Preparing for Winter V

slm6002

Thank you @Primrose and @Jellytotts for the information about the gas canisters.  Like you say I am sure many are upping their prices because they can see us getting prepared.  I will get one in the next few days as well as a cheap pan as mine are all heavy bottom ones.  Thanks again

Auntycaz

Think I might have to get one too I'm all electric except for GCH. I can do without a hot meal but not my cuppa.

[Deleted User]

Last year, we were one of the households severely affected by Storm Arwen in the November - 9 days without power. Our water runs off a spring and then goes into our house via an electric pump, so we had no water either! With two young children it was… interesting.

Luckily we have two wood fires, which help. We get power cuts approx once a fortnight, lasting anything from a few seconds to several hours (we are 1200 feet up and very rural).

We have a power cut box in the kitchen that includes dozens of candles, torches (both handheld and head), matches, fully charged power banks, lighters and a wind up torch. 

We also have a Kelly Kettle which can boil water with just a few sticks / twigs / leaves and approx 15 candle holders / sticks around the downstairs. We have two sconces on the wall with candles in too. 

Appreciate our preps are more extensive due to location but worth sharing the knowledge nonetheless xx

Primrose

slm6002 said:

Thank you @Primrose and @Jellytotts for the information about the gas canisters.  Like you say I am sure many are upping their prices because they can see us getting prepared.  I will get one in the next few days as well as a cheap pan as mine are all heavy bottom ones.  Thanks again

Probably wise to get ahead of the crowds.  I suspect there will be a run on these as the possible reality of power cuts starts to register on people living in all electric homes.   I remember the Three Day Week  power cuts many years ago in the Ted Heath miners strike era.   You couldn't buy certain basic items  for love nor money.  They just disappeared off the shelves almost overnight!.   Don't forget to buy some matches to light the burner though !

slm6002

@Primrose been online and purchased this evening.  Maybe not quite the cheapest but not far off and in stock, unlike many that I did look at

daz378

I have a camping gas stove...but live on a block of flats...so would have to be very careful,. Loads of matches, lighters and a clicker  ...would try to use another method tea lights plant pot etc

greenbee

Having had 2 powercuts today - one just a few minutes, one for about an hour - I have now located my torches, put new batteries in a couple, sorted out candles and realised I need to keep surfaces clear and tidy. More lanterns need to come in from the garage, along with the camping gas hob. 

The EE signal went out, the Vodafone signal which is less reliable stayed up, and the internet seems to take around 20 minutes to come back up each time - so that needs a UPS. Everything else can be shut down manually, but it seems to make sense to try to keep the router up. I guess I'll be shopping tomorrow. 

Primrose

It's probably a good idea for every household  to have a formal Power Cut practice run in the same way that organisations have to have regular Fire Drills and Evacuation practices.

if you suddenly and unexpectedly shouted "POWER CUT NOW " at 7 pm on a dark evening and switched off all the lights, how prepared would everybody be?  

It,s worth testing.

Could  everybody  immediately go to a recognised  place close to where they are and pick up a torch with a working battery?
 Is somebody stuck in the loo close to a now pitch dark dangerous staircase with no light available?  Do you need more cheap torches in such places for safety?

Could you immediately lay your hands on some matches and are the candles out ready or still in a box somewhere in that messy under-the-stairs cupboard?

If you,re all electric, is your camping stove accessible or still in its box out in a dark garage or shed? 

How well charged are your mobile  phones at moment of darkness?

Every home will have its own particular needs so  it,s worth doing an exercise like this because only being in the reality will show that perhaps we're not quite as well prepared as we thought we are !   

And if the children are old enough to participate, get them to join in.
  It,s good life training for them and can be turned into a bit of fun exercise.

-taff

Primrose said:
You might not be able to warm up the plate/bowl  from which to eat it, but power cuts are an emergency in which normal etiquette is excused, so if you live solo you,re allowed a spoon and can eat it straight from the hot saucepan!

Put the plate/bowl on top of the saucepan instead of the lid

You can make a kind fo homemade barbecue/cooker type thing with a good terracotta pot, an inset of an offcut piece of metal [to cover the hole] and a rack of some kind , whatever will fit and be sturdy, add your bbq coal, you've got a cooker.  Woth remembering it's another cooking method [ for those who have access to gardens or blaconies etc...DOn't forget about your bbq too if you have one.

MrsCD

The camping stoves don't need matches to light them. They have a sliding lock to fasten the canister in place then it fires up when you turn and click the gas on to use it.
I would suggest having tins of ready to heat foods rather than cooking from scratch to save on the gas. We have tins of vegetables, minced beef, chicken in sauce, tuna for tuna mayo on tinned potatoes etc...as well as foods that just need hot water... Mugshots, cup a soups, mashed potato etc.
My elderly dad has been experimenting (safely on the fireside hearth!) with terracotta pot heaters. We used his baking tray with a rack to put a small tea light on with the pot over it and a coin to cover the hole. He also tried an IKEA cutlery holder (with the holes in the side) with a large tealight and a smaller pot over the top. Both heated up well, he turned his heating off at 8am and kept the doors to his living room closed for most of the time, unless he went for a cuppa or to get rid of one! He reckoned the temperature only dropped a couple of degrees all day. At least we know if we have rolling blackouts he can keep from being too cold, as he has chronic health conditions. He also has a camping stove and a small kettle for hot drinks and lots of tins of soup, beans, mugshots etc in store.
We also have a range of torches placed around our homes, just in case!