Care to do the maths?, Take away the gas, leccy and coal.............................

[NorthernRaider]

....................and how much firewood do you need to cook with, boil water with and heat your home for one year with a winter like the last one if TSHTF.

My own calculations come up roughly with the similar figure that some Scots and some New Englanders have come up with, for starting the day with a fire, heating water for a meal and drinks, washing up and perhaps laundry. Then prepping food with later, keeping the house warm or the chills away at least.

My own needs for a family of three appear to be 3.5 to 4 cords of wood, Thats a neatly stacked pile of firewood without huge gaps of 8 ft by 4ft by 4 ft =A cord and I would need 4 in an average year!!
Some folks tell my I am grossly underestimating the amount I need.

Thats two piles of wood the size of a Transit Van per year. Either way its a lot of wood I need to stockpile.

So space, budget, time, motivation, etc all come into play and in my own case I cannot be atsed to cut more wood so I've invested in 6 large Calor Gas bottles and various devices to run off them. I may also invest in a few sacks of Coalite or Coke as they take up less space.

I'm certain the brighter and more fortunate among us will have at least installed a couple of solar water heater panels to get them a head start.

Its amazing just how much material we actually need to get the same calorific value we take for granted from the mains supplies.

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My worst case scenario would be an all electric house, or one without a chimney, or relying entirely on a combi boiler or a combination.