Slick50 wrote: » Where can I get one of them subterranean siphon hoses ?
Sticky_Fingers wrote: » Well to be fair to them there are a whole lot of idiots out there that need to be told and then retold this stuff so hopefully it sinks in. I remember Joe Duffy being alive to the sound of whining last winter from people who were complaining about having no water because like 70,000 other homes they left the taps running to prevent freezing thus depleting the reservoirs. What is worse though is that this water was just wasted and went straight down the drain :mad:.
eth0 wrote: » Where would I get some cheap water tanks I could dig in? or even some barrels for above the ground. Paying 220 euros for a water butt isn't likely to pay off in the next 10 years..
slowburner wrote: » What about those 5 L bottles of water - that's what I've been hoarding :pac:
kildare.17hmr wrote: » got the chimney cleaned this morning, fire lit, finally, and chainsaw sharpened. 2 days of cuttin down trees next weekend should have a good stock of logs for the winter! Mate of mines da bought land which was 60+ acres of forestry, about 10 left and we can cut down as much as we like!! Happy days
fodda wrote: » This is survival and self-sufficiency. Have the trees been replanted or coppiced? How are you drying the timber? How are you burning the logs in an open fire or stove/boiler?
kildare.17hmr wrote: » he is clearing the forestry for horses and cattle and to build a house so no they Wont be replanted. They will be stacked in my garage to dry and will be burned in an open fire
eth0 wrote: » Don't think its quite as bad as 15 but a decent stove should get you close to or above 80%. Now the ones i have at home are not the best type so probably struggle to get 50
H.O.T.A.S. wrote: » For a more beefed up alternative check out YakTrax Pro Hikers They can be picked up online for between €30-€45.
Sparks wrote: » ......Mind you, the current long-term forecasts all say this winter will be much milder than last winter, if not milder than normal, so we probably won't see enough snow to put them on But, just in case, did everyone remember to buy a snowshovel?
As is now becoming clearer on reliable time frame global forecast models, late October could be a lot colder than the past three weeks have been. That colder trend may fade out for part of early NOVEMBER with another mild spell, but colder weather with some snow may then return in the second half of November. In general this is not expected to be as dramatic as last year, and the severe cold is not expected to continue through most of DECEMBER; instead, there may be roughly equal spells of mild and cold weather with possibly a rather stormy theme and a wide variety of daily weather types that will include some strong winds, some heavy rainfalls and some snow or ice. The output for the Christmas to New Year period suggests a milder interval after some rather cold days about a week before Christmas. JANUARY may be "the" month of the winter as our model forecast suggests some much colder than average weather through most of the month. The details may include a few brief milder turns which could involve snow to rain type breakdowns, but there are indications of cold spells with northeast or east winds that are often associated with snow in eastern counties, and in particular around Meath and Dublin. as well as Wicklow. The lunar components suggest that the week starting around 8th January could become stormy and cold enough for snow to be dominant by then, although the south could remain in more mixed precipitation. The greatest depth of cold, suggesting higher pressure building up from the east, should come a little after mid-January. More snow seems likely in the period that has delivered in some recent winters, around end of January and first few days of February. The output then suggests a steady warming trend to produce a rather mild FEBRUARY once that early cold and snow comes and goes, and that scenario suggests some risk of flooding with the thaw and melt. Otherwise February may become a rather settled and almost early spring-like month with some of the model temperature output well above normal. MARCH looks rather chilly especially towards the end, and could involve a minor return to winter or near winter conditions, so in terms of a seasonal "overview" the dominant theme might be variable but a colder winter than many in the "modern" period, perhaps a winter more typical of the colder climate periods of the past, but either not as extreme as last year, or if everything comes together just right (or wrong, depending on your point of view), a January that may remind us of the December of last winter, with some previews of that in mid-December. Wishing to remain a bit conservative, the monthly temperature forecasts relative to normal are set as: NOV -1 deg (variable but trending cold) DEC 0 deg (on balance normal but variable, stormy) JAN -2 deg (cold, and potentially colder to -4 deg, depending on snow cover) FEB +2 deg (after a cold start, mild to very mild) MAR -1 deg (mild to start but becoming rather cool later)
fodda wrote: » OK ....An open fire is only ever a maximum of 15% efficient no matter what size it is because it can only mainly heat by radiant heat as the rest has to go up the chimney in the form of gases (smoke). This means that it is 85% inefficient or for example every 1000.00 euros worth of fuel you burn on it.....850.00 euros just goes up the chimney or in your case for every 10 days you worked cutting trees and logs you wasted 8.5 days of your life to heat the sky. Get a stove which should be at least 60% efficient and the rest you can work out yourself.:)
slowburner wrote: » Happy days indeed to have 10 acres of forestry to log. But, you might be better off cutting and storing them under cover this year and burning them next year. If you start burning logs from standing trees that you cut next weekend they will have a huge moisture content and this will result in a build up of creosote in your chimney flue - possibly leading to a chimney fire. Apart from that, they'll give out next to no heat. What kind of trees are they? If they are Ash then you might get away with it. If they are your average tree in forestry in Ireland (Sitka Spruce) - be patient and look forward to being extra toasty next year. :pac:
I was just thinking of this today, prepping for cold weather. If the water freezes, can oil fired central heating then not be used?
