The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Bumblebear on October 08, 2012, 11:39:25 am
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On the radio squeezed in between the awful April news and other stuff was a warning that we could be getting blackouts soon. Then I found this in the Guardian. All those conspiracy theorists could be right...maybe there will be a time when supermakret shelves start emptying and those of who can produce our own food will come into our own...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/05/blackouts-coal-power-stations-ofgem?fb=optOut (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/05/blackouts-coal-power-stations-ofgem?fb=optOut)
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<<< The Greenpeace policy director, Doug Parr, said the Ofgem report "sends out a clear warning that we need to reduce demand" rather than build new power stations.>>>
I agree with Greenpeace on this. So much generated power is wasted, for example in having office lights on throughout huge buildings all night, when there is no-one on the premises, and the huge proliferation of high powered 'intruder lights' in rural areas. Not having central heating running all the time, or notching down the temp a bit, not using air conditioning - we don't really need it in Britain do we? Wear a woolly jumper and we won't need new power stations :eyelashes: :knit:
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Living where we live on the end of the line will we notice the difference! There are times in winter its more off than on anyway.
I can remember the power cuts in the seventies, it made us all huddle in the one room that had a coal fire and play cards & dominoes, real quality family time ;D
What will all the geeks do without their gizmo's?
Fleecewife is right about wasted energy, here at work eveyone has their central heating back on, ours isn't, we've lit the fire in the sitting room and elsewhere big cardis are the order of the day, and at work i go around switching off lights in unused offices & meeting rooms and everyone looks at me like i'm strange!
Mandy :pig:
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I agree (toasting myself by the woodburner). We have all become so reliant on energy we're actually quite flippant about it's use, but forewarned is forearmed and thats why we went into this whole shenanighans in the first place. I remember the powercuts as a child too.
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We don't know we're born over here. In the States, regular brownouts are common. I used to visit a friend in San Francisco; they published brownout schedules a week or so in advance so that you could plan your washing, cooking, freezer use, etc.
I may have told the story before, but twenty years ago me and then-hubby had a business together in a converted farm building. The employees used to turn the heating up and we used to turn it down, so we offered to buy each of them a 'company cardy' instead of letting them (over)heat the whole granary loft! :D
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It amazes me how many people wander round their homes in tee shirts but with the heating on all day. We have central heating (gas fired) and it goes on in the mornings until 10.30 then again in the evenings. We wear jumpers to keep warm. I was also brought up to turn lights of when I leave a room but you see houses with every room lit up and only two in the house. People must have money to burn. :thinking: ???
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Remembering the black-outs , the 3 day week , in the 70's as a kid ? I was at work in those days! I feel old .
My mum grew up in Acton , London , and had no leccy at all , just gas for heat and light , until they moved to Ruislip in 1949 , where they had leccy .
Leccy is now another form of control , rely on it at your peril !
Use it , yes . Abuse it , if you must . But do not base your world on it .
If you don't already , learn to rely on yourself and what you can provide .
As i have said for sometime now , the system is going down the pan . Rely on any part of it and you will go down with it !
The times they are a changing , and fast !
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OOOH ,panic , panic (do impression of a headless chicken ) quickly......build another fifty wind farms ,( don't work when the wind don't blow)
Simply harness all the rivers for hydro power , we have no water shortage in this country.
When did you ever see all the wind turbines all working together ? .... usually 6 out of 20 at any one time , bloody useless.
Do you believe everything you read in the papers? :innocent:
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I have proved it is actually cheaper to run the central heating 24/7 and keep the temperature down (mine is at 17 C until November, when it will go up slightly, although the woodburner will then kick in)- I have been saving £60 a month for two and a half years doing this, despite the price rises and cold damp weather. I have also gone onto fixed rate tariffs.
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Rusty, never a truer word spoken. As my friend says "we're going to hell on a handcart", people keeping waiting for things to change but that AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. As for the press, there's never any mention of the riots and mayhem going on in Europe and America as the disaster takes hold. The riots a few years ago were only the warm up IMO.
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Er , who is panicking ?
Am i reading the same thread ?
