Indoor camping stove?

[ForgeCorvus]

Sorry for the slow response to your post on May 2nd, anonym0us.

The link didn't seem to work, but I think you may be referring to one of the flat single burner stoves with the cylinder inside on the right hand side of the stove, along with the control. Anything like this will do. Note the quality of such stoves can vary. For BOB, one of the ultra - compact camping stoves would suit. If you might cook in very low temperatures, it's best to have a mix of propane and butane in the cylinder; the propane enables the stove to operate at lower temperatures.

May I ask what you mean by BOB?

Bug Out Bag. Basically kit to leave home for a short period (a few days), these tend to be aimed at camping out somewhere and are a mainstay of US prepsites

HoB.. Hotel Bag. Kit to leave home for a short period (a few days), these are for staying in a budget hotel, Evac centre, mate's spare room or other building as a destination.

GHB... Get Home Bag. Kit to get you home from elsewhere (such as work if your commute is more then a hours drive.)

INCH.... I'm Never Coming Home. The bare minimum to survive unsupported indefinitely..... These are bordering on fantasy unless you live in Alaska or some other wild place.

I hope that helps

[PPrep]

Sorry for the slow response to your post on May 2nd, anonym0us.

The link didn't seem to work, but I think you may be referring to one of the flat single burner stoves with the cylinder inside on the right hand side of the stove, along with the control. Anything like this will do. Note the quality of such stoves can vary. For BOB, one of the ultra - compact camping stoves would suit. If you might cook in very low temperatures, it's best to have a mix of propane and butane in the cylinder; the propane enables the stove to operate at lower temperatures.

May I ask what you mean by BOB?

A BOB is a bug - out - bag. A packed and ready-to-go bag filled with essential survival items that you can quickly grab in case you need to evacuate or get out of dodge in a hurry.

[tarmactatt]

Hi

So I'm not a "prepper" however I am looking to decarbonise my house and that means having solar panels + batteries which is tbf in line with what prepper do

one of my bugbears is the term "prepper" invariably creates images of US-style doomsday types, whereas the term "building resilience" sounds a lot more level headed. I think an off-grid solar and battery setup (with ability to work independently from the grid) is the correct decision for some people, it obviously works for you. To start out, I find it helpful to consider a few scenarios and think about the impact it will have on me, so I can contemplate how to build resilience to each event. For example, in relation to "infrastructure events", you can think about short-term localised power outages (contractors go through a cable, tree brings down a powerline, substation transformer goes pop, etc); next up is a major power outage such as Spain had recently, perhaps a situation where a foreign power targets numerous large transformer stations and brings down the grid, your solar+battery will still be useful but the other utilities (gas, water) might not be functional, so you'll have to think about how to manage in this instance. To make well-informed decisions, you should know the realistic power generation capacity of your panels for each month of the year, and also the power consumption of each of the appliances you wish to use while "off grid".

As part of my decarbonisation efforts, I've moved from a gas hob to an induction hob. Now, that's all fine and well but in a power cut, that won't work, and for *most* people, their gas wouldn't work either however given I've got solar power, I'd be resilient for a while and I only need that initial spark which doesn't cut into my battery capacity much

It is a more efficient usage of limited capacity to have a gas hob instead of an induction hob (albeit induction is more efficient overall, but in terms of battery capacity, it will cause big spikes and I'd rather save that battery capacity)

Equally, my heating atm is still gas but once I go fully heat pump, I'd want the ability to heat up water somehow in the event of a power cut but not eating into my limited battery capacity

to answer the question more accurately, we need to know how much water you anticipate needing to heat, there are online calculators to tell you how much energy is required for a given temperature change of water, Google something like "specific heat capacity water energy calculator". Attempting to carry on life like normal may not be financially feasible, heating water for cups of tea and hot water bottles is very feasible though. Also be aware, as mentioned above in my previous comment about infrastructure, most water supplies rely on pumping stations, which may be down in a widespread power-outage.

I don't have an EV, so I can't exactly do "vehicle to load" either and again, I'd prefer to save battery capacity especially if say we have a power cut for an extended period of time (Say, 72 hours)

What would people recommend for myself, for such a situation?.

Thanks

May I ask what you'd recommend to heat the house?

Though tbf I will also be keeping a wood burning stove. I may be decarbonising however I figure that indoor air pollution isn't that big a deal if you're only using the wood burning stove around Xmas, or other festivals

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I see. If I'm gonna get a wood burning stove, I guess I wouldn't need that?

Most of the time I'll be using electricity but if there's a power cut I'd want to conserve electric power

Not clear if you're installing or just keeping a log burner. If it's installed in a common area of the house, this is adequate for heating in the winter months, don't expect your usual room temperatures if you have a powercut, like others have said, warm clothes are key, I find fingerless gloves particularly useful.

