WORLD’S FIRST SOLAR POWERED CASTLE | How They Did It | Athelhampton

Athelhampton House in Dorset is the focus of this NEW episode of historic house visits here on the American Viscountess channel. Living in and maintaining these homes is both a wonderful privilege and an enormous challenge. And one of the greatest tasks every house owner faces is heating a centuries old building in a sustainable and economical way. Giles Keating at Athelhampton has faced this challenge in a totally pioneering and ingenious way!
Join me as I visit Athelhampton House - the first solar powered Manor House in England.
To learn more about Athelhampton: www.athelhampton.com
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American Viscountess Season 3 is produced by Living History Films, www.livinghistoryuk.com - It is made in association with Historic Houses historichouses.org The U.K’s largest collection of independently owned historic houses and gardens and with Little Dot Studios www.littledotstudios.com who deliver premium and ground-breaking digital entertainment to audiences, wherever they are.
The production of American Viscountess is made possible by our Patrons - thank you! Please consider becoming a Patron at / americanviscountess

[@francescalittle4414]

Watching your success with KZbin is as great as watching the videos! Congratulations to you and yours, from one American to another.

[@joannainperth]

I love this combination of a historic home and saving the environment. Two of my passions. Now if every historic home owner could afford this kind of upgrade.

[@pheart2381]

I love this. Many people dont realise solar panels dont have to be on the roof. I rent my flat so I have 2 small panels on my balcony attached to power banks and 2 on my kitchen window sill,and 2 teeny ones on my living room windowsill that provide all my lighting. I can even charge my phone and tablet on a good sunny day. This set up he has here should be more mainstream. Imagine all schools powered completely by solar energy...❤

[@harrytuttle0]

Giles is making an amazing contribution! it's a perfect marriage when someone like that finds, and can invest in the future of a grade 1 property 🏰

[@trinidad2450]

I really love the focus your channel has taken from it’s initial videos. You are now our educator on British historic homes, and for this I am very grateful. By the way, I also hail from Chicago. ❤

[@AmericanViscountess]

Wow, thank you!

[@PinkPixie019]

I live outside of Seattle and we have a pretty similar weather as a good part of England. Solar Panels have some so far the last 10 years, now they need so little sunlight to charge a battery. My parents put a Large Shed in their back yard and made the roof a 20x10 solar roof. it runs all the appliances in their house and their hot water heater. They plan to test the hottube on it this summer.

[@leahmarieezra877]

My hat is off to him. This is so wonderful!

[@kathyevans2968]

What a remarkable man to be paving the way in implementing new technology and trying to find ways to overcome the huge problems these old homes such as Athelhampton face. This really really does show the evolving community, history, & as Julie pointed so well as how we’ve evolved and no doubt be able to learn from & continue to do so! The house and gardens were so beautiful and Mr Keating is such a fascinating, respectful owner & custodian. I loved what looked like a magnificent old ‘ghost’ gum tree in the garden!

[@trishkeller920]

How they were able to integrate and retrofit in a centuries old home is testament to will.

[@dottiebaker6623]

Julie, you are the hardest working woman on You Tube. Thank you for this video on the AMAZING upgrades at Athelhampton House. What an inspiration for all of us! Net zero carbon emissions done in a way that does nothing to degrade the character of this beautiful historic house. Hats off to Giles for this project!

[@rhondamartin3575]

My ancestors family home! I love it!

[@rhondamartin3575]

​@@silva7493My Martin family dates back to Martin de Tours. They branch out ,of course throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. Various homes. The earliest Martin I found from Athelhampton is Sir Oliver born circa 1344 and his father Baron Robert Martin IV just says Dorset. Sir William Martin circa 1465, son of Thomas, had a pet ape when he was there! He is said to haunt the manor still looking for William! I read that there are supposed to be 4 ghosts in total there.

[@rhondamartin3575]

@@silva7493 Yes, I'm sad about this but I'm in the States currently! I'm not sure when I'll make it to England. I would love to visit a lot of my Martin family homes, such as Athelhampton, Dartington, Long Melford, Ballynahinch in Ireland, etc along with Mapperton, and Althorp! It would take a lot of money to visit and do everything I want so it will be quite awhile before I can venture over there! I also want to visit Scotland also as I have ancestry from there, also. It's so fascinating to learn about your family! I'm related to almost of member of the Royal family. I could ramble on but I won't. I just love learning all of this!

