Preparing for Winter V

Papillon55

Hi everyone, long time lurker first time poster  - hope it’s ok to muscle in with a question about storing water. 

I’ve got an old asbestos (!) garage where I store much of my preps. The internet says not to store tins etc in a garage, but I’ve been doing it for years without much issue. I live in East Anglia so it perhaps doesn’t get as cold as some places. 

Water is a newer prep for me, I have around 20 x 5L sealed bottles. Science tells me that if they freeze they could split, through expansion of the water into ice. Is this likely to happen in reality? Should I store the bottles in a big plastic box just in case? Any advice very welcome. 

Primrose

I think one of the issues is that asbestos can break down with age and become more unsafe as fibres can detach and also plastic bottles can also deteriorate too so you have the potential for a double whammy  situation 

Could  you bring a few water bottles indoors for emergencies and possibly obtain a deep plastic lidded box and store it outdoors for a few more bottles? You could always line them with thick newspaper as insulating material, or an old towel if you have one.

some people may think you're safe using the status quo but as somebody with a relative suffering from non curable mesothelioma (the deadly asbestos cancer) ,I would rather nobody took any risks with this stuff.

You could tie up  each bottle in your garage in an jndividual  plastic bag if you can still get hold of them. That would reduce the risk of asbestos fibres attacking the bottles kept stored there.  Just wear a mask when removing them from the garage and wash the exterior of the bottles before using them. 

 Also please wash the outside of your tins in future before using them and wash your hands afterwards.  You don't want to be breathing even a few asbestos fibres in through  your nose when accidentally touching your face.

Si_Clist

Primrose said:

I think one of the issues is that asbestos can break down with age and become more unsafe as fibres can detach and also plastic bottles can also deteriorate too so you have the potential for a double whammy  situation 

In view of your relative with mesothelioma I can quite see why you say that, but "asbestos" garages were in fact made from asbestos cement sheeting, which is a different kettle of fish altogether. 

I'm just one of countless thousands of people who grew up with asbestos cement sheet internal walls and ceilings and lived to tell the tale.  Same goes for the two asbestos cement garages which I've had over the years.  I never needed to saw, drill or sand the stuff, so never had occasion to inhale or ingest the dust from it, which in any case contained some white asbestos as opposed to the deadlier blue.

If I were in Papillon's shoes, I'd be far more concerned about the bottles splitting

Primrose

You may well be right in that case.  Is there a Use By date on the bottles?   I don't know how long plastic bottles can be stored for before they start to degenerate. In view of those destined to landfill, quite a long time i suspect.

LadOnTheHill

If they're big, thick bottles designed to store water and you leave some room for expansion, I reckon you'll be fine. The ice will expand into the easy option, ie air, before distorting the plastic. If they're thinner plastic, you might have more of an issue.

scrummy-mummy

I store bottles of water in my garage (as well as fizzy pop and other things). They have all been fine over many winters (not the same bottes obvs). I live in the South East.

p00

Power bank charger is an absolute necessity in my opinion. Power cuts can be sudden and the chances are you haven't charged your phone etc. I keep one in the car and 2 in the house as they keep their charge for a long time and are cheap now.
I also have those BBQ spark gas lighter things from poundland. The times I've gone to light the gas to boil water and havent had matches. I recently bought a neck torch for knitting etc which was very handy when the lights went out for a few hours and me and my dog had an early night reading in bed. I also have a torch in every room.
One thing I found extremely useful though is some chargeable motion sensor wall lights I bought a couple of years ago. They come on when you get up for the loo and there's one in the downstairs hall that comes on as soon as you get to the top of the stairs, 2 in my porch and one under the stairs cupboard. They are so handy but I didn't realise how useful they really are until a power cut. Of course you do have to charge them, hense the need for power banks to.

Auntycaz

Does anyone have any recommendations for power banks please. There are so many to choose from. Thank you.

Novice_investor101

Anker from the dreaded Amzn are excellent. I have one of theirs rated 20600Mah (or whatever the unit is) & it keeps my phone charged up for a week when i go camping. 

Aukey, too. I have a 10000 of theirs with quick charge for shorter camping trips, & then another Anker 5000 one which lives in my hiking rucksack should i ever need it to recharge my phone or headtorch while out hiking. It will do both with a full recharge & then a bit more. 

Wait til a sale is on, I’ve never paid full price for them. 

Auntycaz

Thank you for the recommendations for what items you can charge and how long the different powerbanks will last its really helpful.