If things get tougher?

moanymoany

Charis wrote: »

This intrigued me, as I thought you must be shelling out for a lot of tealights. You may be interested in what I found. This article reckons that boiling enough water for two people for tea for a week in an electric kettle used 2.53 kilowatt-hours (kWh) http://living.morethan.com/2007/10/16/in-our-element/ At 16p a unit that's 40½p a week. The cheapest nightlights I could find in a quick search were £1.48 for 100, which gives 270 continuous minutes (4½ hours) of nine candles for 13.32p. However if you light and relight, apart from the added cost of matches, the last part of the nightlights will not relight below a certain level so some would be wasted. To have hot water on demand for just nine hours a day (although admittedly at 25 mins for 4pts you would have 18 gallons - 4pts x 4 x 9 hours) you would need to spend almost 27p a day or £1.89 a week on nightlights. If you use the hot water elsewhere, like for washing up, that would even up the cost a lot.
However, one other drawback is that candles in confined spaces can be quite toxic :eek: http://www.theecologist.org/pages/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1858
This article is less than three months old and has made me wary of burning my usual array of candles during the winter months. The paragraph that begins 'In April 2003...' shows that the UK is behind the UK in legislating what is allowed in candles. I think I'll consign mine to my emergency stores.

Charis

Wow, that is just what Amy D. does in 'Tightwad Gazette! :T

mumoftwo

Well it is official.. my husband heard an interview on the radio today with Alistair Darling in which he said: the worst economic downturn for over 60 years and that it will last longer than most people think. We are doing well being prepared

that is scary about the candles, I got loads from Ikea, now they could be harmful to my family.. oh well, something else to worry about

mardatha

It suits me because I drink tea all day and the kettle is never off. We got our elect down from 11.9 average units per day, to between 7/8. Just been watching the consumption for 4 weeks and the bill came today --its £20 less than usual YAAAY !

Charis

mumoftwo wrote: »

that is scary about the candles, I got loads from Ikea, now they could be harmful to my family.. oh well, something else to worry about

In the US they tend to have loads of big candles burning at once and they love the scented kinds. Candles are OK in moderation. If they are in the hearth of an open fire, for instance, the fumes will go up the chimney. It always concerns me how we try to hermetically seal our homes to keep out draughts, to the extent that we are breathing the same stale air all day. Maybe one day all homes will have heat exchangers. They are far more efficient than our methods of heating and ventilation but expensive to install.

Charis

shaz_mum_of__2

Morning all

re the the candles i fill my kettle and boil in the morning and make a drink then the rest goes into a big flask so i can make hot drinks all day

Also have one of those camping stoves which take the cylinder butane canisters keep meaning to work out how long will last as the refills are a £1 and wondered if that works out cheaper than mains gas

Also been looking for a dutch oven so can oven bake on the hob i don't want a remosk as these will only work if you have electric

if anyone knows of one let me know

shaz

ceridwen

There is one featured in the Summer 2008 magazine "Permaculture". Page 16.
Code BBQS-UDO £89.95 inc p & p. They were running an offer for Readers that included book "101 things to do with a dutch oven" chucked in free. The expiry date for that offer ended 14 July. But expect one can still get that Dutch Oven from them.

Their website:
www.permaculture.co.uk

Dont know if one has to be a subscriber to get that Dutch Oven - but wouldnt have thought so. Having said which - I reckon I'm going to subscribe to the magazine anyways - as I find it very interesting and readable.

EDIT Just checked their website - that price was special offer at time. Its now £110. Its also possible to buy other stuff like Kelly Kettles, etc from them.

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Well I have just had a quick peek at that link -thankyou ceridwen and am rather chuffed as hubby got me one of those head torches that are on offer at £27.50.. for free :j He laughed at me when i sat with it on the other evening for x stitching :rotfl: well we have loads of free batteries too... it is suprisingly comfy, and has a twisty lense to adjust the beam too ....oooh I like freebies

Im in the midst of sorting out extra supplies for winter.. beans, flour, rice, tins etc...
Hopefully my remoska will be here this week..then I can stop using the bloomin gas oven for now...
We went blackberrying the other day..not much to be had on the patch we knew of..only i spotted some on the way home ..its about a 1/2 mile stretch -away from traffic and along a nice easy foot path :j so we came away with 2lbs ..and there will hopefully be loads more ready at the weekend ..they are getting stewed with free apples and frozen for winter desserts;)

Im waiting for a reply from a healthfood website at the moment, because even including the postage (which im trying to get cheaper ) it will work out cheaper for me to order all my beans, lentils, suet, dried peas, noodles, sage etc than to get it myself here :T and I use loads of pulses when i make hubbies soups/broths for his lunchtime flasks -full of goodness, flavour, warming and wholesome

I think im just about getting there ..Im determined not to find myself in the depths of winter unprepared.and have started to notice prices climbing out here :rolleyes: .... Luckily the other week I got 13 bags of tesco bread flour for 37c a bag :T instead of €1.49 :eek: ... so that kind of thing makes up for it.. Just need to make sure I have thought of as much as possible .can bet the 1 thing i forget is the 1 thing i NEED :rotfl:
anyway..keep up the great work folks..Im getting all sorts of ideas off of you all

Primrose

If anybody wants to stock up with bulk supplies of pulses, dried beans, rice, etc. I really recommend that those living within reasonable distance of good ethnic and Indian stores stock up there. Many of the Asian supermarkets sell in bulk quantities and the price is usually much cheaper than Sainsburys and other similar supermarket. . Also, you often get a much wider choice.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

My husband thinks I've gone mad as I've already got everything sorted for winter and have invested in a couple of wind up lanterns,wind up radio and phone charger and wind up torches.I managed to get hold of a candle food warmer too.I know from last time we had power cuts leaving a couple of kettles on the burners although slow means you always have a bit of hot water ready to use for washing ect,it does'nt cost much to run .I've sorted out my thermos flasks so if we do get power cuts we will be able to fill them beforehand ready to make drinks ect.I'm going to drag OH off to Ikea today to buy a few bags of tea lights as a friend who works there said they are selling loads of these at the moment.So I'm not taking any chances when the winter comes incase everyone else gets the same idea and they put the prices up. Can anyone think of anything else I should be getting.

Primrose

Mrs Tittlemouse - Sounds like you're pretty organised. A big thermos flask and a hot water bottle might also be useful additions to your emergency supply kit.