[@rhondamartin3575]

@@silva7493 Yes, we can dream! I'm thankful to Julie and her team for making these videos and for sharing the history! I'm thankful to see one of the family homes and perhaps, to save money to hopefully, be able to visit one day! It would mean so much! I hope you can return one day, also! Don't give up!

[@manner_jr]

Hey same, that's so cool! I haven't gone full in depth in my family but I traced them back to athelhampton. I'm from Kentucky so it's really cool to see where my family comes from

[@cathrynmccay6820]

I'd be curious to know how much that huge heating system cost and how long it will take to recoup that cost via savings. It's a fantastic idea!

[@OzzieJayne]

Love, love, love everything about this episode; from your beautiful frock to the bank of Tesla batteries, the future looks bright for renewables and historic houses 💜

[@cedarcottagefarm2885]

This was fascinating. We went solar last year and geothermal 2 years ago. I know the cost of our small system. I can only imagine the overall cost he had to invest in his system. I look forward to seeing more of his home and gardens. I am very envious of the greenhouse.

[@emanuelaboiardi9520]

one of the most interesting visit so far.Amazing .Congratulations to the owner of Athelhampton and to you, Julie for choosing to tell us,about this farsighted yet possibile project.

[@TeresaEliz]

That was an incredible and historically educational video, Julie ♥️ @American Viscountess 👏🏻👏🏻. I 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 this format of not only visiting these amazing historical manors houses, but learning who owns them now, etc. Absolutely nothing this American 🇺🇸 woman loves better than English, Scot and Welsh history 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿! From the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, after the Romans left, up until today. Thank you and your gracious host for a memorable day 💖

[@jonimarchese7655]

Hi Julie, Athelhampton, is so beautiful, the gardens are amazing. I love the center crown. I can't wait until you go back, and we can see the inside as well, I love anything haunted so that is going to be fun. I can't wait until everyone, can reduce their carbon footprint as well. I love it when you tour these homes and that you want to share with us. Thank you so much. Love from N.Y.

[@kevinjewell233]

Genius, someone that shares my vision, I cannot tell you how fantastic this is!!!

[@elisabeth6108]

Hard to realize that you were having tea in an English garden! So Mediterranean looking! How wonderful that Athelhampton and Giles found each other. His passion and wealth are what this spectacular grand dame needed to bring her forward in time and set her up for another century or two. Truly a match made in historic house heaven.

[@nativetexson]

Fascinating! As an architect and historic preservationist, I loved this episode. Part of my responsibility as a history preservationist involves sustainability of not only the building, but also the environment, and cultural aspects of the site. Giles has touched upon all of these. 👏👏

[@MartinGonzalez-zt9xn]

It was very interesting to see. Tell him very well done. People like him change the world for better with the technology that is being created. Very impressive 🙀🙀🙀👌👌👌👏👏👏🎯

[@gwenb4531]

I know that finances are personal and I appreciate that but I was wondering what company Mr. Keating used for his solar install and what a ball-park figure it would cost to have such a huge solar installation.

[@debramarie63]

This was terrific! Julie, this new format is incredible indeed. I love the views, the camera allows us to peek around the corner and see these tremendous treasures. What an amazing amount of thought, not to mention work that was put in to take this Net Zero project on and bring it to life. I am most impressed by the time you generously give to the custodian of the preserved Manor Home. You do not push with questions which allows the guest to really open up. I am excited for the next venture into "spooky" Athelhampton.

[@nursem8651]

wonderful video

[@AmericanViscountess]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@oCherryPie]

This is such a beautiful property we visited shortly before the property was sold to the current owner. It is lovely to see how he is embracing the property and taking it forward. The gardens are amazing and you have reminded me that I need to visit them again soon.

[@PinkPixie019]

Julie, I've been watching you for YEARS. I think I saw you on a BBC documentary about Manor Homes and the fact you were American stuck out. I've watched you on other things and when you started your KZbin in full force I was so happy! I am loving learn about all these old homes and in a post Downton Abby world, the interest is perfect right now! I can't wait to hear more from you as you work on the Letters! (We might need a movie or TV show one day about this Dollar Princess)

[@goldenineke]

Wonder what the cost of setting up the solar panel units was and how many decades it would cost to recoup that? It’s the initial outlay that precludes most from converting to this system of energy.

[@c.j.r.02]

I’m also curious to know if the used grants. I know that the government will pay for things like this.