A CO detector costs about £20 for a decent make and could save your life (making it priceless), I'd recommend getting one if you're planning on any non-electric heating.

Bistro type stoves work well with your standard pots and pans (well, maybe not a 20 inch paella.... But most things)

A stove-top kettle makes better tea then a saucepan....... I'm not sure why though.
One can be picked up fairly cheap....... Or if you have the right kind of decor, a traditional copper kettle to hide your preps in plain sight

I've gone a bit overboard with my fire safety in the house
Every single room in the house has a combined photoelectric smoke and CO detector, minus rooms with taps

My bathroom, en suite and kitchen have a heat alarm instead.

But every other room has a combination alarm. I've got mine from X-Sense which are basically almost like Nest but cheaper than Nest. My smoke alarm once emailed me when I was testing to see how well the Interlinked alarms work by forcibly setting one off

I had a quick look on their website and the prices seem very reasonable, but I couldn't see any safety certification, are these certified to usual British Standards etc?

Welcome to the forum, you've some good questions, I tried to reply in context in blue.

Id also add, it would be prudent to add a fire blanket and some extinguishers to your resilience plans given you are contemplating fire inside

[anonym0us]

to answer the question more accurately, we need to know how much water you anticipate needing to heat, there are online calculators to tell you how much energy is required for a given temperature change of water, Google something like "specific heat capacity water energy calculator". Attempting to carry on life like normal may not be financially feasible, heating water for cups of tea and hot water bottles is very feasible though. Also be aware, as mentioned above in my previous comment about infrastructure, most water supplies rely on pumping stations, which may be down in a widespread power-outage.

I don't yet know how much water I'd need but as I move to a heat pump, I'd hopefully have a water tank with water in it anyway. So whilst there might be a powercut, it'd at least mean I'd have water

Not clear if you're installing or just keeping a log burner. If it's installed in a common area of the house, this is adequate for heating in the winter months, don't expect your usual room temperatures if you have a powercut, like others have said, warm clothes are key, I find fingerless gloves particularly useful.

Apologies. I'm installing it. I've also looked at recoheat which seems decent too. I wish to use it sparingly though. I'm getting it installed by https://stoveinstaller.co.uk/ because they're about the same price as others but also offer 0% finance. I wish to use it sparingly because:

- Trees take 20 years to grow
- Indoor air pollution is a concern too but if there's a power cut then needs must

I

I had a quick look on their website and the prices seem very reasonable, but I couldn't see any safety certification, are these certified to usual British Standards etc?

Thanks. Tbh I didn't see that either BUT fwiw, I had greater Manchester fire out and they thought they were there to simply install fire alarms. I said no, I wanted to make sure that I'm doing what I'm doing correctly. They said the system is far better than what they'd install so it'll got GMF approval and that's good for me

Welcome to the forum, you've some good questions, I tried to reply in context in blue.

Id also add, it would be prudent to add a fire blanket and some extinguishers to your resilience plans given you are contemplating fire inside

Thanks! And yup. That's a fair shout. Fire blankets and Perhaos CO2 extinguishers

Also btw RE: solar, this is a good calculator

https://www.in2gr8tedsolutions.co.uk/in ... ulator.php

I anticipate generating 6500 kWh a year but only actually require 3600 kWh a year of electricity (curently)

[tarmactatt]

Not seen that recoheat unit before, interesting. I wonder how it affects the draw of the air up the flue.

Assuming you're still at planning phase for the boiler and central heating, did you consider a log burner with a back boiler? Might be possible to generate a lot of hot water this way.

[anonym0us]

Not seen that recoheat unit before, interesting. I wonder how it affects the draw of the air up the flue.

Assuming you're still at planning phase for the boiler and central heating, did you consider a log burner with a back boiler? Might be possible to generate a lot of hot water this way.

Apparently back boilers are now illegal
https://www.viessmann.co.uk/en/heating- ... nt%20setup.

The issue with recoheat though is noise. It's not the quietest thing unfortunately

[Snowhunter]

Apparently back boilers are now illegal

There are now back boiler stoves on the market which meet the 2002 Ecodesign regulations, so are legal to install as I understand it.

Another option if you have outbulding space is a pellet fired boiler and thermal store- that removes the issue of any particulates in the living space....

[Zolner]

Great you’re thinking about resilience alongside decarbonisation! For situations like power cuts, a small portable fuel generator (gasoline or LPG) can provide energy for essentials without draining your batteries. Also consider gas canisters for cooking that don’t rely on electricity. Having backup lighting and heating options that don’t need power is smart too.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Great you’re thinking about resilience alongside decarbonisation! For situations like power cuts, a small portable fuel generator (gasoline or LPG) can provide energy for essentials without draining your batteries. Also consider gas canisters for cooking that don’t rely on electricity. Having backup lighting and heating options that don’t need power is smart too.

But they are noisy and a good advertisement to the local oiks that you have stuff worth stealing