I personally couldn't give a toss if the leccy went off tonight , forever ! Or if the whole system went down overnight , makes no difference to me , well very little anyway .
Like i said , leccy is now another form of control and the rhetoric will be ramped up as it is with other forms of control !
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quote author=RUSTYME link=topic=28187.msg279546#msg279546 date=1349708162]
Remembering the black-outs , the 3 day week , in the 70's as a kid ? I was at work in those days! I feel old .
Russ, I don't like to mention this but.................. hang on a minute, so was I. NO, Russ, you're only a youngster. :innocent:
Annie, that is interesting. What did you used to have your thermostat on before? Is your place really warm? Since I've been less active I do get cold easily so this might work for us.
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Yep , i am just a nipper Lesley . I am only 23 really , but have had it rough so i look 55 .
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Like me, Russ. Except I wish I did only look 55. :roflanim:
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And I'm 45 looking 85! :roflanim: Like you Russ I say "bring it on", I have my candle stores already...oops shouldnt have sai dthat should I!!! :roflanim: :roflanim:
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I just keep 50 gallons of heating oil as a standby for oil lamps , lol . Thereafter , , when that runs out , i will grow my own , sunflower , hemp etc , dual or triple purpose , oil , fibre , animal/human feed . Rely on number 1 and there is no control .
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Annie, that is interesting. What did you used to have your thermostat on before? Is your place really warm? Since I've been less active I do get cold easily so this might work for us.
I used to keep my stat at at least 20, quite often higher than that, and the boiler seemed to be never off. I have a standard kit type bungalow - 4 bedrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, conservatory. Can't insulate the walls but I've put in 10 inches extra insulation in the roof. I check my radiators regularly for air (once a month at least) Once the house is up to temperature, keeping the heating on all the time just tops it up to that level, unless you have a cold snap when the boiler comes on for a little longer. I paid £165 a month when I first moved in 4 years ago and now it's down to just over £100, that's for gas and electricity together. Works for me - I'm in the house at odd times of the day - out with dogs at times, out in the garden or to see to the hens at other times so couldn't use the 'hour in the morning' hour at night' routine. If you have a usage meter you could try it for a month and check it.
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all this stuff about blackouts etc etc is all bumpf. Its the pre-emptive propaganda for the inevitable announcement of the building of nuclear powerstations. simple.
they do it all the time, tell us how bad its going to be /or is, then make an announcement that none of us like, to 'solve' the 'problem'. This is then accepted as the lesser of two evils.
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Oil lamps are a good idea, I often get power cuts. The Aga keeps us warm and fed, or the woodburners do, but the lack of light is a hassle, they're always in the winter.
I have a beck running right past the back door, I want to find out how to generate enough leccy to get by on.
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a waterwheel, an alternator, some deepcycle batterys and a 12v lighting ring for the house. thats my plan anyhow!
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Apparently it's just a myth doganjo....I found this whilst looking for the optimm temperature because I thought I'd try it!
http://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-doctor/#step2 (http://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-doctor/#step2)
We do hour in morning to get us and little one (2.5yrs) dressed; then a couple of hoursin the evening for little one's bathtime
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I agree - just pre-nuclear scaremongering.
At the risk of sounding smug though, It would probably take me a couple of days to notice it the power went off - I've only used 19 units of grid power since april :excited: and when I get the hydro up and running it should be almost zero grid power :fc: (I've built the genny and have the dump loads, but I need to do the difficult bit: buy £500 worth of plumbing and another £100 of cable :( ).
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I think it'll be a great idea. Show us how dependent we've become on leccy and get us into gear for using less.
Only problem is that - rather like the traffic in Lagos.... all that will happen is that everyone will game the system so when the leccy is on we'll be frantically charging everything up and doing everything bar boiling a kettle (which we boil on our woodburner anyway.....)
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Apparently it's just a myth doganjo....I found this whilst looking for the optimm temperature because I thought I'd try it!
http://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-doctor/#step2 (http://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-doctor/#step2)
We do hour in morning to get us and little one (2.5yrs) dressed; then a couple of hoursin the evening for little one's bathtime
Ok if it's a myth why am I paying £60 a month less than 4 years ago, and also £50 less than when I was up north and using Oil fired heating? Sorry, but I just don't buy that.
