Case study: ‘I put my foot down, the AGA was switched off’

SIX years ago when former Sky correspondent Ross Appleyard and his novelist wife Diana took over the Kirnan Estate in mid Argyll they did not expect to be worrying about fuel bills.

As well as an eight-bedroom house, with three guest bedrooms, the couple also run three small cottages renting them out to guests.

Business is going well. But the couple have been staggered by their fuel bills, which are now running at more than £10,000 a year – more than they are paying for their mortgage.

The couple are now considering installing their own mini biomass plant, which will cost around £50,000, but could reduce their total fuel bill to around £1,000 a year.

Ross Appleyard said: “Last month we got a letter through saying we were £3,000 in arrears with our oil bill. We have eight bedrooms in the main house and the lights are on all the time. I counted and we have about 157 light bulbs.”

Since the couple bought the business their bills have rocketed. He added: “In that time kerosene in particular has gone through the roof and it is difficult to think about how things might go in the next six years. It will be crazy.”

With a biomass boiler the Appleyards could fuel their home using woodchips produced from the 500 acres of sitka spruce on the estate. The government will pay them a subsidy of 8 pence per kilowatt for the energy they produce themselves for the next 20 years. The couple have also considered installing solar panels on their south-facing roof.

In the meantime, they are doing their best to keep down the bills. “The oil central heating is always on in the guest rooms, but in our side of the house there is ice on the window panes in winter. My wife loves having the AGA on, but the other day I had to put my foot down and switch it off.”