Uk members. How long would you last with a week long power cut this winter?

Whoops! I forgot to add as this is a conspiracy site. What do you know? When will this happen? Do you have inside knowledge? Blah, blah, blah.

originally posted by: crayzeed
In the UK the majority of people live in houses with the waste taken away by pipes. Just that going down would defeat most people. Flush the toilet. the problems gone. But if there was no electricity the place where the waste goes(the sewerage facilities) would not operate therefore after a couple of days the waste would be backing up to your toilet. That in itself would be a life changer.

Again a good point and kind of why I was asking the people of ats there opinion as opposed to the man on the street.

Most of the people I know have maybe a day or two's food in the house, gas is on prepayment which needs a shop with electricity and even if with gas you can't run central heating without mains electric.

No light no food no heat and although not the worst place in the world it gets pretty cold in Engalnd in the winter time.

originally posted by: crayzeed
Whoops! I forgot to add as this is a conspiracy site. What do you know? When will this happen? Do you have inside knowledge? Blah, blah, blah.

Lol at some point I imagine.

It's not even conspiracy it has happened before and could do again.

It most likley won't though so to be prepared would be crazy!

I would suggest everyone getting at least a 100 pound propane tank and a wall mount for back-up.

a reply to: nonspecific

Well I reckon I could get us out to about a month in winter, and if I really put my thinking cap on, I could probably come up with methods of preserving food by freezing for even longer than that, assuming its a cold, cold winter. Oddly enough, the colder the winter, the easier it is to store food.

You see the main problem, would be keeping enough meat and other foods, cold enough for long enough, to replicate the handiness of having a freezer available. If it is going to be a dead cold winter, then that would be a doddle. All that would need to happen, is that I would need to build a large storage device, capable of insulating the food within from rapid changes in temperature, which is actually a cake walk in winter, as long as one can keep the sun from heating the container (which could be done using a variety of techniques including covering the outside in shaped mirrors, reflecting sunlight, while channeling the harsh winds of winter across the surface of the container). One could cook using scrap wood, of which there is always a plentiful supply, and of course the trusty half oil drum, which are also dime a dozen around these parts.

Keeping warm during the night would be a bugger, but I think as long as everyone sleeps in the same, small room, and everyone is wrapped up in their thermals, and some sweaters and blankets, and all snuggled up in their cocoon like, micro fibre filled sleeping bags, then we would be alright. It would not be comfortable, but it would not be lethal either, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

I lived in a Scottish city when heavy snow took down the power lines. Everything went down; heating, lighting, TV. Fortunately, everyone in our apartment block had an electric torch and a battery operated radio. So we managed to survive for four hours until power came back. Most homes have hot water and cold water tanks, around 50 gallons each, so homes can survive disruption of water power supplies.

My countryside friends had regular power outages, so they had the whole survival setup, a couple of deep freezers, DC output generator, fuel tanks. So they could last for weeks as they only did food shopping every two weeks.

But for anyone dependent on smartphones, their world would disappear within eight hours when the battery ran out.

a reply to: nonspecific

My brother and I go camping in the snow. You can handle most any winters with the right amount of layers. Get a snow suit.
We are planning to try camping in freezing weather again this year. It's not really as fun as it is to see if we can, although something about being packed in a ton of blankets but feeling cold any time you are out is kind comfortable to sleep in.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Or just plant it in the ground.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Well, it's mostly concreted over where I live. The property we rent does not have a garden, so some kind of container would have to be constructed to account for that.

Some advice from a Canadian who has lived through dozens of power outages in -30 celsius temps:

As soon as the power goes out:

- The first thing you need to do is run into your bathroom and fill the tub with water, and then fill every jug/bucket you have on hand from all of the sinks/taps in your house. There will still be plenty of water in the pipes running to your home.... take advantage of every drop you can get your hands on before it runs dry or the pipes freeze. Water is essential.

- Next, you need to run around the house closing every door to every room, this will close off all unused rooms. Then pick a small room that's on the opposite side of your home that the wind is blowing (a room that's facing direct winds on its exterior walls will cool off much faster). In fact, if your bathroom is in a good location, it's the perfect room to hole up in (tub full of water, toilet right there, etc).

- Make sure to keep out any drafts from exterior doors from coming into the house (ie: place a towel to cover the bottom drafty part of a door).

- In the room that you'll be staying in, hang heavy blankets over the windows and the door, this will help to contain any and all warmth in that room. Place blankets all over the floor as well. Close off any vents. Basically what you're doing is 'tenting' the room to reduce heat loss as best as possible.

- Candles are your friend. Not only do they provide a safe form of fire heat indoors, you can also set it inside a large tin can (or small metal pot) to cook on top of. Candles provide warmth, light to see, and a means to cook with. It takes what seems like forever to heat water or your food over a makeshift tin can candle stove, but it's better than nothing. A nice hot cup of tea to warm your soul....

- Grab any and all supplies/food that you will need and put them in the room with you... you want to avoid opening and closing the door to the room as much as possible. The minute you open that door, there will be some heat loss, and every bit of warmth makes a world of difference (body heat, candle heat).

- Lots of blankets, layers of warm clothing, etc.

- If you have a basement, you might want to hole up in your basement (preferably a room with a door). A basement will be warmer than your main floor due the ground providing excellent insulation all around it. Once your house starts cooling off, the main floor and any upstairs floors will actually get colder than the basement over time.

- For those of you living in an apartment or duplex or row house, you're already two steps ahead of the game because 2 or 3 sides of your home are most likely interior walls... which means less heat loss at a slower pace. Exterior walls are the enemy.



