Cottage Information
Keys
The two keys to the front door will be left on the kitchen counter. A third key is located in a key code box on the rear wall of the white house. The code is provided when you book with us. The cottage lounge door is kept locked, as it opens into a small private yard area. There is a key to this door close by in a carved wooden box on the shelves, in case guests need to exit via this route in an emergency.
WiFi
The cottage enjoys full fibre broadband. The Wi-Fi point is located in the corner of the living room by the door.
The Wi-Fi name is brynaberbach and the password is provided when you arrive with us. The Wi-Fi password is also provided on the kitchen noticeboard and by the Wi-fi point in the lounge.
Electricity
Electricity is supplied free of charge as part of your rental. Our electricity supplier is Octopus Energy. Octopus source their power only from renewable sources. Our tariff provides for very low cost green energy during off peak times, especially late at night. Only low energy LED lighting is used throughout the cottage.
The consumer unit/ fuse box is located in the entrance lobby by the front door. All the circuits are protected by RCD trip switches. It is very rare for these to trip and if they do either reset them or please ask us to help if you are in any way concerned about touching the consumer unit.
We have spare light bulbs for all the light fittings in the very unlikely event that an LED bulb should fail. Again please just ask.
The switches for the front and rear external lighting are on the same switch panels as the interior lights. If you flick a switch and nothing seems to happen then you may be just turning on and off the outside lights.
There are almost no public charging points on the Peninsular. This makes bringing an electric vehicle to the area very problematic. Therefore we are delighted to provide a MyEnergi Zappi 2 EV charging point for the use of our guests. If you are bringing an electric vehicle please let us know and we will ensure we make the charging point active. The point can charges at night when the electricity costs are at their lowest.
We do not add any cost to the rental price as we do not wish to charge guests extra who do not have an electric vehicle, and who would obviously gain no benefit from it. Therefore we do charge a small additional fee for using the charge point, but only to cover the cost of the electricity. We do not wish to make a profit from this service. Currently the charging costs are £0.07 per kwh between 23.30 and 05.30 and £0.31 per kwh between 05.30 and 23.30.
Obviously for this reason charging an electric vehicle from a regular socket in the cottage is strictly forbidden. We're sure you understand.
BBQ
There is a BBQ/Smoker in the rear patio. It is straightforward to operate but we have included a guide to its use within the information pack. A full set of BBQ tools are stored in the under counter cupboard to the right of the sink.
Wood fired stove
The stove in the living room burns wood. In Spring, Autumn and Winter there will be a starter supply of kindling and logs for you to use. More can be purchased locally if required. Please only use purchased dry firewood. The burning of wet wood (wood you may have picked up from the countryside or which has not been properly dried for use in fireplaces and stoves) and coal will soon become illegal, as it is already in England. We have provided a guide to safely using the wood burning stove within the information pack .
Good sources for firewood are:
Owen Firewood Direct, Rhyd-y-clafdy, Pwllheli LL53 7YP 01758 740253
https://owen-firewood-direct.business.site/
Located just north of Pwllheli. Open Monday to Friday
Most local petrol stations and convenience stores stock bags of firewood and kindling.
Heating
The cottage heating is through an air sourced heat pump. The controller is on the wall by the kettle and coffee maker. Heat pumps work best when they provide continuous background heating. As such it is recommended that they are not turned off, even on warm days. It is best to set a preferred temperature and then adjust radiator thermostats accordingly. Therefore the radiator thermostats in the bedrooms have been turned down. The central heating can comfortably be left alone. However if you do wish to adjust the room temperature then from experience a continuous background temperature of 18 - 20 degrees is ideal for Bryn Aber Bach, bearing in mind it is a very well insulated cottage.
Recycling is as follows:
Non recyclable waste (including plastic wrappers, plastic bags and dog poo bags) - goes into the green wheelie bin and is collected three weekly on a Friday. We will put this bin out on the appropriate Thursday night for you. Due to the gap between collection dates it would be great if you could put non recycleables into the black plastic bags provided.
Recyclable waste goes into the three part blue trolley and is collected on a Friday.
Paper and cardboard go into the top box
Plastic cartons and tubs and all cans go into the middle box
Glass goes into the bottom box
Food waste goes into the small brown caddy and this is also collected weekly on a Friday
We have provided a three compartment kitchen bin to help sort recycling, each compartment is clearly labelled for non recycleables, paper/cardboard, plastic/tins. There is a compost caddy in the kitchen for food waste and a receptacle under the sink for glass items. The non recycleable bin compartment has a black bag already in it, and there are more on a roll under the kitchen sink
The refuse trucks can come quite early so it's best to put the bins out by the main gate the night before (Thursday). The somewhat complex recycling rules can be a little daunting so please ask if you are uncertain about anything. We certainly struggled a little when we first arrived here. And of course if you have any issues or problems related to pushing the bins across the drive please ask us for assistance.