Wind and sun slash family's bills

Fermanagh can experience high winds

How do you have all the conveniences of modern life, like a television, computer, and fridge freezer - without ever having to worry about an electricity bill?

BBC Newsline's reporter in the west Julian Fowler went to meet one family in Fermanagh who are determined to live an ordinary life while reducing their impact on the environment.

Richard Ireson and his family live in an idyllic rural location in Monea near Enniskillen. But how long will the green fields and the sounds of birds singing remain for future generations to enjoy?

Richard has been passionate about using alternative energy to provide all his home comforts ever since he read a book called The Autonomous House as a young boy.

One of the nice things about Fermanagh which makes this system particularly suitable is that, for the most part, when we have high winds we don't have a lot of sun - and when we have sun, we don't generally have high winds Richard Ireson

When he moved with his family to a traditional 150-year-old Irish cottage 10 years ago, he set about turning his dream into reality.

The house is not connected to the electricity grid - instead Richard built a wind turbine and solar panels next to the cottage.

He says: "One of the nice things about Fermanagh which makes this system particularly suitable is that, for the most part, when we have high winds we don't have a lot of sun.

"And when we have sun, we don't generally have high winds, and so this system combined gives us a pretty constant source of electricity."

A system like this is not cheap to set up, but saving money is not Richard's main motive - it is saving something he feels is far more important: the environment.

"For every unit of electricity we generate here, we're saving about half a kilo or so of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere.

The family use solar power for their electricity

"And as we all know carbon dioxide is one of the factors in global warming."

The power from the sun and the wind is stored in batteries and is used to run everything the family need, which allows them to live what they say is a fairly normal life.

"We have washing machines and fridges and the only thing that we don't cook with is electricity," says Richard.

"And I feel that when you're doing something like that, you're really reducing your footprint on the environment."

While they will never have an electricity bill through the post, Richard's youngest daughter Alice says they do have to be careful about conserving energy.

"If we were living in England, I would have left lights on and stuff, but now we're living over here and we're more efficient," she says.

"If I go out of a room, I usually turn the light off. And a good thing about it is we never have blackouts."

The Iresons turn off lights when not in use

Richard says the family now turn lights off when not using them as a matter of course "because we have to".

"We don't want to waste any of the energy we produce, but if everyone turned the lights off when they left the room it would make a big difference to their electricity bills and to the amount of pollution going into the atmosphere - and we'll all benefit from that."

So while having a wind turbine and solar panels in your back garden might not be practical for everyone, there are some things anyone can do to reduce their electricity bill.