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Living without electricity
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? What's the broadband like? -- Rod |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? In the 21st century I would forget it unless there is convenient suitable stream close by to generate by. -- Peter Crosland |
Living without electricity
In message , polygonum
writes On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? What's the broadband like? How would you know, without electricity? :-) The honest answer is no idea. OK in the town a mile away, apparently. -- Graeme |
Living without electricity
In article ,
News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? That might be the proper place for a wind generator and/or solar panels. -- From KT24 Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18 |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:54, News wrote:
In message , polygonum writes On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? What's the broadband like? How would you know, without electricity? :-) The honest answer is no idea. OK in the town a mile away, apparently. I'd find it incredibly difficult to live without at least reasonable internet access these days. Even if I had to charge up a mobile phone with a hand-cranked device and use a Pringles aerial! On the electric side, so long as the computer/internet side was sorted, the things that I'd find difficult to do without are lighting (though LEDs have reduced the absolute electricity requirement), tools and equipment such as sewing machines, and vacuum cleaner. I think the usage could be quite low but I'd certainly want some. I assume gas refrigerators are available? But probably not freezers. -- Rod |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:48, polygonum wrote:
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? What's the broadband like? Drums/mirrors & smoke signals? |
Living without electricity
On Saturday, August 31, 2013 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, News wrote:
Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would get some static bicycles with dynamos and lots of unemployed people to pedal them. As an rural employment initiative in the renewables sector there should be oodles of grant funding available. The alternative, running a mile of SWA over drystane dykes and the machair, will probably upset Scottish National Hedgehogmurderers. Owain |
Living without electricity
In message , Bod
writes On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. + Diesel generator with auto start/stop -- bert |
Living without electricity
In message , News
writes This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? It certainly sounds idyllic. Especially from my point of view and radio interference! But, how far away is the nearest electricity supply? A friend of mine did a deal with his supplier whereby he dug a trench to their spec, they provided the cable, which he buried, they then connected up at each end. This only cost him the price of the trench and his labour. It would depend of course on who owned the land in between and if it was possible to dig. Possibly not as easy to erect ones own poles. -- Bill |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? Since it is on the coast supply by sea should be an option so ship in a start-on-demand diesel generator and fuel in 45 gallon drums. A tractor on site would be a distinct advantage as a full 45 gallon drum is rather more than one man can comfortably manhandle. Such a location probably warrants a tractor to cultivate the land anyway. -- Roger Chapman |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/13 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? genny basically. plus battery bank and inverters. BUT a mile away. hmm cost about 40 grand to pout a cable in i'd say. and would add to property value. -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/13 20:48, Bod wrote:
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. Not in winter. Useless. -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
Living without electricity
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Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 21:20:08 +0100, bert ] wrote:
I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. Seriously? I'm the other side and a bit further north and the sun shone today for about two minutes. + Diesel generator with auto start/stop With just panels, might be using it rather a lot I think ... You need to chuck everything at it. See the Eig installation and adapt what you can at a smaller scale: Small turbine + PV + batteries + diesel backup. And if there's a local burn you can dam to create a headwater for something like a pelton wheel or conventional water wheel, that might be worth investigating. Keep some paraffin lamps and/or candles handy. Make sure you can get logs to burn cheaply and easily. Buy lots of warm clothing. -- ================================================== ======= Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's header does not exist. Or use a contact address at: http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html |
Living without electricity
In message , bert ]
writes In message , Bod writes On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. + Diesel generator with auto start/stop Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. Certainly remote start/stop would be good, so that you didn't need to leave the house to control it. Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could be a cheapish first move. -- Bill |
Living without electricity
On Saturday, 31 August 2013 20:41:31 UTC+1, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme I'd budget to build a road of some sorts, even if it's just planings. How does the tanker get through to deliver heating oil? Or are you continuously hauling gas bottles? Septic tank? How does it get pumped out? Can a 4WD reasonably get through 24/7 all year round? What happens in a medical emergency? Or a house fire? What might sound like fun a for a few weeks, is less so when things go wrong in Winter. |
Living without electricity
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote: On 31/08/13 20:48, Bod wrote: On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. Not in winter. Useless. you'd need wind power, too -- From KT24 Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18 |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:53, Peter Crosland wrote:
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? In the 21st century I would forget it unless there is convenient suitable stream close by to generate by. Windmill plus batteries and generator on red diesel. |
Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:41:31 +0100, News wrote:
Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. So only a footpath for access? Not even two tyre tracks across a field? google Not an old keepers cottage is it? I'll assume it is as your description matches well. The 1:25000 OS map does only mark a path and along the foot of crags/cliffs and still quite a steep slope down to the sea. Think one would have to see what that path is really like. Maybe they built the lighthouse/cottages by bringing stuff by sea, no obvious landing stage now. An old cart access might need a decent 4WD rather than a car to negociate it, that's assuming any access rights allow vehicular access... Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. Idyllic until the north atlantic storms arrive in winter. Tucked nicely away but the NE is still exposed. Access would be the biggest snag, walking a mile with your weekly shop won't be fun. Having said that there is an inlet between the main island and the island the light is on, might be possible to use a small boat. There doesn't appear to be a fog horn associated with the light. B-) How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? Wind and big battery bank. Looking at the terrain to the south solar PV might be even more hopeless than normal in winter as the south elevation may not see sunlight. Tidal flow something in the inlet? Small diesel set as back up for when the wind don't blow. Lighting using modern LEDs and drivers designed to work directly from the battery voltage, probably 48 V. -- Cheers Dave. |
Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote:
Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand. Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could be a cheapish first move. How much do you think red costs? -- Cheers Dave. |
Living without electricity
In article , tony sayer
writes In article , scribeth thus On Saturday, August 31, 2013 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, News wrote: Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would get some static bicycles with dynamos and lots of unemployed people to pedal them. As an rural employment initiative in the renewables sector there should be oodles of grant funding available. The alternative, running a mile of SWA over drystane dykes and the machair, will probably upset Scottish National Hedgehogmurderers. Owain Noooo!, He wants Pylons!, bloody great massive things there're all the rage in parts of Scotland;!.. Or more cause a rage;(... "Pylons, those pillars Bare like nude giant girls that have no secret. " see; http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...e_Pylons_by_St ephen_Spender -- Chris Holford |
Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:26:24 +0100, Java Jive wrote:
And if there's a local burn you can dam to create a headwater for something like a pelton wheel If it's the place I think it is there is damn big hill behind it so a decent head shouldn't be a problem. How much water is available at the top is another matter but even if you can only get enough for a kW of lecky 24/7 that'll almost be enough with a good sized battery bank to store the "excess" overnight. Keep some paraffin lamps and/or candles handy. Paraffin as in pressure or wick? Gas lanterns give a better light than a wick oil lamp and are less smelly unless you use an (expensive) refined lamp oil. Make sure you can get logs to burn cheaply and easily. The poor access makes shipping anything in by land hard work. Need to check out that sea access, even then there maybe only a limited number of days when the swell will allow off loading of a small boat. Buy lots of warm clothing. double plus 1. -- Cheers Dave. |
Living without electricity
How do they do their washing etc then?
I've not seen a gas washing machine. Brian -- From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active "News" wrote in message ... This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? Any rivers or streams that you could run hydroelectric from? That would be the best choice if available. |
Living without electricity
A wind turbine as well though, if its on the coast.
Brian -- From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active "Bod" wrote in message ... On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. |
Living without electricity
In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote: Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand. I would normally associate auto start with a standby generator, rather than the main power supply. Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could be a cheapish first move. How much do you think red costs? When I last looked about 65p a ltr, a shade less than 1/2 pump price for regular diesel. A wee bit less in bulk. Not that it often bothers me, my genny doesn't get a lot of use. Best insurance against ever having a power cut that I have installed!! If it is the location you seem to think it is, as do I, after doing a similar search it is rather good. Not sure I would necessarily fancy being there in the middle of winter though. The light house appears to have solar panels in one of the photos. -- Bill |
Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:43:09 +0100, Brian Gaff wrote:
How do they do their washing etc then? I've not seen a gas washing machine. You must be younger than I have imagined. Not heard of gas heated "coppers" and possers. Posh coppers had had an attached mangle. It was a 1950's gas heated copper with mangle that my mum used for all the family washing until the rubber on the mangle rollers failed in the mid 70's and she forced into getting a stand alone spin drier, still used the copper and posser though probably into the mid 80's when age got the better of both and a washing machine was bought. -- Cheers Dave. |
Living without electricity
Bill wrote:
In message , News writes This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? It certainly sounds idyllic. Especially from my point of view and radio interference! But, how far away is the nearest electricity supply? A friend of mine did a deal with his supplier whereby he dug a trench to their spec, they provided the cable, which he buried, they then connected up at each end. This only cost him the price of the trench and his labour. It would depend of course on who owned the land in between and if it was possible to dig. Possibly not as easy to erect ones own poles. I'm sure someone did that on Grand Designs, and it was a huge saving. And while I like the idea of mucking around with solar, wind, generators, batteries and all that, on a hobby level, I reckon after all that expense and effort, digging a trench and paying a fee might be the best over all option. I'd want to stuff some sort of broadband down that trench too though. -- AC |
