Gas
The house enjoys a mains gas supply that was installed some fifteen years ago and is therefore in very good condition. This powers a modern gas fired condensing central heating boiler which heats both the house and hot water. The gas also powers a clothes dryer.
Water
The water supply to the house is spring water direct from the foot of the Blorange mountain which starts close to the house. This system has never given us problems over the past thirty seven years that we have lived at Llanfoist House. The owner of this property is the license holder for the water extraction and therefore is in total control. The annual license fee is, as far as I can remember,£15 per year which is a great advantage today with water charges rising constantly and most houses having a metered supply. With this supply you can leave the tap running all day if you choose. The supply originates deep underground about 400 yards from and to the rear of the property into two tanks. The first is underground and although I have found the manhole cover I have never opened it. The second tank is a stone building above ground with stone tiles on the roof. This tank holds several hundred gallons which is constantly flowing with any excess running out of the building through a channel in the stone door step. In the time we have lived this have never posed a problem although many years ago we did clear the sand that had accumulated over several decades.
We have had this water tested several times during our ownership of this house and the results have always been excellent. The water is always cold and beautiful to drink straight from the tap. The fitting of filters and sterilizers would be very easy but we never found or thought it to be necessary. Because the tanks are some 70 or 80 feet higher than the house this is a totally gravity fed and maintenance free. With the exception of one record dry summer in the early 70’s we have never had to be careful with the amount of water we use and it has never run dry.
Canal water
Some distance from the rear of the property is the Monmouthshire Brecon canal, although it forms one of the boundaries of the land it is not visible from the property. The property enjoys a covenant giving a right to draw water from the canal. The old Victorian pipe system fell into disrepair a few years ago and with the permission of the British waterways a new supply pipe was set into the canal bank. This means that there is a permanent and constant supply of water for use in the grounds. We installed, at a depth of one meter underground, several hundred metres of water pipe to all parts of the land including the potting shed, stables, vegetable garden and greenhouse. Stand pipes and taps or below ground hose connection points were installed at key points. While this pipe work was being installed we also installed 100 meters of mains water pipe from near the road towards the house. so that the property could be more easily connected to the public water main if it was ever decided not to use the spring water for the house.
Electricity
The house is connected to mains electricity and has a White meter. This was because we originally had night storage heaters before the central heating was installed. We have not had the meter change for a normal one as we try to use electricity overnight for things like the dishwasher as the electricity is cheaper at this time of the night. If the new owner decides to dispense with this service it is very easily achieved as the company will combine the two meter readings and charge you the different tariff.
While the canal water pipes were being buried in the grounds we also included armored cables to take electric services to the outbuildings, the folly, greenhouse, potting shed and stables.
Sewage
The property is connected to the town sewer and is jointly owned and maintained with the neighboring properties until the sewer pipe reaches the main road.