It took until he was retired for Ian Loader to be able to fully embrace his green ambitions. When he did, it was with the support of Graf UK.
For Graf UK’s Carat S rainwater harvesting system is a major element of the eco house Ian has created from a single-skin brick 1930s house that could not have been further from the green ethos.
The former sales director had been retired for six years when he and his wife Wendy downsized from a Grade II listed, five-bedroomed detached thatched house with outbuildings and extensive gardens in a village six miles outside Banbury to a four-bedroomed detached house 300 metres from Banbury Cross.
It would have been uneconomic to demolish and build a new house, so the two-year process of turning it into an exemplar eco house began. The Graf UK rainwater harvesting system was one of the first elements to be incorporated as it required a hole excavating in the front garden for the 4,800-litre Carat S ECO-Plus tank and then guttering on the house and garage to the tank, with ductwork from the tank to a small plant room which delivers the harvested rainwater to the washing machine, toilets and garden.
“I wanted someone I could work with and the mix of German engineering with English standards of service impressed me. Graf’s prices were also very competitive,” he said.
The 2,280mm long Carat S ECO-Plus tank, which features patented filter technology and an in-house pump system with automatic switch-over to mains water supply, took two days to install.
“We don’t have enough data to measure its full effectiveness yet, but we are very pleased that the system appears to be working perfectly,” said Ian.
Preliminary consumption data from the water meter shows the household is using only 35 litres a day, which is substantially below the average for two people in a detached house.