Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Homes and Retreats
Bijela
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:20 pm

Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by Bijela »

Next question to think on...

Day 1, Large power cut knocks out 1/4 of the country. Those with medical issues fill family and friends homes. You and others just take an early night and go to bed.

Day 2, You have pulled out the solar panel and hang up 12volt lighting. Everyone else is in the dark, but your house is lite up like a airport runway.

Do you show how bright you have been preparing or do you try and hide the light ?
Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Mimic the local houses around but shutting the curtains in most instances is going to be enough to mute your excessive torch and lantern collection unless you have a a lamp as bright as the sun :lol:
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by jennyjj01 »

Bijela wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:04 pm Next question to think on...

Day 1, Large power cut knocks out 1/4 of the country. Those with medical issues fill family and friends homes. You and others just take an early night and go to bed.

Day 2, You have pulled out the solar panel and hang up 12volt lighting. Everyone else is in the dark, but your house is lite up like a airport runway.

Do you show how bright you have been preparing or do you try and hide the light ?
Just don't flaunt it. Definitely close all blinds and curtains. Maybe let it look like we are coping with a couple of tea lamps, like everyone else. Bring in the solar garden lights. Grumble over the fence about how desperate it is not having a kettle or hob.
Use the genny to cycle the freezers while mowing the lawn to mask the noise.

Ah! there's a thought. Power off = Freezers defrosting, but also oven off so can't cook the thawing meat!
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

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jansman
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Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by jansman »

Yorkshire Andy wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:17 pm Mimic the local houses around but shutting the curtains in most instances is going to be enough to mute your excessive torch and lantern collection unless you have a a lamp as bright as the sun :lol:
Exactly that.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
GeeGee
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Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:35 pm

Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by GeeGee »

Had this problem a month or so back with the cold snap the woman over the road said to me I can see your log fire from my window im jealous !
I know her shes elderly and had her gas cut off as she is a hoarder so too dangerous to put on but can use her electric
She wont switch it on even though she has said she put over a thousand pounds on her account .. for when its cold .. she has the war mentality save it may need it..
Got me thinking though
If she can see it and we had power cuts with the weather then others can
Soooo the blinds have been angled where noone can see in the living room window looks out onto street ive added a heavy pair of curtains also
I've enough torches lanterns solar you name it to light up a football field ... but defo with curtains closed and me moaning along with the rest of them no point in everyone knowing what you have theres going to be someone who will want some of it ...
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korolev
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Location: Land of the South Saxons

Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by korolev »

Turn the main breaker off.
Let the solar panels run the freezer and put the slow cooker on to have a nice warm tea.

Knowing my luck we'd have an eclipse...
Bijela
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Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by Bijela »

korolev wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 9:24 pm Knowing my luck we'd have an eclipse...
Lol
grenfell
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Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by grenfell »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:49 pm Just don't flaunt it. Definitely close all blinds and curtains. Maybe let it look like we are coping with a couple of tea lamps, like everyone else. Bring in the solar garden lights. Grumble over the fence about how desperate it is not having a kettle or hob.
Use the genny to cycle the freezers while mowing the lawn to mask the noise.

Ah! there's a thought. Power off = Freezers defrosting, but also oven off so can't cook the thawing meat!
it would depend on just how long the power was out for of course. During the 70's my parents kept a couple of quilts and blankets ready to chuck over the freezer when we had a power cut. At the same time my father worked at the tip and on a number of occasions he would come home with a boot full of defrosting food from our local co-op . There'd been a power cut and rather than risk refreezing it the food was thrown away. We'd have a couple of days before the food started to spoil . Obviously the black forest gateux had to be eaten quicker but things like chips would last a bit longer. If the power went off for more than a day now I suspect there would be a number of barbeques going as people eat the stuff rather than chucking it. If you don't want to draw aention to yourself with cooking smells then there's always the old idea of heating a rock and placing it in a cooking pot with the food , a low tech slow cooker that can be kept indoors.
Running the genny while mowing the lawn is an interesting one and I can see how the idea would work for shorter blackouts. Perhaps longer term you may be drawing attention to yourself when your lawn is neat and tidy while everyone else's are like fields but an idea worthy of thought nonetheless.
jennyjj01
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Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by jennyjj01 »

grenfell wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 7:24 am it would depend on just how long the power was out for of course. During the 70's my parents kept a couple of quilts and blankets ready to chuck over the freezer when we had a power cut.
If you don't want to draw attention to yourself with cooking smells then there's always the old idea of heating a rock and placing it in a cooking pot with the food , a low tech slow cooker that can be kept indoors.
Running the genny while mowing the lawn is an interesting one and I can see how the idea would work for shorter blackouts. Perhaps longer term you may be drawing attention to yourself when your lawn is neat and tidy while everyone else's are like fields but an idea worthy of thought nonetheless.
Yes, there's a world of difference between rolling blackouts and complete medium -long term outage. In the case of the latter, Petrol for the mower and genny would be too precious. I might just push the mower up and down not running as a visual decoy. But the idea is pretty feeble. I doubt the genny would be kept hidden for long.

Total medium term loss of electricity would be crippling, as the home would have only camping levels of food prep heat. Even the gas central heating needs electricity.

How would I heat my rock? :cry: I'm one of those poor folk with no wood burning stove.

Keeping the house lit is trivial in the scheme of things.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
grenfell
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Re: Q3 Lights on, Lights off

Post by grenfell »

A rock could be heated in an open fire outside and the fire could also heat water or cook food at the same time. For those in flats with no open space there would be a problem and could conceivably become a fire hazard as people attempt to use candles or makeshift cookers or heaters inside.
A diesel generator would be the better option for medium term use if only for the point that more fuel can be stored . Downside is they cost more , and are generally larger and noisier. A friend has a quite compact and quiet LPG powered one that seems a good option.
One other thing or question is do we really have to light the house? Unless we have to work at something we could probably do without. Practice moving around the house at night without lights say for example to go to the toilet in the dark. Perhaps go back to a simpler lifestyle our ancestors had. If it's dark , go to bed , work with the natural light.