and much more. The first job was to renovate and make the property as airtight as possible to minimise heat loss. They achieved this with high levels of insulation in the walls and floors and with high-performance, argon-filled Planitherm windows.“We have a lot of south-facing windows so there is considerable solar gain. The Planitherm glass allows the sun’s heat in but doesn’t let the radiant heat out,” explains Mr Davidson.A mechanical heat recovery and ventilation unit extracts stale, warm air from the house and replace it with fresh, filtered air while retaining the heat and redistributing it. The thermal solar panels on the roof of the house heat the hot water and solar photovoltaic panels on the garage provide electricity for the house.A ground source heat pump with ground loops under the paddock runs the underfloor heating on the ground floor and there is a Dik Geurts stove in the sitting room.“A ground source heat pump is a no-brainer financially if you rely on oil or electric heating because the renewable heat incentive payments are generous so it pays for itself and provides cheap heat. The problem for many people is the initial outlay” says Mr Davidson.An Everhot stove, run off the solar generated electricity, acts as a cooker and a heater.“We also put two electric radiators in upstairs but we’ve never had to turn them because hot air rises,” says Mr Davidson, who admits that while leaving the property so soon will leave him out of pocket, he has no regrets.“We won’t recoup what we have spent on the house because we are leaving it earlier than planned but we have made it a much more pleasant place to live and given it another 100 years of life that will have very little impact on the environment.”

The property is "toasty warm"

A new way of living

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The Davidsons are so enamoured with their greener and cleaner way of living, they intend to mirror it in their next home.“We are lucky that we have the money to do it but not everyone does,” says Mr Davidson, who would like to see the government reinstate feed-in-tariff payments to those who install solar panels.“With the introduction of electric cars we will be using a lot more electricity so it makes sense to incentivise people to install them. It will also stop our reliance on oil.”The couple were hoping to score an “A” rating on the property’s EPC - energy performance certificate - and the consensus is that the house merited the highest score, though they are happy with the rare “B” that was due to the vagaries of the EPC form.

The Cottage with solar thermal panels on the roof

For sale

*The Cottage, Glaisdale, is for sale with Cundalls, Malton, tel: 01653 697820, www.cundalls.co.uk.It has over 2,500 sq. feet of accommodation arranged over three floors and comprises an entrance hall with exposed dressed stone walls. This leads to a dual aspect sitting room with far-reaching views. The open plan has a living/dining kitchen has an Everhot stove. The ground floor also has a boot room, cloakroom and utility room.On the upper floors, there is a master suite with double bedroom and a bathroom with fittings by Fired Earth, along with a separate dressing room. There are also three further double bedrooms, a bath and shower room, a study and a large attic bedroom.Outside, the property faces due south and is set within a generous plot with a vegetable and soft fruit garden, a lawn and a wild flower meadow.The Cottage also has a number of stone outbuildings, including a stone barn, which now provides a three-bay garage with access directly off the road side, a workshop and a garden and log store, plus two former loose boxes.Estate agent Andrew Wood of Cundalls says: “This is an immaculately presented, traditional stone house with the energy rating of a newly-built modern home. In short, it is very rare and it offers the best of both worlds.“The Cottage is situated amid the glorious scenery of the North York Moors National Park and comes with sweeping views both up and down dale."

The garden with sensational views

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