And I'm as warm now as I was then if not warmer ::)
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Annie, that is interesting. What did you used to have your thermostat on before? Is your place really warm? Since I've been less active I do get cold easily so this might work for us.
I used to keep my stat at at least 20, quite often higher than that, and the boiler seemed to be never off. I have a standard kit type bungalow - 4 bedrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, conservatory. Can't insulate the walls but I've put in 10 inches extra insulation in the roof. I check my radiators regularly for air (once a month at least) Once the house is up to temperature, keeping the heating on all the time just tops it up to that level, unless you have a cold snap when the boiler comes on for a little longer. I paid £165 a month when I first moved in 4 years ago and now it's down to just over £100, that's for gas and electricity together. Works for me - I'm in the house at odd times of the day - out with dogs at times, out in the garden or to see to the hens at other times so couldn't use the 'hour in the morning' hour at night' routine. If you have a usage meter you could try it for a month and check it.
Thanks. We do have a smart meter so could check. We also have cavity wall insulation and deep loft insulation which will help.
Bumblebear, thanks for the link. I have heard of it being done before so guess I need to check it out for myself. What works for one, etc.
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Have to agree with Doganjo, we have the heating on 24/7 and save a lot of oil, no myth.
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we have saved over £50 a month on heating oil, stopped using it :roflanim:
remember when the revolution comes it will be co-op
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remember when the revolution comes it will be co-op
:thumbsup:
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Ok if it's a myth why am I paying £60 a month less than 4 years ago, and also £50 less than when I was up north and using Oil fired heating? Sorry, but I just don't buy that.
And I'm as warm now as I was then if not warmer ::)
No idea. Are you not on oil now? Oil is chuffing expensive. Weel if it works for you then great.
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Ok if it's a myth why am I paying £60 a month less than 4 years ago, and also £50 less than when I was up north and using Oil fired heating? Sorry, but I just don't buy that.
And I'm as warm now as I was then if not warmer ::)
No idea. Are you not on oil now? Oil is chuffing expensive. Weel if it works for you then great.
Not been on oil since I moved here 4 years ago - was paying £160 month from April 2008 till August 2010 then changed to running heating 24/7 - monthly payments dropped to £135 for a few months, and been £110 for about 16 months now. Three price increases during that time, changed supplier only twice, been on fixed rate for a year.
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We have a radiator that isn't working. Bristish Gas man came out and checked. Said it was due to muck in the radiator and suggested we buy a filter for around £350. Said we'd think about it. It's been working ever since he left. :roflanim:
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I've just purchased a 10 ltr steel jerry can took a while tomlocate such a small one but after several weeks wait i picked it up this after noon.
I'm hoping to run a deepcycle battery with an inverter on a big solar panel with 12 v led lights and the oil heating pump on the inverter.
I have been given a 300 watt 220 volt petrol Honda genny that also has a 12 volt output the fuel cn is for the petrol .
I've put the hesting poump on an individual switched socket instead of it being wired into a box so I can unplug it and use an extension lead that runs back to the genny which will be sat in my shed. so we can have heating if the powere keeps dropping out.
I'm a recently diagnosed type two diabetic and I really suffer when its cold as my pores are usually open making me lose heat as though I'm sweating heavily .
Without reasonable heat I'm having to get wrapped up in a quilt & lay on the bed as back probs won't let me sit for long on the settee or in an arm chair, which is not good for me . Putting on an extra jumper does not seem to help either as I need whole body covering including my head . to feel warm .
The future does indeed fail to look orange , it looks more a darker shade of black.
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Plantoid, if you do it don't already, use a hot water bottle or two - I often have a hottie behind my back on a cold day, even if the fire is on. It's amazing how much a half-a-square-foot of warmth can warm your whole body... (I used to have a cat, now I have to use a hottie!)
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I turn our heating down to 18 during the day but if its warm outside ( anything 14 and above ) I put it off. Its 20 in the evening till 9pm then off till 7am. Try and save as much as possible so always put lights off.