Preparedness for when

mardatha

Si Clist - why don't you just keep filling the kettles and leave them on the side of the stove? (*is nosey*)

vivatifosi

paidinchickens wrote: »

Does anyone else find it incredible that they haven't found this plane yet? DH was in the RAF and he says it just isn't possible.

PiC x

My DH works in commercial aviation and has been scratching his head for about a week now. He just says "it doesn't make sense". He knows the plane type well and thinks it is a fundamentally safe one. It is all very odd.

Imo (this is me not DH saying this) some form of air piracy is looking increasingly likely.

[Deleted User]

siegemode wrote: »

When I said gadget I meant the inverter thingy

Obviously you can't run anything off the "inverter thingy" on its own, because it doesn't have any power of its own.

You need to plug the "inverter thingy" into a 12V power supply, such as a car cigarette lighter socket, or the 12V socket on the Jump Starter pack.

However in a prolonged power cut I thought it would be useful to charge the notebook if we went out in the car.

The inverter could be plugged into the cigarette lighter in the car, and used to charge the notebook as you drive along.

Indeed, it could be used to operate the notebook, as you drive along, but obviously not to be used by anyone in the front seats.

[Deleted User]

Si_Clist wrote: »

So has nobody else got a Tilley lamp and a gallon of paraffin tucked away somewhere "just in case"?

Not a Tilley lamp, but I do have several Hurricane Lamps.

Si_Clist

mardatha wrote: »

Si Clist - why don't you just keep filling the kettles and leave them on the side of the stove? (*is nosey*)

Well, if you mean why don't we keep them on the top of the stove, the answer is they're whistling kettles so they'd drive us mad and besides, that would just add moisture to the air when we try to keep the house as dry as possible in the winter.

Keeping them under a beanbag works a treat - and also frees up the top of the stove for cooking on

[Deleted User]

jk0 wrote: »

Aren't you worried about burglars coming in your house?

I don't use the deadlock on my front door, when the house is occupied.

Instead, I have turn-button operated bolts.


A quick turn of the turn-buttons and I'm out.

Si_Clist

Hey Bedsit Bob! Pardon my ignorance, but does Amount I have so far denied the BBC - £724-50 by any chance refer to what you've saved by not having a television licence?

GreyQueen

BB is one of the refuseniks. As am I. I lasted owned a TV in the mid-1980s as a student when you were covered by the parental TV license.

Gave up the Idiot's Lantern and have never regretted it. Must have saved myself a couple of thousand at least.

Mind you, I could paper a small room with the blinking letters they send!

Si_Clist

Gosh, I never thought of myself as a refusenik! We haven't had a television set either since we got married in 1981, so I guess we've saved ourselves a few quid by now

[Deleted User]

Karmacat wrote: »

Bob, does the "12v supply" you describe include a 12v battery, hopefully charged by solar panels?

It does, but it would need to be of a reasonable capacity, depending on what you intend to operate from it.

A diddy 8 Ah motorcycle battery won''t last long, if operating a notebook computer.

You also need to be careful, if the battery is not a "sealed for life" type, as batteries release highly inflammable hydrogen when charging, so would require plenty of ventilation.

You don't want to go up like the Hindenburg.

You would also need something like this, to connect the inverter to the battery.

Better yet, the socket attached to proper battery clamps.

Finally, you need to consider the cost of the batteries.

If a 34Ah car battery is going to cost you more than £60, it's more expensive than two Jump Starter packs, and that's without the odds and sods needed to set it up for use.