[@heathermartinez8640]

I was absolutely thrilled looking at all of the solar panels and just thinking through how helpful they are for future generations!

[@trininl2196]

Thank you for a lovely day. I’m drinking tea on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri. Couldn’t be a better day 🌺

[@jimkreiling9166]

Just fantastic. I can't even imagine what the initial cost must have been. However, over the future years, it will pay for itself.

[@CooperJeanne]

Love to see an older gentlemen embracing green energy and recycling!

[@GabrielaJunqueiraBalassiano]

I simply looooved this episode! 👏🏻

[@bernadettecrawford3656]

Brilliant how forward thinking, what a clever man, beautiful house thanks Julie your so intelligent and down to earth so interesting, best wishes from a scouser now retired to Australia.

[@chrishowie882]

Phenomenal episode thank you Julie! Lovely to meet Giles and to hear more about his incredibly clever solar power , heat pumps and Tesla battery systems. The blue print for the future! Thank you again, so very much!!!

[@tabuhurt1593]

I’ve been trying to reduce my carbon footprint for years now. Love this episode Julie and Luke🤗

[@bmbutler2]

And you keep going for that. 😅. Don’t breathe out.

[@donnabaardsen5372]

​@@bmbutler2 Lol. Yeah, that rabbit hole is deep🐰

[@angeladawn8]

“Carbon footprint “ is a term invented by advertising companies that represent oil companies to place the blame on us. It’s the oil companies that are truly the evil culprits. Don’t buy into this ideological garbage. Please.

[@francescalittle4414]

The Great Courts with the pyramids were breathtaking❤

[@luciaroslingshaw2112]

Loving the new AV videos. But I hate waiting for them to come out! xo

[@mariansmith7694]

Net metered. In my state in USA, NC, all homes are required to be tied to grid. But we can use solar or wind, hydro, geothermal, but it all feeds into main grid. Such a home is net metered.

[@kathyevans2968]

In Australia we say net zero also or carbon neutral rather than net metered. Interesting to hear how different places refer to it and how it’s geared.

[@trishkeller920]

To add to Marian’s comment. We use net metering at our home in Central FL. We feed our extra to the grid and it is banked as a credit. When we draw from the grid due to lack of production we work off that credit before owing.

[@LightExpeditions]

This is so neat to see what’s possible to make power renewable. Btw I love this green flowered dress you are wearing. Where did you get it?

[@mika72.-Bois]

The solar panels, heat pumps & battery storage is such a great well thought out system! And the way they have been located to be unobtrusive but still functioning optimally.

[@kyfranke]

Excellent content and video production on your channel, Julie! Keep on going. I am wishing you and your team all the best.

[@tjbren576]

Thank you so much for this!!!! Athelhampton is one of my favorite properties to begin with, and to see it the way you've shown it is WONDERFUL!

[@margaretgaal937]

She is an educator as to how to be savvy business woman. I respect that quality in her and sorry that other members of royalty or position don’t view a respectful opportunity.

[@amaliagomez7466]

That sunny garden and all those imported trees and plant’s remind me of Southern California USA 😊

[@jenniferhartman6474]

What a fascinating project and neighbor. Wow!

[@trishkeller920]

I’m amazed and thrilled that solar is a viable option in the UK.

[@margamoons-filip5205]

Best ever tour and net zero home! No emissions 🎉

[@meganhill3822]

Fascinating. Thanks. Saving our planet 1 home at a time

[@risalangdon9883]

Julie! This was an absolutely fascinating educational video! Wonderful that he was able to take that vast property solar. Would have been helpful to have a ballpark cost in setting this up? I doubt if many would have the financial ability to duplicate such a project. But it would probably be trickier for many to be able to discreetly hide all the necessary infrastructure needed. However, with that said, where there is a will, there is a way. I do hope you take us back with you soon when the gardens wake up from their winter slumber. Thank you again for taking us along! Happy Easter to you & your family. As well as all those who watch or read this comment! Be Blessed!

[@MsSherryjh]

What a wonderful place. I hope he is leading the way to remind others they have the land to make this upgrade, and, after a few years, it will pay for itself and free up the finances to invest in the rest of the property.

[@dhowe5180]

I visited athelhampton last May. Really stunning garden with incredible sight lines throughout. I also visited your house at Mapperton the previous day. I don’t recall who the docent was but he was excellent.

[@laurihines300]

You and Giles have inspired me, Julie. We have a large historic home here in the states and I am going to get back onto solar panels for it.

