[waterhouse]

I'm not a survivalist but I can see things getting more and more difficult.  Despite all the energy saving stuff December saw a national demand for electricity that nearly couldn't be met.  While there is theoretically an enormous amount of oil able to be recovered it will be increasingly difficult and expensive to do so.  While demand continues to rise globally and costs also rise it doesn't take a PhD to work out what's going to happen.  Boy, do I regret the 1000 litres of road diesel I didn't buy at 90p/l three years ago.

I think the only thing to do is to diversify one's sources of energy so that you get stuffed less when prices rise.   And we like our big log-burner too.  The amazing thing is that a high proportion of the rubbish dumped near us is wood from building projects.  We've got tons of scrap wood waiting to be sawn up, and it doesn't need seasoning.

We also buy off-cuts and timber by-products, the latest find being oak flooring off-cuts, all less than a foot long which we get by the big bag from a local timber importer.

[sausagesandcash]

We used to need 3 fills of oil a year at a cost of approx. 2400 euro. This winter (with the 30kw stove) I have used 300 euro of oil......it makes for a big difference!

[johnmac]

Wood is the future!!! :-)

although locally seasoned timber is going up from around £50 a cubic metre to £60 to £65 delivered around where I stay in Perthshire. So I've bought my own chainsaw (stihl) and have already accumulated more logs than the six cube I bought last year for £300.... A few more months and you won't be able to see my house for logs stacked on all sides!

:-)

[ambriel]

The amazing thing is that a high proportion of the rubbish dumped near us is wood from building projects.  We've got tons of scrap wood waiting to be sawn up, and it doesn't need seasoning.

I'm like you - I can't see it go to waste. Just last weekend we were dragging logs off of the beach to take home for firewood.

You do have to be a little careful, though. Many years ago when we still lived in England, I was driving along and saw a pile of scrap wood dumped by the side of the road. Not wanting to miss an opportunity I stopped and started to collect it. Unfortunately a local council worker passing in a van saw me and demanded to know what I was doing. He took a long time to convince I was collecting it, not dumping it, and I narrowly escaped getting reported for fly-tipping.

[egbert]

We were/are on an oil tank and with the costs of oil going up, OH has gone heating mad. We have energy monitors everywhere, we have thermometers in every room . . . i get shouted at every time I walk through a door if I dont close it within a tenth of a second of manovering my big bottom through it 

So we have a dual fuel log burner in the lounge which is super hot and can heat our quite large lounge with doors shut to over 23degrees. We have an air source heat pump (I added more details in another thread in the Equipment section) which has kept us warm all through this severe winter. OH has been monitoring the elec and oil usage as we have had it a year now, and he believes we have saved about £1200 in oil but overall saved £700 (I think) as the elec has obviously gone up instead.

And he is now looking at PV solar power for the electric, which we want to get in asap as although the gov were offering this 25 year incentive, they are now reviewing it because too many large companies jumped in to benefit by offering free panels to householders - you get the elec and they get the money incentive.

Shout if you have any questions and I can ask him, as I dont know all the detail. 


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