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

[Tarrel]

(21 June 2013, 00:39)Highlander Wrote: I think Little Lou is dead on, its a good post.

This was how I was brought up,..less the mention of `before the 18th century`,.. and it was no real problem,.. we will just re-live, and re-learn what many of our families took for granted

Agreed. The problem though is that many people live in dwellings not currently suited to that lifestyle. Having said that, a modern house with combi-boiler, etc, is likely to be better insulated than your average 18th or 19th century home.

I think my advice to people in such houses would be to start thinking about practical modifications, as has been discussed on here before. It will cost money, but not as much as moving. My first priority would be to introduce solid fuel to replace or supplement the gas boiler, then to move away from the "combi" principle and reintroduce stored hot water.

If renting, and such modifications are not possible, I'd be thinking about a portable calor heater and cooker, with spare cylinders to insulate me from gas shortages, and organising the household around a warm living area, with the rest of the house unheated.

Obviously, one can wait until TSHTF before making these lifestyle changes but, if one is convinced that things can't go on like this indefinitely, why not start making the transition now? When we put our Rayburn in last year, it was quite a shock having to tend it, clear it out, prepare the wood, carry it in, do extra cleaning in the house, etc, compared to the nice, simple oil boiler we had before. But we,ve now got into the rhythm and it's normal. It's one less transition to have to make when TS really does HTF.