[@danutabondarska6927]

Thank you Julie for showing the video.

[@AmericanViscountess]

You are so welcome!

[@danutabondarska6927]

I am really glad that you have brought the episode about the renewable energy and how it can be adopt in a historic building. I think the victorian grilles are genius solution. I think the modern technologies can clash with the medieval castle estetics, so they need to be used in the way that they are not directly seen but transferred into something more relevent. :)

[@lianefehrle9921]

I always love watching you for your info and love of these places.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Absolutely fabulous!

[@01Lenda]

Wow, truly impressive video! Loved it! Thank you! 🌿❤️

[@ellenwood719]

Fascinating technology!

[@justme6773]

Thanks for another fascinating video, Julie. I am curious if you've ever visited Castle Goring or whether or not you plan to in the future? I can't wait for your next episode!

[@lucillashlie38]

This was an incredible episode!

[@Tao-Quantum-Healing-Events]

Love love love thee topic you cover. This is great. If we can find ways to cut costs or make a profit we can keep these wonderful historic homes.

[@anjiemontalvo2296]

I very much enjoyed this video ❤

[@JElizondo]

Wonderful virtual tour in to Athelhampton. I just couldn´t watch the third video.

[@rhondamartin3575]

They haven't released the 3rd video yet on the ghosts! Someone else wanted it also! I hope it's released soon since Halloween is coming soon! 🎃

[@michaelhoran407]

Congratulations to Atelhampton castle about their 130 kilowatts photovoltaic power array and solar power heat pumps, beautiful installation. It may be the best installation in the entire U.K. It feels great doesn’t it Atelhampton never to receive an electricity bill! I’m in Saguache district , San Luis valley,Colorado, U.S., 7500 feet elevation, which has the most solar gain of anywhere in the U.S. .The economy here has become almost entirely solar powered marijuana farms in 1250 acres increments. Marijuana is legal in Colorado. It’s being extensively studied for treatment of war injuries PTSD post traumatic stress syndrome disorder.

[@elkesimons-yarbrough2385]

I would say from 2019 to 2023 the owner must have invested millions into the property. These homes are very expensive to renovate and continue to maintain. Thank God for people like this owner, who chose to do this with his money.

[@handisandi7246]

Another wonderful insightful watch. Who knew? Now I do 😊

[@lurlenejones456]

Cool! Solar-powered manor house!

[@florentinalily]

I have the same system here in France. We have solar on the roof and Panasonic Aquarea heat pumps. It really is amazing. It also provides all the hot water that we need for a large bastide and an adjoining gite. You keep your radiators on all the time and the house is a constant 20 degrees which is perfect for an old building. You do need to insulate and insulate more. We have a nationwide system here in France where you can apply for grant aid to install these systems and you have a consultant (free) from the govt. who assesses your home and puts together a package such as this.

[@grendaal2007]

But its does not apply to all Europe. In Switzerland 20 Degrees is to low, because of humidity during the year. Comfort temperature is at 22- 23 degrees. In Germany, Poland and not even mentioning north of Europe and definitely also in GB there is simply to little sunny days to make it profitable. In winter you need electricity from the net anyways to make the hot water and hitting, It is in fact extremely expensive system.

[@lurlenejones456]

The Mapperton drawing room!

[@Alyssa-br3jd]

Loved!!

[@krisboyst6362]

what a great video. Fascinating home owner - home - gardens beautiful!!

[@Paige5Hansen]

So cool! Loved see this! ❤

[@elenakhmeleva5678]

Absolutely fascinating!!!

[@oksanakendle6287]

Absolutely amazing 🤩

[@candaceloftus1047]

Very interesting, I would be interested to see the LCA for the project. I also wonder if they have looked at or plan on looking into implementing agrivoltaics since it doesn't look like they are currently utilizing it.

[@lurlenejones456]

Loved this episode!

[@klouliving5646]

This is absolutely amazing,thank you for sharing all this beautiful things 😍🙏

[@ilenemckenna3909]

The most significant advantage is the savings on electric bills. Imagen what owners of historic houses could do with the money they save on electricity. We have had solar power walls for 3 years. not only do we have an almost non existent electric bill, but also been a great asset with a few power outages that we have had.

[@spongebobsqueeze]

I love this. Those batteries ,heat pumps and panels will all last between 20/30 years. It might have been an expensive investment but not that freaking expensive. And all of those years will be carbon neutral.

