PowerSwitch

What heating is available in your home, in case of grid failure?

Apart from wood stove, I have an off-grid solar hot water system. Not so relevant in the depths of a winter power cut...

RalphW wrote:Apart from wood stove, I have an off-grid solar hot water system. Not so relevant in the depths of a winter power cut...

Very relevant during a summer power cut though, when home aircons have overloaded the grid.

We have an open fire (not used much), wood burning stove and a wood burning range cooker. We also have a living flame gas fire which I detest -will replace this with another stove at some point.

We also have a large log store and a smaller store next to the house (for all those wood burning appliances!)

I only have an open fire, but I am mega insulated.

Joules wrote:I only have an open fire, but I am mega insulated.

I only have an open fire, but the insulation and draft proofing is crap and I don't care. If I could be arsed to sort out the draft proofing I could probably do without the log fire, but I quite like it. Occasionally have it going in the evening during Jan Feb.. A couple of dozen oak logs last winter...

17:12. Thermometer on my mantelpiece currently reading 82F... with the ceiling fan on low, entirely pleasant.

Nothing yet, and I don't feel I have the available funds to improve that situation. My bonus this year will go on some insulation of my 1890s mid-terrace, but even that's in a conservation area and the outside can't be tampered with.

I'd like to get a small stove for the living room, and I'll discuss it with Mrs. Vertis tonight, but the costs will probably outweigh the benefits considering I'm the only wage earner as Mrs V looks after the Vertisette.

We have gas central heating, though the boiler is old and will probably be replaced soon. House is insulated quite well. It would be nice to have some kind of back up wood or multi-fuel stove in the living room. I don't think its necessarily a good idea to install some kind of wood boiler to replace the whole central heating, that would take a lot of wood and I don't want to deplete our precious forests! I am more thinking, if things get so bad that the gas gets cut off, we should not try to achieve BAU standards of living in terms of home heating. It might be good to be able to gather round a stove in the living room, spend most of our time there, and get by on relatively small amounts of wood and/or coal.

However, a traditional looking wood stove doesn't seem to fit very well stylistically/spacially in our house. We do have chimneys which as far as I am aware should be properly lined, but the fireplace is not very large, it currently fits one of those living flame gas fires. I expect there must be stoves out there designed to fit this type of set-up?

Vertis wrote:Nothing yet, and I don't feel I have the available funds to improve that situation. My bonus this year will go on some insulation of my 1890s mid-terrace, but even that's in a conservation area and the outside can't be tampered with.

I'd like to get a small stove for the living room, and I'll discuss it with Mrs. Vertis tonight, but the costs will probably outweigh the benefits considering I'm the only wage earner as Mrs V looks after the Vertisette.

Have you considered buying and storing a cheap solid fuel stove?
They would probably be in short supply in the event of gas or electricity shortages, but can be purchased very cheaply at present.

Finding a builder to install it when TSHTF should be easy since many builders would be short of work in a recession.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/categ ... n-stoves-2

Cheap stoves, probably not the best qaulity, but a lot better than nothing.

Thick woolly jumper.
I didn't use my heating last winter.

Haggis wrote:Thick woolly jumper.
I didn't use my heating last winter.

Ooh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ygDMHnt-Lg

skeptik wrote: Ooh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ygDMHnt-Lg

shit song, awful band

I don't think the issue is that important, for minimum comfort I would be happy with an hour or 2 of electiricy or gas a day, anything above that is a bonus and even without it, wooly jumpers and the occasional log fire is fine, but to be honest I dont see the power grid going down 100% anytime soon

goslow wrote: I don't think its necessarily a good idea to install some kind of wood boiler to replace the whole central heating, that would take a lot of wood and I don't want to deplete our precious forests! I am more thinking, if things get so bad that the gas gets cut off, we should not try to achieve BAU standards of living in terms of home heating.

I entirely agree with this. Last winter I installed a wood burning stove in the lounge and used just that for heating and it didn't take long to get acustomed to keeping doors shut and foraging for fuel and made a nice time in the evening when the fire went on.

I am trying to live on minimum of fuel as preparation for the times ahead, based on need rather than BAU and make good use of blankets and thermals and cooking for heat etc.

Both mine and girlfriend's places have open fires. This winter, I have told her firmly, will be a winter of woolly jumpers, open fires and sleeping bags on the sofa. The thermostat, I have said, stays exactly where it is. Of course, when push comes to shove I shall probably just do as I'm told...