Why write a blog about eco-renovating a typical mid-terrace house?

Fed up with “affordable” housing, the rental market, & houses we lived in coercing us into inefficient, expensive & wasteful lifestyles we decided to see if we could do it better ourselves. We firmly hold the belief that embracing an ecological lifestyle can improve your standard of living, and this is our project to test that.

This house is no “Grand Design“. It’s a standard 2 up 2 down mid-terrace with a small 70s extension typical of York. It’s important personally for us, as our first home after 7 years together. As most couples looking for their first home and to get on to the housing market, the budget was tight & there didn’t seem to be many options on the market. The way range of what is classed, as “affordable” housing was inextricably more often than not, completely out of budget.

Through this blog, I will be talking about our forays into eco-living/renovation, from the small (e.g. lighting choices) to the big (e.g. aiming to become self-sufficient in electricity & issues with builders) and I will aim to post ~once a month. The project is already a year in, we’ve got a lot done (e.g. Solar PV panels & extensive insulation) & have quite a few projects in the pipeline (e.g. ventilation, whole house energy monitoring & a micro weather station). With a few digressions into eco-living & related things, hopefully, this blog will be of interest to others thinking about alternative options in housing/lifestyles.

I look forward to hearing about other people’s ideas & hope to offer something useful to others doing or thinking about doing some eco-renovation or “eco-ing up” their lifestyles.