And most importantly: If you have only a few candles on hand, and very little food stocked... Then my advice would be to abandon ship and go banging on your neighbour's door and invite yourself in, because you won't last otherwise. You need food to generate body heat, and candles to provide additional radiant warmth (DO NOT burn anything else other than candles indoors !). Without those, you'll be a popsicle in no time.



It doesn't matter where you live in the world, these simple basics will give you a fighting chance of surviving in a blustery winter power outage.

originally posted by: CranialSponge
Some advice from a Canadian who has lived through dozens of power outages in -30 celsius temps:

As soon as the power goes out:

- The first thing you need to do is run into your bathroom and fill the tub with water, and then fill every jug/bucket you have on hand from all of the sinks/taps in your house. There will still be plenty of water in the pipes running to your home.... take advantage of every drop you can get your hands on before it runs dry or the pipes freeze. Water is essential.

- Next, you need to run around the house closing every door to every room, this will close off all unused rooms. Then pick a small room that's on the opposite side of your home that the wind is blowing (a room that's facing direct winds on its exterior walls will cool off much faster). In fact, if your bathroom is in a good location, it's the perfect room to hole up in (tub full of water, toilet right there, etc).

- Make sure to keep out any drafts from exterior doors from coming into the house (ie: place a towel to cover the bottom drafty part of a door).

- In the room that you'll be staying in, hang heavy blankets over the windows and the door, this will help to contain any and all warmth in that room. Place blankets all over the floor as well. Close off any vents. Basically what you're doing is 'tenting' the room to reduce heat loss as best as possible.

- Candles are your friend. Not only do they provide a safe form of fire heat indoors, you can also set it inside a large tin can (or small metal pot) to cook on top of. Candles provide warmth, light to see, and a means to cook with. It takes what seems like forever to heat water or your food over a makeshift tin can candle stove, but it's better than nothing. A nice hot cup of tea to warm your soul....

- Grab any and all supplies/food that you will need and put them in the room with you... you want to avoid opening and closing the door to the room as much as possible. The minute you open that door, there will be some heat loss, and every bit of warmth makes a world of difference (body heat, candle heat).

- Lots of blankets, layers of warm clothing, etc.

- If you have a basement, you might want to hole up in your basement (preferably a room with a door). A basement will be warmer than your main floor due the ground providing excellent insulation all around it. Once your house starts cooling off, the main floor and any upstairs floors will actually get colder than the basement over time.

- For those of you living in an apartment or duplex or row house, you're already two steps ahead of the game because 2 or 3 sides of your home are most likely interior walls... which means less heat loss at a slower pace. Exterior walls are the enemy.



And most importantly: If you have only a few candles on hand, and very little food stocked... Then my advice would be to abandon ship and go banging on your neighbour's door and invite yourself in, because you won't last otherwise. You need food to generate body heat, and candles to provide additional radiant warmth (DO NOT burn anything else other than candles indoors !). Without those, you'll be a popsicle in no time.



It doesn't matter where you live in the world, these simple basics will give you a fighting chance of surviving in a blustery winter power outage.

That is all very sound advice, although I fear I would be that neighbour! I had to let a friend stay with me a few years ago as he could not afford to heat his house. It got cold enough to freeze all the liquid in his house including a bottle of mouthwash.

I think the main problem for most in the Uk would not be heat but having enough food and a means of cooking/heating it.

a reply to: nonspecific

I live in the Outer Hebrides.. We have a food cupboard that would last months, an epic peat burning stove, 27 demijohns of homemade wine and plenty of imagination - we could go all winter without power...!

It is only myself and my partner in our house.. But I reckon we could feed about 5 peeps for over 6 months.. We get power cuts every winter. The longest they last is 4 days.. It is not that scary.. Use your noggin...!

originally posted by: fluff007
a reply to: nonspecific

I live in the Outer Hebrides.. We have a food cupboard that would last months, an epic peat burning stove, 27 demijohns of homemade wine and plenty of imagination

- we could go all winter without power...!

It is only myself and my partner in our house.. But I reckon we could feed about 5 peeps for over 6 months.. We get power cuts every winter. The longest they last is 4 days.. It is not that scary.. Use your noggin...!

It's not scary to me at all!

I think the difference is that you live in a world where it still happens so you prepare. Most people in england have not had a powercut lasting for more than a day.

I read an interesting article the other day regarding food shopping habits and it turns out most people buy food on a daily basis in a little but often approach as opposed to stocking up.

Thats a little scary given the amount of things that can take out the supermarkets.

a reply to: nonspecific

Lol yes...!

My mum and dad live about 20 seconds walk from the Co-op.. They go in there 3 times a day sometimes. Its insane...! They hardly have any food stocked and they would not last long if the power went and the supermarkets got taken out...!

But they do not think these things will happen. I try to explain. But they are of the older generation who believe the government looks after peeps....! LOL

I got used to 4 or 5 day power cuts and soon wised up candles are great as is a stock of propane gas for heating and all is not lost , but the older you get the softer you become , i am used to - 20 + most winters and could take a week no problem and a month if i had to , and i would still be able to have a hot shower and shave every day .

But i have watched adults turn to angry animals after a few days without power because they did not prepare or could not adapt to the conditions thrown at them

dp

Douglas, I try to take everything you say seriously and with the respect it deserves but it's really hard to do so with that silly doogle thing at the side, too many times now I have had to backspace and write wat I meant as opposed to how doogle could understand.

These are small, these are very far away....

a reply to: douglas5

a reply to: nonspecific


yes you have to say things very very slowly to me pictures are better , and the good thing about the power going down is the shop alarms go down to for all the late preppers out there wanting to do some last minute shopping