What have done towards your prep?

[Pete Grey]

As part of my medical preps, to extend my high blood pressure medication, last summer i collected a couple of pounds of hawthorne berries, to make hawthorne tea (i would also take a lot of garlic which we grow our own).

Fortunately i did not pack them all together but in three separate poly bags, as one bag has gone mouldy so next time i must make sure the berries are really well dried in a warm oven.

Today tidyed up shed to make more room for extra smokeless fuel, slung out some paint cans with just a little in each, why do we keep them?.

Strawberry plants repotted, agricultural fleece folded up and put away, restaked some of the fruit trees the winds had blown about, nice to be outside again.

[Lightspeed]

(9 March 2018, 17:29)Beanie Wrote: Lightspeed

I just cleaned out and relit the fire each morning, the back boiler only heats the water not the central heating unfortunately.

Once the fire got going I just opened the living room door and it gave the house a bit ambient heat. It wasn’t ideal but I’m glad I know that if the was an extended power cut I could keep the house habitable and run enough heat through the place to stop all the pipes bursting

I'm my old house, which was a modern build, but with an open fire and chimney, I found that when the fire was lit for a few days the chimney itself soaked up heat and acted as a kind of thermal store, re-radiating for many hours after the fire was out.

[Pete Grey]

In our 1960s bungalow we have a “little wenlock” multi fuel stove we burn “stoveheat premium” smokeless fuel.

When reasonably stoked up it cuts out the central heating, and keeps the whole place warm, the chimney and internal wall act as heat store, in winter we never let it go out.

Last winter we used 30 25kg bags of fuel. It was the best buy we ever made.

[Lightspeed]

(9 March 2018, 22:59)Pete Grey Wrote: In our 1960s bungalow we have a “little wenlock” multi fuel stove we burn “stoveheat premium” smokeless fuel.

When reasonably stoked up it cuts out the central heating, and keeps the whole place warm, the chimney and internal wall act as heat store, in winter we never let it go out.

Last winter we used 30 25kg bags of fuel. It was the best buy we ever made.

That's a great little stove Pete. AGA are expensive to buy, but you get what your paying for.

Approx 2kg of fuel per day to keep your bungalow warm is exceptional.

We had similar efficiency using our multi-fuel unit, but have now installed a full-on solid fuel furnace feeding classic radiators. The new system gives far more consistent warmth throughout the house, but to do so consumes a lot more fuel. We budget for the furnace to eat its way through around 30kg per day over the whole heating season, while the stove (12Kw) would consume around 10kg.

BTW our primary fuel for the furnace is Lignite which we are able to source locally at around £ 1.20 / kg so in cost terms the solution is better than it first appears.

The downside of Lignite is that its dirty material to handle, and creates a lot of ash.

[Pete Grey]

Hi LS

Our little wenlock stove is rated at 4.7kw, it was bought second hand in pieces and i rebuilt it, can’t remember the full cost. When stoked up it gets our living room up to 24C+ and bedrooms 18c, quite comfortable temperatures. Daytime when we’re doing jobs fire is kept lower.

The stove is lit approximately five months each winter usually from mid october to mid march 24 hours a day and it works out at 5kg a day at just over £2. We do have gas central heating but it’s hardly ever used, gas is used for cooking and hot water.

It’s funny to see guests come in when it’s cold, stand by a radiator and find its not on.

[Straight Shooter]

Spent the morning re running a new run off pipe from the septic tank down a embankment 75 ft in length...we had to dig the trench by hand ...we used that old hoe i told you about some years back , the one with two prongs the other side a hoe , i replaced the handle some weeks back , i used an axe handle.....worked sweet as a nut ...as the sil chopped out the earth ...i prepped up all the pipe and fittings and cut the Taram ready , we laid all the pie and covered with the Taram and back filled the trench from the bottom up, making off the joint ....all sorted ...bang on the money !.