Living without electricity
On Saturday, 31 August 2013 20:41:31 UTC+1, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme On a related note about using genny's as a sole domestic power source, if heating/hot-water and cooking is non-electric - then modern power use can be pretty small. For off-grid set-ups (whether homes, caravans, temporary locations etc) people seem to have to buy their own genny, batteries charge-controller and either have or pay-for the know-how to turn that into a working system. Why don't some portable generators have an option to come with a built-in battery pack and the genny able to self-start to top-up the batteries? The obvious danger is the system self-starting to top up the battery when the genny isn't in a location safe to vent exhaust fumes, but good design and modern tech can provide a reasonable degree of protection against mis-operation. |
Living without electricity
"News" wrote in message ... This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme There are still such places about. I have lived in one. In Mull a small wind turbine + maybe a PV panel and batteries for electricity. I think you can buy a package these days. Runs the lights and TV. The problem would be heating theplace, not many trees on Mull for firewood.. Maybe peat? Telephone maybe not neccesary these days except for internet. The issue with living in such a place is the number of hours you have to spend doing things just to survive. Eg takes a day just to do the washing by hand. Winter must be pretty grim, it was where I lived. It's possible to buy such a place pretty cheap & put in the road and services & sell for a good profit. |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 23:53, Bill wrote:
In message o.uk, Dave Liquorice writes On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote: Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand. I would normally associate auto start with a standby generator, rather than the main power supply. I first encountered such a generator when my parents rented a holiday cottage in Scotland circa 1961. These installations were relatively common in remote areas at the time. A few years later, as a member of a mountaineering club, I helped to install a similar unit to provide electricity for our remote climbing hut. The hut now has mains electricity (as I am sure has that cottage in Scotland) but for a decade or two it provided reliable electricity at the flick of a switch. The only real downside was manhandling the 45 gallon drums. Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could be a cheapish first move. How much do you think red costs? When I last looked about 65p a ltr, a shade less than 1/2 pump price for regular diesel. A wee bit less in bulk. Not that it often bothers me, my genny doesn't get a lot of use. Best insurance against ever having a power cut that I have installed!! The days of cheap red are long gone. The current price is equal to that of road diesel of only a few years ago. -- Roger Chapman |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? A windmill with 30m blades and a few rechargeable AA batteries for back-up. -- mailto:news{at}admac(dot}myzen{dot}co{dot}uk |
Living without electricity
Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote: Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand. Bearing in mind that generators can run off red diesel it could be a cheapish first move. How much do you think red costs? I just paid 90p/litre retail at the boatyard pump. If you're buying a tankful, it'll likely be cheaper if you can get the tanker to it. -- Tciao for Now! John. |
Living without electricity
In article ,
Bill wrote: In message o.uk, Dave Liquorice writes On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 22:41:07 +0100, Bill wrote: Being pedantic, why "auto start/stop"? There is no other supply. So the set isn't running, wasting fuel, when there is no demand. I would normally associate auto start with a standby generator, rather than the main power supply. Staying on Mull in the mid 1950s, the hotel had its own genny. That had autostart. -- From KT24 Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18 |
Living without electricity
In article , harryagain
wrote: "News" wrote in message ... This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? -- Graeme There are still such places about. I have lived in one. In Mull a small wind turbine + maybe a PV panel and batteries for electricity. I think you can buy a package these days. Runs the lights and TV. The problem would be heating theplace, not many trees on Mull for firewood.. Maybe peat? Telephone maybe not neccesary these days except for internet. There won't be a mobile signal -- From KT24 Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18 |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote:
This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? Wind power from a ~6kW wind turbine backed up by a substantial array of batteries in a shed outside. I am a bit puzzled how do you deliver a big bottle of calor gas with no road - push it home in a wheel barrow? You might get away with less depending on how small an electrical load you want to run - lighting, PC, fridge and TV probably under 400W max (but with vicious peak transients when motors start from cold). You can buy 2kW generator sets for a few hundrerd pounds. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Living without electricity
On 31/08/13 23:00, charles wrote:
In article , The Natural Philosopher wrote: On 31/08/13 20:48, Bod wrote: On 31/08/2013 20:41, News wrote: This is not really a serious question, but your thoughts will be interesting. Vaguely house hunting, as you do, we came across a lovely 4 bed cottage, a mile away from the nearest small town. The house has private water and drainage, and no other services. No road between the house and town. No gas, electricity or phone. It is lived in (not a holiday home), current occupants use stoves, fires, bottled gas lamps, paraffin lamps etc. Keep in mind no road, so no bulk deliveries of Calor gas or oil. Sounds idyllic in one way, but a nightmare in another. Huge plot, right on the coast. Isle of Mull. How would you generate electricity, if you lived there, full time? Or would you not bother? I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. Not in winter. Useless. you'd need wind power, too nobody needs wind power -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
Living without electricity
On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:48:28 +0100, Bod wrote:
I would've thought that some form of solar panels and batteries would be the obvious choice. In the Scottish Islands...? Right on the coast - I'd be looking at wave power. |
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