Low-Key Hideaway Motel and RV Resort

Low-Key Hideaway
12050 SR 24
Cedar Key, FL
32625

Please Call
352-543-0700
for Reservations
and Cancellations

Low-Key Hideaway

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Low-Key Hideaway Green Practices

What we do to Conserve and Do Our Part helping Mother Earth Heal from Generations of Abuse

Before Cindy and I took over the Low-Key Hideaway, we spent just under 4 years traveling North America in a very small RV. During that time, we would go for months at a time without ever plugging the camper into shore power.

Our camper was outfitted with 3 - 100 watt solar panels which provided all our energy we needed to live a very comfortable lifestyle.

We averaged 40 gallons of water every 10-12 days between the two of us. When you consider a traditional household has a 50 gallon hot water tank that can be depleted in one or two showers, it was a learning experience to say the least.

When we settled down in Cedar Key, we did our best to figure out how to conserve as much water and energy as possible. This is an ongoing process and as we save up money, this list of items will continue to grow.

We're getting bids on solar panels to help cut our electricity bills. Solar water heaters to help cut the energy used to wash the laundry and hot water used during showers. We're looking into large capacity water barrels to capture as much rain water as possible to help keep our trees, plants and garden alive and all sorts of other ideas to help reduce our carbon footprint.

Cindy has planted a small garden where we grow our own vegetables rather than drive into Chiefland or a neighboring city to buy them.

Here are a few other things we've done and currently do to help conserve around the Low-Key Hideaway. We hope to make it one of the Greenest Motels in Cedar Key within the next few years.

We provide recycle bins in each room, and a recycle bin for the RV Campers to use
We've swapped out the old 5 gallon per flush style toilets with newer 1.6gpf units in the rooms we've updated. This will be an ongoing process as we continue to update them.
We swapped out all of our shower heads with 1.5gpm units to help conserve water consumption
Sinks aerators were swapped out with 1gpm heads to help conserve water
Rather than just throw them away, which we think would be more of a waste, as the older, higher wattage incandescent bulbs burn out, we replace them with more energy efficient florescent bulbs that burn a 1/4 of the energy, yet provide just as much light
We've added photovoltaic sensors on all our outdoor lighting so they only come on when needed and cant be left on during the daytime
Added four 65 gallon rain barrels to our gutter system we installed to capture rain water which we use to water our plants and trees
We planted 10 mature Sabal Palm trees (The Florida State Tree) that would have otherwise been cut down from another piece of property in Cedar Key - A Recycling of Trees if you will
We planted 4 Queen Palm trees to help provide shade and help in cleaning the air
We've planted 2 large Live Oak trees in a hopes to provide shade to the RV Campground.
We've planted 4 Sycamore trees which grow very fast and provide much needed summer shade to our property. We've also planted a Magnolia tree in the Campground area to aid in providing shade to the campers
Our new Tiki Bar wall was built with recycled wood from a house that was being renovated in Cedar Key and the doors you see on the outside of the tiki bar wall were recycled off of Craigslist
Rather than go out and purchase two new, king size headboards when we upgraded two of the rooms to king size beds, we recycled two wooden doors out of a house that was being renovated and mounted them on the walls as headboards - Recycling and artwork at the same time
We added two solar powered attic fans to the roof to help exhaust heat build up which helps reduce the amount of energy we use to run the A/C units during the summer time
We replaced the old, non-working A/C units with Energystar Certified units that draw much less power than the older models, they run quieter and they're easier to maintain
We use an electric lawn mower which is recharged from solar and wind energy off of our camper
We have a compost bin for all our kitchen scraps which we use to help fertilize our plants and use around the garden
We've pulled up the old carpet in the rooms and added ceramic tile floors. This allows us to clean the floors better and keeps the rooms much cleaner than carpet that can trap dander and dirt
We use a Rainbow Vacuum which does not use vacuum bags. The Rainbow uses a few cups of water as a HEPA Neutralizer Filtration system to completely eliminate the distribution of dust, mold or dander. Once we're finished vacuuming the rooms, the water is then dumped on one of the trees outside so not only is the tree being watered, but the water is being used for two separate purposes
We use a high efficient front loading washer and dryer which allow us to use less water per load and dries in half the amount of time a traditional dryer would require
We added a Solar Tube skylight in our office bathroom (the only room that was without a window) to help reduce energy used during the daytime - If you're looking for a great way to light a dark room or hallway, check out the Solar Tubes. They're amazingly bright!!
All of our cleaning supplies and detergents are Eco-Friendly
As the older refrigerators wear out in the rooms, we replace them with newer Energy Star rated models.
Our RV Bathrooms and public restrooms have been updated with the air-assisted toilet models which only use 1gpf rather than the old 5gpf models.
We provide bicycles to guests free of charge so once in Cedar Key, they don’t have to use their vehicles for transportation around our small town.
We had recycled concrete put down in our parking lot to help keep the parking area free from mud when it rains and also allows rainwater to drain through rather than trap it if we would have paved the parking lot

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