What if...

[River Song]

Ive often thought about wiring that electricity point for the gas central heating to a battery/inverter combo to keep the thing running.

[Lightspeed]

Last winter was a mild one for us. Word is that this coming one will be the same, but its foolish to only expect the best.....we always plan for a severe one. If it doesn't happen its no big deal as the work we do and the provisions we lay up are still there for future use. Only a fool expects the best around here. Incidentally in our community we all do our best to prepare and help one another to do so when necessary. If it is seen that work was done but that a person is overwhelmed by events, help and support is offered.... if on the other hand no effort to prepare is seen, if problems occur those people are largely on their own to deal with them... this is particularly true of holiday home owners who basically want the rural idyll but not the hard graft that goes with it.

Life remains somewhat like SS' memories here.

It feels like we are permanently repairing the ravages of the last winter or preparing for the ravages of the next!

The normal stuff is:

Roofs and chimneys: Check general condition of roofs, replacing blown tile and lifted seams as necessary. Gutter cleaned. Chimneys swept, inspected and any repointing needed dealt with.

Facades and walls re-pointed and repainted as necessary.

Windows and doors: Check glazing, paint, draught excluding, locks and hinges.

All exterior padlocks get lubed.

Solid fuel stoves get cleaned and fully serviced. seals on connecting flues checked and refurbished as necessary.

Fuel. Wood, coal, and gas. Stockpiles of ready to use fuel built up. Wood collection and conversion being a semi-permanent exercise. Also the means to convert more, so axes, chainsaws and manual saws are all cleaned sharpened, oiled and serviced.

Plumbing: Insulation of vulnerable pipes, and shutting down and draining of anything likely to freeze ( outside taps and remote header tanks). Our water pipes are now upgraded all burst-proof polyprop tube, but they can still freeze and if they do, they are a bugger to thaw out. By the same logic all gate valves are now replaced with stainless steel ball valves that unlike the old gate valves they can be opened and closed even when they are frozen.

Smaller rainwater buts and troughs are emptied late autumn, and IBCs get drained down after Christmas, to be re-filled once things thaw out in March.

Drainage channels all cleared, inspected and refurbished as necessary.

Oil lamps topped up, extra lamp oil and wicks laid in store

Our wardrobes are very much different summer and winter. Summer stuff gets stored and replaced by winter stuff from storage

Rodent proofing of clothing, soft furnishings and foodstuffs stored in lofts and outbuildings, and for good measure setting of a few mouse traps to let us know if we have visitors. If we start seeing signs, the cats are encouraged to hang out up there for a few days and that tends to cure the problem.

Cars: Normal pre winter servicing and preventative maintenance, although we go one step further by fitting winter tyres as at our elevation snow and ice are certainties even in mild winters. In-car GHBs upgraded from summer to winter kits.

Food: Long storage life food stocks inspected and supplemented. This is a good reminder to me to completely clear and re-organize the main larder this weekend

There must be more, but these are the things that come to easily to mind.

[Nix]

Howdy Lightspeed, some good prep there!

NR, just curious, how did your central heating work during a power cut? You normally have a mains powered pump to circulate the water for the radiators unless there's a system I don't know about?

RS, yes, it makes total sense to have a battery/inverter back up for central heating! That brings me to another important point - how many know how to reignite their boiler if it goes out? After a particularly heavy snow fall last winter combined with the wrong wind direction, our outside flue got blocked so the had to clear it and reignite it. Which brings up a further issue, how many here have a CO detector for any emergency appliances that give off this dangerous gas?

All food for thought..

[NorthernRaider]

Nix ours was the early type that did not have a circ pump, it was called a thermo something system, you can still get em today in certain applications, esp used with back boiler stoves, the water circulates using the heat rising doofah . I don't think anyone cept those in big houses around our way had circ pumps back then.

Mind you I don't think anyone has NOT got one now so that would be another issue, but at least if they could ignite the boiler they could produce hot water.

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Various snippets covering pumpless systems in assorted applications

http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/foru...1168098081

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.p...opic=39641

http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.p...036.0.html

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Dammit, I just clicked on an article on google that showed a central heating system in a house in Ludlow that uses a solar panel / single 110 ah battery to run the ignition and a 12 volt dc circ pump for 3 hours each evening, I closed it before i could copy the URL and now I cannot find the bloody thing again.

[Nix]

Thanks NR, you're quite right, I was aware of pumpless circulation where the heated liquid would rise and cold drop creating a circulation but never seen one! My mistake, should've thought more before posting but it does bring up a very interesting scenario where perhaps someone would want to make a pumped system pumpless - interesting! It would have to not have the intense heat that a modern gas boiler is capable of (hence the need for a pump) but perhaps a slower less intense set up?

You've got me thinking...

[NorthernRaider]

I just phoned my mum and she reckons we only had pumpless for 3 years before my dad had one fitted so we could increase the number of radiators we had. she also thinks I remember it being warm during the power cuts because we also had a gas fire (doh) and much of the boiler gubbins was behind the fire a great big lump of cast iron that retained heat, so chances are I was only partially right.

I think we had to add the pump for the extra radiators because he could not get sloping pipes to where he wanted the extra rads so the thermo doofah system would no longer work.

I do remember the pilot light and hot water working during the power cuts though which must have gutted the strikers

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Say Nix, I'm just thinking aloud but with that modern plastic push fit 15 mm piping system would could probably design a basic back up CH / HW system that is pumpless and uses a little solar / battery to ignite the burner?? A slightly more advanced system could use solar water heater panels to preheat the water a bit as well??

[Nix]

Anything is possible NR!

To simplify my set up so that even the missus can do it, I simply need to isolate the mains completely (NB - you'd have to do this, even in a SHTF situation/blackout), and connect my inverter to the house and I'm away! Takes about 30 seconds. Then you can treat the house as normal but avoiding the big hitters like kettles, washing machines, electric cookers, etc.

Those plastic speedfit jobbies are brilliant, I've used them quite a few times now and, yes, they would be a preppers dream to use. Only problem with pumpless HW/CH set up utilising a boiler is that the boiler would be too hot ie it has to have a fast flow of water to stop it from over heating and cutting out. A gentler heat source would probably do the trick ie those solar water panels. Matter of fact, I think I remember some of those set ups are capable without a pump anyway? I'm pretty sure of that when I researched them many years ago. Definitely worth checking again.

[Steve]

Thermo-syphoning heating is still a part of most solid fuel central heating systems. The systems are designed so that in the event of a power failure whilst the stove is burning hard the boiler doesn't overheat and explode. My previous system would happily heat all the upstairs radiators with no electric pump.

To work well the system needs a big pipe from the boiler to the upstairs circuits and back, mine was 38mm vertically, and 22mm out towards the radiators before stepping down to 15mm for each individual radiator. No thermostatic valves, the system is designed to dump heat in an emergency, to protect the boiler.

[NorthernRaider]

Damn useful information Steve.

[Nix]

Cool, thanks for the info Steve! I'm sure those gas boilers will still need a pump to flow enough water through though. I really like the idea of adding a pumpless set up to my house heated by the stove. A 12v switched valve should change it from one system to the other, need to get the proper back boiler first..