What have done towards your prep?

[Pete Grey]

Have fitted a 1/2 ply board on garage wall ready to mount charge controller, fuses and battery selector switch, good/safe battery connections are essential, not just because of the fire risk from a short.

Many years ago I did the silly trick of disconnecting a battery charger without switching it off at the mains, it exploded blowing half of one side of the case off.

Thankfully my glasses protected my eyes, I ran from the garage straight to the shower, after that we’ve kept a container of water in the garage.

I’ve always respected batteries ever since.

[Straight Shooter]

You will soon be up and running Pete ! And you will have some backup power
I bought some of those lanterns you described ….they are a great addition and work perfectly ,also bought a Cree torch …..lights up the valley ! ALL rechargeable , I have ordered more lanterns for the sil and John the farm .

Ordered a couple of propane regulators for upcoming projects ,plus another solar panel to replace the mobile power box I made up ……that was the problem I had told you about….will arrive next week .

Going to pick up some woollen blankets from the Army n Navy store next week , I have some but a few more might be handy .

As it grows colder the wood stove gets fired up ! ,I lit the bugger up about 2am this morning ! It’s 26C right now ! ……..had cramp in the legs ! ….wild child though I was about to rape her in all the commotion to get out of bed fast .

[bigpaul]

stocked up on all the batteries we will need, I stock those procell ones someone recommended, got lots of wind up flashlights for when all the batteries run out or are not available, picked up some very powerful flashlights got a hell of a light on them better than anything I've ever come across before.

[Pete Grey]

SS I’m glad you’re pleased with the lights, very bright and being usb rechargeable is a bonus.

I keep regulators for both propane and butane in different sizes, just incase I “find” any stray cylinder .

We have only just started to use the stove/wood-burner, that’s if the house temperature drops below 21C, we’re a hot blooded couple .

[Pete Grey]

(12 October 2022, 20:14)Pete Grey Wrote: ........We have only just started to use the stove/wood-burner, that’s if the house temperature drops below 21C........

Our home is very well insulated, if the temperature drops evenings we burn a little pallet wood (comes free and we have plenty).

The temperature has not yet dropped sufficiently for the central heating to cut in, now set at 19C.

When it does go cold and we burn smokeless coal 24/7, with internal doors open the heat circulating cuts out the central heating.

[Straight Shooter]

Although we do something the same ….we set the stat at 21 c , when we light the stove it hits 25 c in no time at all and the stove is at its lowest setting ! The only thing I have not tried is a new glass seal on the door …..I have some seal tape to do the job , I will try to get that done this week ……the glass does have some play ….if it is down to that ,the seal should work to cure it , the door seal is perfect .

We open the window to control which seems stupid but it works , even so the whole bungalow is as warm as toast !

[Pete Grey]

Our stat is set at 19C as we are out and about quite a lot, and it’s easy to bump it up as we pass the stat in the entrance hall.

Our stove is regulated by a spin wheel, we can stoke up the fire around 8pm and when the spin wheel is fully closed it will keep in for up to 10 hours.

If it’s very windy draw from the chimney will shorten the time and I might need a little kindling to revive it, then more smokeless coal.

It takes time to “learn” the best way to work your fire.

[Straight Shooter]

Ordered three metal calv buckets , I have a few already ….I can sit them on the wood stove and heat up some water to wash or bath …..I have a coil of 10mm copper pipe which I can wrap around the vitreous flu pipe if things get more long term I have all the fittings plus a strap on tank that will sit on the back of the stove this is made up out of steel sheet…… but I intend to make one out of copper sheet …I have a folder in the workshop so fabrication is made easy “ one of my winter projects “ I also have a immersion heating coil ….12 volt dc ….farmers use them in the field to prevent stock watering tanks from freezing .

[Pete Grey]

We have some galvanised buckets but I burnt some rubbish in one, it destroyed the zinc coating and then it rusted through in no time.

We have a couple of 5litre stainless steel cooking pots ( with lids) we can use for heating water but there’s not enough room to heat them on the wood stove, we have a brick built barbecue on the patio which we can use, we would be able to use any rubbish wood.

With increasing our solar generation and storage a 12v immersion heater would be very useful, at the moment i’ve only seen the 12V cup heating coils, at two for a tenner why not ?.

[Mortblanc]

Those cheap immersion heaters are a bit sketchy. I had one once and it heated so fast it gave me uncertainty.

They go hot instantly and I mean instantly! If you plug them in and they are not in the fluid already they glow red hot in seconds and start melting the wires and plastic housing.

I always found that in a long term situation just keeping a good sized pot on the fire was enough for daily use with larger volume uses part of the daily lifestyle planning. You know when washup time is near, and bath time. Set it up as you need it and don't try to keep enough to shower on hand 24/7.

We used to stay in long term reenactment camps for 2-3 weeks at a time and acquired some good gear for that. Most of it was enamel ware. I have a couple of enamel canning pots for hot water bath canning that hold about 20 liters. I have one large enamelware coffee pot that holds 9L. We used to keep those near the firepit and they were generally kept warm if not hot.

In those camps, with half a thousand people living at the 18th century level, it was not unusual to walk into a camp and see 4-5 2L coffee pots around the fire at every tent. Coffee was always on the fire. Generally there was some kind of food cooking in every camp so the fires were always going.

The enamelware is much safer than putting zinc on the fire in those galvanized pails. If you ever boil it dry you are releasing poison gas.

I also have a Zodi camp shower that uses a 1# propane canister. It will heat gallons and heat it fast! It does not have to be for showers either. That thing will boil a gallon a minute as it pumps water through the system. It is stingy on the gas too. I have heated water for 15-20 people on one tank using about 3 gallons per person.

SS, you have all sorts of immersion pumps in your greenhouses, why not cobble up a system similar, with an inlet fitting on one end of a copper coil and an outlet on the other. Make the coil as large as the stove will allow. Fit the pump to one end and put both ends into a big pail of water and sit the copper coil directly into the fire?

Circulate the water until the bucket of water is the temp you want.

Between the rechargeable batteries and the wood fire heating the water you could have a nice "on call" system for special events.