[@annehinchliffe7794]

Excellent episode! I really enjoyed this one.

[@cloudchamois7004]

love the mediterranean garden tea time chat

[@marylupapada4601]

Wonderful! Thanks for showing us!

[@AmericanViscountess]

Thanks for watching!

[@AvaT42]

A fascinating vlog! It is amazing the solar power and batteries help so much. It looks like it costs a fortune to put in, but saves a fortune too. I love the pyramids and the eucalyptus tree is breathtaking!❣️😍🫶

[@javiersanchezmejia2350]

Great video

[@Kwilt2collect]

Lovely video. According to Google, a previous owner sold off the family antiques. Did Mr. Keating buy a furnished or empty house?

[@maryfrump7937]

This is very interesting.

[@OBXDewey]

Way cool! ❤

[@MaryMR59]

The shoes Julie's wearing look very comfortable. Anyone know what brand they are? My oldest brother and his wife Solarized their house before retiring. They said it's really helped with the bills.

[@katielarosee9571]

I always admire those shoes as well! I think they might be the Cole Haan Original Grand Plain Oxford? Hope you have a lovely Easter!

[@Junoleda]

Muncaster is also trying to be net zero. Maybe consider a visit there, quite far away but a very interesting castle. It’s also in the Historic Houses scheme

[@susannerousseau7311]

The only drawback to this system is how those Batteries are mined and they are not renewable . They take tremendous amount of fossil fuels to mine them .

[@bmbutler2]

Shh! No one wants to talk about those facts.

[@user-rr3yw9dn1l]

Yes everyone wants to ignore this and make everyone go to this when it's only better for a short time. Then, they can't be recycled and are toxic to the environment.

[@gwenwade6059]

Going to be a surge in the planting of Leylandiia hedges to hide these. Lol!

[@Susan.I]

Giles must be very wealthy to be able to afford this lovely manor home and to be able to afford the cost of solar panels and batteries, and more!

[@Scarlett193966]

Giles sounds exactly like Luke!

[@maryfrump7937]

Solar power is the way to go. The savings in heating costs would be huge.

[@rhondamartin3575]

A wonderful video ❤🎉! When is your GHOST video coming out? I'm looking forward to seeing it! Perhaps October would be great! I love your other ghost videos you've done around Halloween. Thank you very much❤!

[@nanabutner]

I have a question--With all the rain you have in the UK, is solar power practical? What do you use for a backup system? I live in the desert southwest of the USA and solar still isn’t that practical here where we have lots of sunshine.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

Alternative power sources are not an all or nothing proposition (yet) but an improvement on the present situation. Germany is one of the most cloudy countries in Europe. But many of the houses have well functioning solar systems besides all the solar and wind farms. There are even days when the fourth largest economy in the world runs to a large part on renewables. My sister has had a solar array for over a decade and not paid a dime for electricity since.

[@nanabutner]

@@LCamp-cr7fs I simply stated that solar is an impractical form of power because of the huge degrees on unreliability! My street has dozens upon dozens of old solar panels that never worked! Windmills are somewhat more practical until the 50 to 70 mph wind gusts make the windmills actually dangerous.

[@nanabutner]

@@LCamp-cr7fs I simply stated that solar is an impractical form of power because of the huge degrees on unreliability! My street has dozens upon dozens of old solar panels that never worked! Windmills are somewhat more practical until the 50 to 70 mph wind gusts make the windmills actually dangerous.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

@@nanabutner And I simply stated that you are looking at all or nothing. If a renewable produces 60% power with the rest supplied by fossil fuels, I call that a win.

[@maryellencook9528]

It will be very interesting to see if HM King Charles III will encourage making some of the royal residences solar/zero energy establishments. Keep in mind that each of those Tesla batteries costs between 35K to 50K U.S.dollars, so obviously the average person may not be able to get those batteries for home use.

[@nnvisionatp3256]

Very nice videos mam

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

Julie, is it possible to talk about energy consumption and its related costs? The architect mentioned that an estate like that could pay over 100,000 pounds per year, or did I misunderstand?

[@Nnnhh111]

вот мооодец...СОЛНЕЧНЫЕ БАТАРЕИ..здОрово...👍👍👍 Отопление БЕСПЛАТНО. !

[@billsweetland294]

I find all of this extremely hard to believe considering the weather in England. Good luck with your project anyway.

[@EriBarr]

We have a solar water heater it’s awesome lol