Planet Savers blog

As mentioned on March 3rd, I have been trying to find out why insects keel over when they cross my new carpet.

Talking to my Mother about it she said, “Well, they have to treat carpets with insecticide or they might get eaten by moths and bugs in the warehouse.”

Doh! It all sounded rather obvious when she said that. However, it made me wonder how this affected pets who tend to spend a lot of time with their noses much nearer the floor than us. This thought led me to find many warnings about caged birds and air quality.

I then discovered an interesting debate about carpets, vocs (volatile organic compounds) and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).

Some say carpets harbour dirt and bugs which we then breath in, others say carpets actually trap dirt and bugs thus protecting us. I found this article on The Effects of Carpet on Indoor Air Quality rather informative.

We have a very small bathroom and decided that it was more appropriate as a shower room. This would also cut down on the amount of water we use for washing. A very good idea since we are metered and we will be heating the water with our solar panel.

The bathroom does not get much light so I want to put in a light tube. We need one in the kitchen as well because part of it is a walk through area that is not well lit. It makes sense to me to have the night time lighting as part of the same feature so I have asked Pat, who is doing a lot of the work for us (more about Pat when his website is up and running), to come up with a way of fitting led lights around the tube. I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Exciting day on Wednesday. Bobbie and I went up to Earl’s Court for the Ecobuild exhibition. I’ve been sizing up the solar panels and had come down in favour of Solar Twin.

The reason is that their system includes a PV cell which generates the electricity you need to run the pump, so the system is completely self contained. They are also a UK company and the system is designed to work with UK weather. It helped that they also offered a big discount at the show for the DIY installation! So, I placed the order.

It was great having the exhibition to look around and see working examples of all the stuff I have been staring at on websites. PV cells were the other thing I wanted more information on. There are so many out there and I didn’t know how to start looking.

We saw all shapes and sizes from panels that fit on to the roof through to those designed to fit into the tiling. There were some that were designed to look like slate tiles, you had trouble telling them apart. Ideal if you need to get around conservation restrictions. However, the larger panels will probably be the right way for us. We are going to need an area for our cars which is under cover. Bobbie had the brainwave of using this roof space for the PV cells.

They need a roof slant of 15 to 30 degrees so we will need to bear this in mind when we come to design the roof. That’s on hold for the time being. I need to work out whether I want a 1KW, 2KW or 3KW system. This is based, obviously, on the amout of energy we actually need.

We also looked at options on rainwater harvesting. I’m looking forward to digging out a pit to put one of those huge storage tanks underground. First, I need to find out how much water we are likely to be able to store based on roof size. All good fun.

There was loads to see at the show, so it was well worth a visit. Some of the stands were aimed at the commercial and public sector but many were happy to chat about sustainability.

One stand looked beautifully lit and it turned out that they were promoting LED lighting. The light they generated was so different from all the others, it felt much more natural, I really liked it.

The stand Bobbie and I really loved was about wood. Wood framed buildings. They are so scrummy. I really must get around to designing my garden shed…

When you have just had a carpet laid, it seems.

It turns out that we have a bit of an infestation of woodlice in our bedroom. I need to find out where they currently regard as home.

However, their demise all over our newly laid carpet highlighted another problem. In my quest for all things natural, I had insisted on a wool carpet. It didn’t cross my mind to ask about the fire retardants that they undoubtedly have to dowse over all soft furnishings. I’m assuming that is what is causing it.

I didn’t think to ask about underlay either. Maybe we are being given double dose. Whatever it is, I am really glad I am not sleeping in there at the moment. If it is killing off woodlice so easily, I don’t feel too happy about what it will do to us.

Yerrell were unable to find any information about any fire retardant treatment on the carpet. It’s all wool, so it shouldn’t really need it. They confirmed that the underlay was Cloud 9 Cirrus.

So I sent Ball & Young, who make the Cloud 9  products, an email, enquiring what it could be and got a very prompt reply from Stephen Wilkinson. He said that he wasn’t sure why but that this was a common fact with many new carpets laid in older homes regardless of manufacturer. He wondered if it was the dryness since woodlice like damp conditions. I’d wondered that, too, until I found a curled up spider. He went on to say that the foam used in the production is the same type as that used in furniture and car seats.

I am still not happy about this. New carpets should not be killing off insects.

I’ve sent my query to the New Scientist Last Word page.