What Kind of Preparations

kurt barlow · Post by **kurt barlow** » 10 Jan 2009, 18:46

Hi John

How do you upload a picture?

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 10 Jan 2009, 20:29

kurt barlow wrote:Hi John

How do you upload a picture?

You'll find answers to everything you ever wanted to know on PowerSwitch

http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... hp?t=10244

kurt barlow · Post by **kurt barlow** » 10 Jan 2009, 20:30

Jon

Basically its a wooden frame in which is lined out with foil back insulation. two 47mm x 1500mm vacuum tubes (with the heat rods removed) are filled with water and placed in the frame which is then placed facing the sun. Over the summer i found that each tube would go from ambient to around boiling in two hours. Each tube holds about 1.5 litres each.

If you pm me an email address I will send you a picture as I do not have any facility to post pictures at present.

KB

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 10 Jan 2009, 22:21

Here's the photo of Kurt's water heater

kurt barlow · Post by **kurt barlow** » 10 Jan 2009, 22:52

Thanks John

I mainly used the water for cooking / hot drinks but also used it in the washing machine and dishwasher on occasions.

Not really cost effective against mains but a useful practice session and back up to conserve fuel.

Also a great way of sterliising water if need be.

Post by **adam2** » 13 Jan 2009, 15:31

kurt barlow wrote: Got into food foraging - mainly apples, sloes, and blackberries
Put in stock about 2 tonnes of firewood.
Purchased 4x110ah ex telecom exchange batteries

Pondering whether to purchase about 50 litres of methanol for indoor cooking.
Also a stock of parafin for oil lamps.

If your wood burner can also burn coal, I would get a ton or two of coal for stock. A ton of coal contains more heat than a ton of wood, occupies less storeage space, and keeps better.

If you have not yet put the batteries to regular use, dont forget to charge them! they can be damaged by being left discharged.

I would avoid methanol for cooking fuel, it is quite expensive and has a much lower calorific value than parrafin.
For emergency cooking I would get a parrafin cookstove, these can be used indoors with care, and being able to use the same fuel for cooking and lighting would be desirable.
http://www.hurricanelamps.co.uk/paraffin_stoves.htm
Sell a good simple non-pressure parrafin cook stove.

In emergency parrafin lamps and stoves can burn diesel fuel or light heating oil, tends to smoke and smell a bit so not reccomended normally.
Never under any circumstances use petrol/gasoline/coleman fuel in an appliance designed for parafin, an explosion is likely.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 13 Jan 2009, 15:51

Never under any circumstances use petrol/gasoline/coleman fuel in an appliance designed for parafin, an explosion is likely.

I was about to say that, although thinking about it, adam2 probably told me in the first place.
During the second world war, a lot of americans stole cookers from the British units, filled them with petrol and then went to hospital with severe burns.

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 13 Jan 2009, 16:57

During the second world war, a lot of americans stole cookers from the British units, filled them with petrol and then went to hospital with severe burns.

Happened in Korea too.

My mother was a nurse in Japan (where the war injured finally ended up) ... and she said that over 50% of the US wounded were burns cases from having Primus stoves filled with petrol blow up ... usually inside a tent ...

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 13 Jan 2009, 18:47

adam2 wrote:If your wood burner can also burn coal, I would get a ton or two of coal for stock. A ton of coal contains more heat than a ton of wood, occupies less storeage space, and keeps better.

But that's part of the problem, not the solution. All coal should left underground.

kurt barlow · Post by **kurt barlow** » 13 Jan 2009, 19:02

Thanks for the link Adam

The Stove I have ordered is a Westfire 21 which is wood only - no grate. I have a virtually unlimited supply of pallet wood plus 1-2 tonnes of decent hardwood per annum.

From what I have seen Methanol is about 75p a litre which has an energy content of about 20MJ. I recall 4 litres of lamp grade paraffin being about £5 so paraffin works out slightly cheaper - but smelly for indoor cooking.

When the SHTF I would only want to indoor cook in poor weather, when its convenient. Indoor cooking has the advantage that you recover the heat aswell.

KB

Post by **adam2** » 14 Jan 2009, 08:02

biffvernon wrote:
adam2 wrote:If your wood burner can also burn coal, I would get a ton or two of coal for stock. A ton of coal contains more heat than a ton of wood, occupies less storeage space, and keeps better.
But that's part of the problem, not the solution. All coal should left underground.

Ideally yes, coal should be left underground as it is a carbon intensive fuel.
However in the near term at least, it appears most unlikely that the entire heating demand can be met by renewably generated electricity and sustainably obtained wood or other biomass.
Some coal burning would appear unavoidable, and it would be better burnt in a domestic stove at an efficiency of from 50% to 80% than in a power station at an efficiency of 30% to 35%

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 14 Jan 2009, 08:13

Coal isnt exactly a cause of peak oil...

Mark · Post by **Mark** » 14 Jan 2009, 12:49

Kurt,

I would concur with Adam2 about not using Methanol for cooking.
My concern would be much more to do with the TOXICOLOGY.
Methanol is a VERY nasty substance:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page& ... 0384328526
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwe ... 0384328536

peakprepper · Post by **peakprepper** » 17 Apr 2009, 19:41

Moved house to smaller house with 1/2 acre land.
Changed jobs from marketing type job to trade.

Digging up garden for veg patches
Planted fruit and nut trees (not the chocolate bar variety)
Building chicken run - chickens coming soon
Keeping bees

Insulated loft
Fitted 3 woodburners (fitting back-boiler next summer)
Built 2 wood shelters
Buying hand tools and spares for chainsaws
Fitted TRV's on nearly all radiators
Fitted solar HW panel
(Solar PV next year as part of my next qualification)
Making CH for detached garage from solar panels, ok so far.

Bought energy monitor - energy use down 25(?)% - mainly kids being less wasteful.
Using switched 4 way blocks for all socket points with multiple outlets
Fitted CFL's when appropriate
Trying to use stove heat to dry clothes instead of dryer
Washing mostly @ 30 deg. C

Built 5kW vegoil powered generator (still not finished)
Sold car and bought vegoil powered diesel car
Built centrifuge for filtering wvo
Stocked up on bicycle spares and bought another £30 bike second-hand
Bought cheap trail m/cycle, 65-70 mpg.

Making mead & wine
Making beer
Making bread
Bought grain mill
Buying grain from farm next door
Canner bought - will be used soon
Storing and rotating food
Building walk-in larder soon

Making friends with local farmers, bartering started to work, grain, milk, etc.
Keeping mortgage repayments the same despite falling interest rates
Making capital repayments every year where possible

Started shooting .22 air rifle again - FAC probably next year

A bunch of other stuff I'm not going to mention on a public forum.

Best bit:
Slowly selling all our tat on ebay/local paper etc to over eager bidders/buyers, and buying useful stuff with the proceeds.

Worst bit:
Trying to eat less!

Downloaded a lot of useful info from the net, and backed up to different media, including paper.

Printed this list and put on fridge door with an added "to do" section.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 17 Apr 2009, 20:30

Catweazle wrote:I haven't done much this year ( I did quite a lot in the two previous years ) but I have ordered my Dunsley Yorkshire stove. Unfortunately I'm unlikely to receive it until July as they have a huge backorder book.

My Yorkshire has arrived

206Kg of cast iron and firebrick.

Not installed yet, but it looks like a lovely piece of work.