We won’t have any oil shortly. I’m stocking up on solid fuel.
Good Irish turf here. cut by my neighbours down the lane..
How come this forum has gone so dead given the upcoming winter of discontent.
I was hoping someone would help be find a good lamp for power outages. I have good torches but it would be great to get a rechargeable lamp that would light up a room well. A camping lamp I guess. Any recommendations?
Are you into DIY and a particular tool brand? I have a lot of DeWalt XR stuff and I've found all the torches and lanterns they do in that range really affective. We use the torch for locking up the chickens every night and I have the handheld area light which will light up a good part of a room. Anyway point is most of the battery tool brands do some decent lamps to fit their rechargeable batteries.
Apologies for tardy reply. I am not into DIY but I have heard of DeWalt alright.
Would you buy online or in Woodies?
The suggestion wasn't for a specific brand just that if you already had batteries say for a drill then that would be a good bases for buying a torch.
If you are not already bought into a battery system like many DIYer's would be then there are plenty of other alternatives.
First you need to decide what your needs are. An example would be waking up during a power cut in storm and being stuck with no light. I keep a small decent quality AAA cell LED light in my pocket all the time so its easy to get to it. In fact I've found some of the very small LED torches to be more use than some of the bigger ones. Main reason is I've always got one with me. No reason anyone with a bedside table can't keep a torch there ready for an emergency.
Then there are other tasks you might want to perform in the dark, that sounds weird :-(, examples are cooking, reading, getting to the bathroom etc.
First thing to do is get a couple of packs of night light candles, they burn for a few hours and are great to give enough light for basic tasks, they don't need charging and won't go off if kept for years in storage. A good tip is to store a box of matches and cheap lighter with them so you don't have to look for both in the dark. A few old jam jars make handy candle holders. Don't be mean they are dead cheap so buy a couple of packs of 50. Keep the candles, matches and lighter in sealed ziplock bags then they are always going to be dry when you need them (we have a very damp house - even floods so I'm keen to make sure stuff is kept dry and modern boxes of matches are useless even if they absorb a little moisture)?
Its also often easier to use a head torch rather than try and illuminate a large area. You can do most things including reading a book with a head torch.
Its trickier to recommend decent area lights as there is so much cheap chinese crap on the market, its not all bad but often the batteries are on the small side to make them really useful. The reason I like the drill batteries for lights is you know what size of battery you are getting and you'd be hard press to get a 5 Amp 18V battery in a cheap lantern. The cost of batteries for the big brand names means its an expensive way to buy a torch or lantern. Battery will be around €100, then charger €20 before you buy the torch/lantern itself which could be another €40 to €120, but that does give you a light that will work for a solid 8 or more hours. Check screwfix for batteries and Amazon for the actual lights.
Keep an eye out in Lidl as they occasionally get some really good quality Ledlenser torches. I've a few I've bought including a decent head torch and my tiny pocket torch. They are an expensive brand but the stuff is good.
Thanks, I have 2 good head torches (Petzl, rechargeable) because I do night treks from time to time.
I also have a good Ledlenser torch. I'll definitely getting the candles.
