Maintenance for readiness sake!

[Northumbriman]

Well this year the wife and I have started a major round of home maintenance. Whilst this might not sound all that "preppy" its well worth bearing in mind that in the event of a crisis its highly likely that we will all need our homes in A1 condition. With weather patterns taking a definate turn for the worse and economic pressures on power supplies worsening we should all re-assess our homes. We have just had our loft insulation topped up free of charge by British Gas. We had our cavity walls done about 2 years ago too. Our aim is to have a log burning stove installed before the spring. Outside I have de-mossed our roof to prevent water penetration of the tiles and cleaned out and generally overhauled the guttering. Some minor repairs are needed to our roof and eaves and we have those arranged with a roofer (as soon as the snow permits!).

Other projects for later in the year will include garden border veg growing and a supply locker for the garden. I want to install water barrels to gather rainwater too. All in all a busy year ahead!!

[Metroyeti]

Its best to keep on top of things rather than hoping they fix themselves, works out cheaper and less stressful in the long run

[Highlander]

We have just finished what we called our three year program that is simular to what you have done,... the first year we got the cavity wall insulation and the loft insulation done,... its no good saving power if you then go and loose it

The second year, we had 16 solar panels added, which paid us back more than we payed out in Electric bill

The third year [ last year ] we updated our heating,... we have oil fired central heating,..and we have multi fueled central heating,.. we now have a system where they are linked,... the fire heats the house, and the water,.. but at times when the fire is reduced, for instance at night, and the temp drops to a certain level, the oil central heating will automaticly click in,... so far the only time the oil clicks in is an hour before we get up,..at about 6am,...and stays on till we get up and stoke the fire,.. both systems have their own thermatates so can be well controled,..its a complicated system and took some putting in,... but so far it works well

It does mean that we dont have to use oil at all if we dont want to