Started up the bales of straw in the outside raised beds ...using nitrate ....i spread out the granules every day and water in this will take a week then another week every other day at half measure....then it should be ready to produce some great veg.

Seed trays are in situ ....ready ....the greenhouse is a calling ...fill me up you handsome bastard !....slowdown baby !....you know i never rush in .... um .....i am full of Great Expectations as Mr McCorber once said.

Btw whilst on the embankment....women passing in cars ....tooted on me " take it all off " ...."i need to have your baby " ..."come here a Minute ...i want to show you something " absolutely bloody disgusting....i gave them a really nasty look.. .. i was jolly cross! .......................Women !

[Lightspeed]

Today, is a maintenance day for me.

From SUK I've purged a Mrs. Akil and someone who writes in a language that I neither understand nor can be arsed to translate. I hope that all on here wish them good riddance as well...

[Lightspeed]

(10 March 2018, 17:04)Pete Grey Wrote: Hi LS

Our little wenlock stove is rated at 4.7kw, it was bought second hand in pieces and i rebuilt it, can’t remember the full cost. When stoked up it gets our living room up to 24C+ and bedrooms 18c, quite comfortable temperatures. Daytime when we’re doing jobs fire is kept lower.

The stove is lit approximately five months each winter usually from mid october to mid march 24 hours a day and it works out at 5kg a day at just over £2. We do have gas central heating but it’s hardly ever used, gas is used for cooking and hot water.

It’s funny to see guests come in when it’s cold, stand by a radiator and find its not on.

That's a great prep solution Pete, and a bargain too. It might be worth investigating if there's an in-firebox water heating tank that can be added to it. It'll reduce the heat output of course, but could give you hot water as well. I saw an American wilderness living prepper's set-up like this a few years ago it was entirely thermal syphon driven and gave him and his small family enough heat to keep their cabin comfortable in mid-winter as well as enough hot water for basic daily ablutions.

If urgency requires, we'd water heat in large pans on top of the stove. This would be fine for short term emergencies, but would become tedious if relied upon in the long term. When time permits I intend to make a. experimental version of the American's system.

[Pete Grey]

(12 March 2018, 10:53)Lightspeed Wrote:

(10 March 2018, 17:04)Pete Grey Wrote: Hi LS

Our little wenlock stove is rated at 4.7kw, it was bought second hand in pieces and i rebuilt it, can’t remember the full cost. When stoked up it gets our living room up to 24C+ and bedrooms 18c, quite comfortable temperatures. Daytime when we’re doing jobs fire is kept lower.

The stove is lit approximately five months each winter usually from mid october to mid march 24 hours a day and it works out at 5kg a day at just over £2. We do have gas central heating but it’s hardly ever used, gas is used for cooking and hot water.

It’s funny to see guests come in when it’s cold, stand by a radiator and find its not on.

That's a great prep solution Pete, and a bargain too. It might be worth investigating if there's an in-firebox water heating tank that can be added to it. It'll reduce the heat output of course, but could give you hot water as well. I saw an American wilderness living prepper's set-up like this a few years ago it was entirely thermal syphon driven and gave him and his small family enough heat to keep their cabin comfortable in mid-winter as well as enough hot water for basic daily ablutions.

If urgency requires, we'd water heat in large pans on top of the stove. This would be fine for short term emergencies, but would become tedious if relied upon in the long term. When time permits I intend to make a. experimental version of the American's system.

Hi LS, unfortunately the model with the back boiler is totally different, it has a different back, top and bottom, so it can not be converted.

The same as you we could heat water on the top, we need a nice old kettle to keep on the top. Don’t forget keep a thermos vacuum flask handy once the water has boiled, so you don’t waste heat, we do this when camping to save gas.

[Mortblanc]

If one is dealing with a solid fuel stove that is kept burning 24/7 is the flask thing not a bit redundant?

You have the kettle on the stove already and the thing is burning 24/7 so you are not "wasting" anything.