Highland home buyers can look forward to greener energy and lower bills thanks to an innovative new private housing scheme being developed in Aviemore.
Local builder Allan Munro Construction has just completed the first phase of 24 two and three bedroom family houses at Milton Burn, in the heart of the Highland town – and prospective buyers are invited to a luxury low carbon show home opening on January 24.
Unlike some other homes in the area, which are heated by fuel oil or liquid propane gas (LPG), the Milton Burn homes will be heated by a single biomass heating network powered by four 35 kilowatt pellet boilers – believed to be a first for Aviemore.
The development, which lies in a woodland setting in a well-established residential area, is already proving popular. Three homes, one of which is the show home, are complete and so far four homes have been sold off plan. The estimated price range is £195,000 to £295,000.
“To the homeowner they offer everything you would expect from a high quality new-build home,” said Allan Munro Construction managing director, Cameron Munro. “The build standard is extremely high, with excellent insulation and Scandinavian-standard windows and doors.
“The real difference lies in how they are heated. Rather than each home having its own boiler burning costly and polluting oil or LPG, every house will be linked to a community biomass scheme via highly-insulated pipes, with metered and price-guaranteed hot water permanently on tap.”
The wood pellet boilers are being installed in a single wood-clad unit and will be operated by Cairngorm Bioheat Ltd which will offer all new home owners the same long-term fixed-price energy deal. Each house will have underfloor heating on the ground floor with radiators upstairs.
“Community heating is ideal, especially for areas such as Aviemore which are not connected to the national gas grid”, Cameron added.
“The biomass network will provide heating and hot water to each home at a lower cost than oil or LPG, and homeowners will not have the worry or expense of buying and maintaining a boiler in their own home. The only difference people will notice is lower bills.
“These are high quality family homes, and our aim is to make them as comfortable and as energy efficient as possible,” Cameron concludes.
For more details on the Milton Burn scheme, go to www.amchomes.co.uk or call Julia at RE/MAX Cairngorm on 01479 810531.