In an emergency......

[SarahJane]

I would be ok, I dont have gas anyway, and if the electric went then I have a million candles, extra duvets and a barbecus that I could cook on. I also have a couple of camping lamps.

[sheena]

I have to say that I am with you on that one invisible piper.
Unfortunately the percentage of people who don't or can't think for themselves are the very ones who will not survive any crisis (which to us likeminded people will just become second nature and a mere blip which we will adapt to, because we have to)
This forum is great and I generally try to encompass any info and try to infuse it into the kids and their friends without them realising, however, because our kids have always been brought up like that anyway it is a second nature.
You wouldn't believe how this lifestyle can cause such wonderment in people who don't experience it on a regular basis and that in itself stimulates the mind - never give up hope, just try to instill it.

[frozenthunderbolt]

We also have some bleach handy which can be added to the water should we need to drink it and find it has floaters! .

But probablly the same as our chlorine tabs right enough!

Yes, you just need something to kill the germs and they will do it just as well. I am not sure how you bring yourself to drink it but I guess in an emergency you have no choice!

Please note, this should be a bleach that only contains sodium hyperchlorate (for its free chlorine when combined with water) NO fragrances colours or other bumf. should smell of chlorine and chlorine only.

Use only a few drops per L and leave it to stand, it can then be poured back and fourth between containers to largely get rid of the chlorine taste .

There is still no substitute to rotating your suplies, water included, every few months. You never know - it might just save your life.

[george]

Please note, this should be a bleach that only contains sodium hyperchlorate (for its free chlorine when combined with water) NO fragrances colours or other bumf. should smell of chlorine and chlorine only.

Use only a few drops per L and leave it to stand, it can then be poured back and fourth between containers to largely get rid of the chlorine taste .

There is still no substitute to rotating your suplies, water included, every few months. You never know - it might just save your life.

Yes, thanks for that reminder although it is just plain old bleach with nothing else added. I agree about rotating the supplies although we are quite lucky here. They have done tests with the local tap water which has been stored for 5 years and it is fine without any germs or bugs in it. Mind you the quality of the tap water here is amazing.

We do rotate our supplies about once a year, swapping out our tinned food and changing the water and also just making sure batteries, first aid supplies and everything are good.

Invisible Piper I also agree with you about how sad it is that most people these days are not able to think for themselves and especially sad that it they are not able to look after themselves for a couple of days. How are they going to cope if there is a real emergency?

[theabsinthefairy]

When we bought our house here in France it required complete renovation and had been empty for some 20 years, so whilst it had a rudimentary electricity supply and apparently a water supply, the meters for both were broken and we guessed it would take some time to get those services on line.

So we arrived on the assumption that our heating, hot water, washing facilities etc etc would only be what we ourselves could generate - hence Rayburn for heat, hot water, and cooking. Wood burners as a later addition to rooms that we have made habitable ourselves - living room and bathroom.

Water supply was from our well - we had a well pump that we ran off a little generator that we bought out with us (although our water was turned on within a couple of hours of officially signing for the house and the new meter was installed a couple of months later - no water charges for the period when there was no meter).

We were told upfront that our region being mountainous and prone to heavy snows and frosts would suffer from power cuts so we came prepared - we use very little electric on a daily basis and although entertainments like the laptop and TV/DVD watching would suffer we have plenty of board games and candles, wind up torches, gas lights etc to provide light should we need it. We also have solar lighting in the hall, stairs and bathroom in case of emergency.

We have a very old telephone that plugs straight into the 20V phone line, and so does not require any additional electricity to run, and we have solar water heating backup for sunny days too. We have a couple of spare panels to charge up caravan /leisure batteries for power when required.

Our well water is lovely and clear, and our sewage is into our own septic tank anyway.

Apart from washing by hand which is a pain, we don't struggle with power outages which can last 3 to 4 days - we have no electric heating, and no mains gas - I do have a backup cooker that runs on a gas bottle, plus we have some camping gas equipment.

And yes - the shock and horror from people who cannot contemplate life without 'essentials', when they see our phone they all laugh - but when we are the only people who can make calls in power cuts they soon realise why we have such an antique still in use!

I have found that people are quite soft these days and do seem to struggle to see past the obvious to find another way of doing something.

[Brod]

Bit of a late contribution but here goes.

Heat: We burn 99% wood, only used a single bag of coal this year (for banking up the fire late at night during the cold snaps. We've normally got about 2 years worth of wood in store at any one time (got to allow it to season you know !)
Cooking: Mains gas cooker (light with matches/lighter) no need for mains power but if the mains gas goes than we can cook on the woodburner and have a couple of double gas burners and full bottles of gas tucked away.
Lighting : Solar power and LED lights, gas lamps that run off the big (13kg) propane bottles, half a dozen each of tilley and Aladdin lamps and a couple of Jerrycans of paraffin.
Water: Several 200lt rainwater butts, and a couple of old wells admiittedly capped but I know where they are (you could see where one is during the recent snow. The snow settled on the ground except over the capped well where it melted leaving a neat circle in the snow.
Freezers: There had to be a snag. They're the easiest way to store surplus garden produce (want broad beans all the year round, look in our freezers) Got a generator but only a limited supply of petrol. We know from experience that you can leave them for 72 hours without the food spoiling, but if its longer than that, but will probably use the gennie to top them up for a few hours a day to stretch them out.

PS, Yes I went through the 3 day week as well and struggled through the last downturn in the economy in the 80s as you might have guessed !