Eco Friendly Holidays in Cornwall
Our Eco Friendly Story
We are The Wheeler Family and we bought Merlin Farm in 2003. In 2008 we embarked on our Eco Tourism Project - the creation of 3 Eco Friendly Holiday Cottages, to compliment the existing holiday units on site. When converting the former barns and outbuildings at Merlin Farm, our vision was to offer exceptional self-catering accommodation within the beautiful valley of Lanherne, whilst protecting the environment and ensuring that wildlife habitats, feeding and breeding area’s were preserved. We constantly strive to be greener, less wasteful, and manage our land in the most energy efficient way.
Our Eco Friendly self catering accommodation was created from existing stone barns, advanced modern building techniques were incorporated which allowed us to significantly reduce our environmental impact. A ground Source heat pump is used in conjunction with underfloor heating to keep the cottages warm whatever the weather. A woodburner using local sustainable timber also helps our carbon footprint. Water is heated using solar thermal technology. The high levels of insulation used in the roofs, walls and floors allowed us to achieve a high energy performance rating. Due to the South facing floor to ceiling windows in the lounge extensions and specification of argon filled glazing, these buildings are often heated by passive solar alone. At the end of 2011 we installed 216 Solar PV Panels, supplying all the cottages at Merlin Farm with 'green' electricity and exporting the surplus back to the grid.
Where next?
Green technologies at Merlin Farm
Our Green Policy and what our guests can do to help
Green Awards
2015-2016: GOLD Accreditation - Green Tourism Business Scheme
2015: BEST GREEN HOLIDAY HOME - European Holiday Home Association Awards
2014: BEST ECO ESCAPE - Unique Holiday Cottage Awards
2014: SHORTLISTED - Cornwall Sustainability Awards
2014: GREENEST SELF CATERING BUSINESS - GTBS Gold Star Awards
2013-2014: GOLD Accreditation - Green Tourism Business Scheme
2012 : HIGHLY COMMENDED - GTBS Gold Star Awards
2011-2012: GOLD Accreditation - Green Tourism Business Scheme
Green reviews...
“If you want to see an example of how to combine the greenest of credentials with super quality and individual design you won’t do better than to head to the Eco Cottages at Merlin Farm. I had a great time: Well done Darrel and Lucy, I’m ‘green’ with envy, be in touch when I start my self-build. See you again, David"
David Ashby | Ashby's Europe | Stayed in Harlyn Eco Cottage
"Staying at the eco-cottages gave us a sense of what the tourism industry should be providing - quality, relaxed and peace-enducing accommodation whilst harvesting the heat of the sun and in the ground and sourcing Fair Trade, organic and other eco & socially acceptable products. Having funded GTBS programmes across West Somerset and Devon for Exmoor National Park Authority and met lots of GTBS-approved businesses, I can say from first-hand experience that Merlin Farm ranks very highly."
Phil Cookson | Aardvark Environmental Consultants | Stayed in Porthcothan Eco Cottage
Stayed in Constantine Eco Cottage
Eco Friendly Holidays in Cornwall | Green Holidays in Cornwall | Green Tourism Cornwall | Eco Cottages Cornwall | Green places to stay in cornwall
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