What changes can we make to our lives to deal with the economic and energy crises ahead? Have you already started making preparations? Got tips to share?
chris25 wrote:I'm thinking of preparing for the blackouts this winter. I'm gonna have a little box with stuff in it, which I can easily get to in case the lights turn out.
Apart from the obvious candles and torches I'm wondering what else I can put in this box.
Entertainment of the mind is an important issue but books won't be too much good if it's dark....
I'm a bit paranoid about safety so though I have loads of candles I only use them in candle lanterns so accidental fires cannot happen. So for instant readily available emergency light I keep a couple of Cyalume white light sticks in each room and near the fuse box and front door, They give me about 8 or 10 hours of safe white light.
For info I also keep a Solar powered radio on the windowsill charging up each day.
Also it appears that most central heating systems no longer have gas pilot light to operate the thermocouple valves, they are now all electronic ignition systems which means if the power goes off so does the gas CH accordingly I have a wood burning stove for heat and a portable camping cooker for cooking on.
biffvernon wrote:The powercuts were real but the 'winter of discontent' was something dreamt up by the Tory press.
Really ? I remember unburied bodies stored in refrigerator trucks, huge piiles of uncollected black bags clogging streets, almost daily strikes in turn by railways, miners, car makers, steel makers, council workers and other trouble makers. I can also remember fuel shortages, Brownouts, power cuts, no milk deliveries, bus drivers strikes, bread shortages, sugar shortages fruit shortages as the dockers went on strike. I was a soldier at the time and ended up getting roped into all sorts of unsavory work trying to keep stuff moving.
Entertainment during a power cut on a winter evening here would mean games of cards or scrabble in front of the woodburner. Perhaps not exactly rivetting stuff, but better by far than no entertainment at all.
Since this thread started, we have had a gas hob put in. I cut its electric supply one day to check that yes, it can light with just matches. You'd think durr that's obvious, but it's amazing what crippling "safety features" get put into things these days.
RenewableCandy wrote:Entertainment during a power cut on a winter evening here would mean games of cards or scrabble in front of the woodburner. Perhaps not exactly rivetting stuff, but better by far than no entertainment at all.
Since this thread started, we have had a gas hob put in. I cut its electric supply one day to check that yes, it can light with just matches. You'd think durr that's obvious, but it's amazing what crippling "safety features" get put into things these days.
MOST gas hobs that have electric ignition can be lit with a match, but NOT all, I would advise experiment if in any doubt.
And do not count absolutely on the gas supply, it is more reliable than electricity but not infalliable.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
I've started buying up old board games.
Not "just" for po reasons, its just nice to have something grown up to do with friends after food that doesnt involve the television.
Its amazing how few are still actually made.
Charity shops are a great source of board games- many of which are no longer in production.
Anyone got recommends/favourites? Mine are Trivial Pursuit,Articulate and Pictionary. You can easily pick up Triv from a charity shop for 3 quid and it's probably about £30 new!
Last edited by nexus on 07 Oct 2012, 23:26, edited 1 time in total.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
DominicJ wrote:I've started buying up old board games.
Not "just" for po reasons, its just nice to have something grown up to do with friends after food that doesnt involve the television.
Its amazing how few are still actually made.
The trick is not to buy the old board games, they are almost without exception rubbish. Players spend most of their time waiting for their go, the winner is clear half way through the game, luck dominates player skill etc. However, there have been a spate of fantastic board games, mostly out of Europe over the last decade to so. A few to think about: Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Tigris & Euphrates, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne...
Risk is exactly the type of rubbish, old fashioned game I was thinking of. You spend most of your time waiting for your go and you can tell who's going to win half way though. Where's the fun in that. Give modern games a go, they are far better.
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