The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

CCW007

Some great ideas and suggestions and lots to think about, thank you! GreyQueen, when we bought our chest freezer we sacrificed extra space for extra insulation so it stays frozen for longer than a standard chest freezer, need to check out how long though.  I'm trying to up our stocks of shelf stable food so that we're not as reliant on the freezer.

We've got a good supply of wood but coal is a good call as well.  We had a lorry get stuck down our lane and knock a tree down (on my birthday - we joked it was my birthday present) so we were out there at 8.00am with the petrol chainsaw, it was gone within an hour!

boultdj

Agree on the no internet being a problem for information or recipes, that's why I've got a book with internet recipes written in it, and also the no knead fridge bread can be done as an over night dough, I had a practice of that a few weeks back.

maryb

If you have Microsoft One Note you can clip internet pages and save them that way.  As long as you can fire up your laptop for long enough to read the relevant bit, then not having internet isn't quite so bad.  But my laptop battery is all but dead, need to do something about that

Si_Clist

Anybody who watches this https://electricinsights.co.uk/#/homepage?&_k=20da91 during the winter can tell you how little slack there is in the National Grid at peak times - and that's assuming that everything's tickety-boo.  Chuck in the real possibility of extreme cold coinciding with a power station being offline for maintenance and then a major fault somewhere, and there's your reason why we've  been prepped for power cuts ever since we were electricless for a fortnight after the 1987 hurricane.

One thing that I don't think's been suggested is if you have a logburner-type stove, check to see what you can squeeze on top of it by way of a pan, cake tin (emergency Dutch oven!) or whatever.  If the stove's burning and we're being frugal, we either use a cast iron casserole or a thing which was sold as a Welsh baking stone.  That's just a circular bit of steel plate (sometimes passed off as "cast iron") about a foot diameter and 3/8" thick.  Ours just balances safely on the top of the stove, but it's a lifesaver for making bread buns, pancakes, scones and so forth if the gas goes off.  You just have to remember to turn it round a bit from time to time so the overhanging section of it doesn't stay cooler than the part of it that's actually in contact with the stove top ...

PS  It's also worth bearing in mind that if Vladimir chose to, he could very easily screw up our gas supply.  Also, don't forget that if the electric goes, your gas central heating stops, and if your gas hob has a flame  failure device, that'll refuse to work too.

CCW007

There are currently several nuclear reactors offline for maintenance and not due back on until November/December:

https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-station/daily-statuses

As industry has got going again, the increase in demand is noticeable compared to the early stages of lockdown.

euronorris

Power cuts can happen for more regular reasons, ie bad storm. Or water mains can burst and cut off your water etc. Lots of things that happen regularly still, but people don't prep for them.

We have spare tin opener, but thanks for the reminder as I had to check with DH that he had one in his fishing gear.

Re internet access if WiFi out, phone data should do a lot of people in most instances. If you are in a poor reception area, worth checking for a dingle or similar that you could use instead. Admittedly, I do print off recipes anyway, as I find it easier to have a piece of paper to hand than a phone screen that goes to sleep after 20 seconds or so.

Don't forget general winter prep. We just replaced front two tyres as tread worn down. Very grateful for that last few days where all it has done is rain, rain and more rain!

GreyQueen

Another thing to think about re power is what happens if/ when electric vehicles (EVs) become more common and are sucking down power from the grid? Could we have the situation where there is insufficient power to service both the current uses and for transportation?

Si_Clist

GreyQueen said:

Another thing to think about re power is what happens if/ when electric vehicles (EVs) become more common and are sucking down power from the grid? Could we have the situation where there is insufficient power to service both the current uses and for transportation?

As I understand it, generating sufficient power is only part of the problem with this proposed shift to EVs.  A lot of the underground power cables that have been there for 50 years or so will need replacing in order to be able to carry the necessary current.

In our own lane, the underground cable "downstream" of the local transformer is apparently right at its limit, thanks to a new small estate being tacked onto it along with the infill housing and (I think) 4 houses having had electric car charging points fitted.  In the words of an electricity company bod to whom I was nattering last week, any more and the tarmac above the cable will start going soft ...

greenbee

I used to work in the energy industry. The state of our infrastructure is shocking - it pretty much dates from the 1950s and no one is prepared to pay to maintain and upgrade it. 

For those of you who have solar panels, however, thinking of an EV as a mobile battery - if you're set up properly, you can charge it up during the day and drain it during the night. Alternatively, get yourself a battery wall... 

CCW007

GreyQueen said:

Another thing to think about re power is what happens if/ when electric vehicles (EVs) become more common and are sucking down power from the grid? Could we have the situation where there is insufficient power to service both the current uses and for transportation?

I have an EV and always charge overnight when the demand is at its lowest.  This is partly because I am considerate but mostly because that is when my electricity is cheapest!  However unless people are incentivised (and educated), they may well get home and plug in, regardless of the demand on the grid. 

It's worth bearing in mind that petrol and diesel use a large amount of energy during the refining process so there will be something of a reduction in electricity as less petrol and diesel are used.  No-one knows the exact figures (and of course there is the fuel used to transport the refined fuel to petrol stations etc to take into account) but some guestimates I've seen are that it uses around 5kWh to refine a gallon of diesel which could do around 50 miles, the same electricity would power an EV for around 20 - 25 miles so it won't completely offset it but at least reduces the increase, if you see what I mean!

greenbee said:

I used to work in the energy industry. The state of our infrastructure is shocking - it pretty much dates from the 1950s and no one is prepared to pay to maintain and upgrade it. 

For those of you who have solar panels, however, thinking of an EV as a mobile battery - if you're set up properly, you can charge it up during the day and drain it during the night. Alternatively, get yourself a battery wall... 

I have just enquired about a Vehicle to Grid pilot which would turn my car into a huge battery wall.  Will be interesting to see how it develops.  Interestingly, I would charge during the night and then use it during the day when demand and therefore prices increase.  Given I'm not likely to be back in the office before next year, and even then we will be home working considerably more, I hope I can make good use of the car as I've only done about 60% of my usual mileage this year.

ETA - what I wanted to say and failed to is that I think EVs can actually be good for load balancing the national grid rather than just putting extra pressure on it.