Stone Cottage Ballinskelligs – Sustainable & Green Holiday Home

Posted by Eilís McDermott on May 22, 2023 in Featured Holiday Home

Energy-saving and planet-friendly solutions

We have great news for holidaymakers concerned about sustainability and their carbon footprint.

Stone Cottage Holiday Home Ballinskelligs is our first Green Holiday Home and it offers you great energy-saving and planet-friendly solutions.

Stone Cottage at Ballinskelligs Holiday Homes was built in the year 2000 and finished to what was then Bord Failte’s 4-star standard. Solar PV panels and an EV charger were installed at the property this spring as part of the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of the house.

Given the significant increase in electricity prices of recent years together with electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales accounting for almost 30% of new car sales this March, owners Colm & Áine, decided the time was right to improve the house’s green and sustainable credentials.

The house was built to a very high standard with electric underfloor heating throughout the ground floor and this existing system was ideal for partial adaption to tie it into the PV system. A portion of the electricity generated from the solar can be directed to the underfloor heating or to providing hot water, whichever the guest wishes to prioritize.

In theory, where electricity is consumed as it is being generated, the electricity costs for the guests should see significant reductions when compared to a house without a system. The convenience of the car charger also means that EV and PHEV owners have the facility to charge their cars at up to 7kw per hour.

Colm & Áine are excited about the latest improvement to their house, and, if the weather cooperates, holidaymakers are set to benefit from free solar at Stone Cottage this year. Having worked in a renewable energy company when solar was becoming popular for providing hot water, Colm has long been committed to renewables and lowering his carbon footprint.

We love using the house in the off-season and have invested in upgrades to make it as comfortable as possible all year round. Guests love the double-sided stove, which was one of the first changes we made when they bought the house, ‘so much so that they even light it during the summer when there is no need for it!
We loved the house ourselves when we first looked at it and we didn’t want to change the feel of it with any of the improvements we have made, so we have endeavoured to make them as subtle as possible. We wanted the modern creature comforts of Wi-Fi, smart TVs and heating, upgraded lighting and improvements to the kitchen flow, usability, storage etc.
Hopefully, we have blended all these in seamlessly. With the solar, we are delighted with what we have seen so far. Kieran O’Donoghue and his team from Energitec in Killarney were great to work with, they understood our requirements and tailored the system to the house.
Along with improving comfort levels and decreasing energy usage from the grid, it is great to know that we are also doing our bit for the environment. We are looking forward to seeing how the system performs over the summer, it provides an opportunity for the solar curious to see how a system operates and for the solar savvy to get the most out of those sunny days in beautiful Southwest Kerry!

~ Aine & Colm, The Owners Tweet

Stone Cottage Holiday Home is situated on an elevated site beside the sea in Ballinskelligs Village County Kerry. This large seaside holiday home is less than a 5-minute walk from the beautiful Blue Flag Ballinskelligs’ long sandy beach. This 4-bed bright and airy seaside holiday home sleeps 9 people and is an ideal base for a family holiday on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. The surrounding area of Ballinskelligs is renowned for its natural beauty and there are many local walks nearby.