OT Can we do without it?

Willie,

I agree, you don't realise how much you depend on it until it is gone

In the late 90's in Vic, when HRH Kennet was in power, we seemed to lose it in suburban Melbourne about every two months. It really got to be a bad thing.

We haven't had a loss for a couple of years, but the last time was really strange. Our kids went mad; no TV, no computer. Jenny and I sat by the light of the candle chatting and gave them the 12 volt lantern to take and read a book.

They didn't want to read, so came and sat with Mum and Dad and had a chat. It was almost like camping.

Cheers,

Jim.

Poor bugger you

You should be able to run the essentials with a 2kva, we use to have the switch board in the house wired so we could plug the gennie in when power went out. Dont know how is was wired in, electrican did it.

Ads

No, Willem, we couldn't do without it, not for long, anyway, as you've found out. Feel that electricity would be the greatest resource we have, though others might dispute that. Maybe petroleum is???

Having been in the "bush" over 40 years, am concerned about power we have no control over.
The 5KVA diesel "silent-pack" would be the way to go.

Regards,
Bob.

All,
Spare a thought then for those poor souls in Innisfail, Babinda etc. Apparently some of the people in outlying areas could be without basic services, electricity, water & sewer, for an extended period...like a month or more. Makes you sit back & take stock on the creature comforts that we take as a given, or a right to have in a developed country.

Mark

Willem,

Recently I spent a weekend at a B&B.

The water was from a tank off the roof, the heater was a wood fire, the hot water was gas, the stove and oven was gas, the 240v power was solar panels.

The B&B is in Dargo.

Before the power went on in Dargo,1970 I think, they had the keg on the bar and the beer was room temp. When the power went on the pub got a cool room and the locals didn't like the beer because it was cold.

If you are not sure where Dargo is have a look at "Places"

Wayne

Well, who sold the bloody power generation & distribution here in SA?

Who did you vote for?

And marvellous Mike is not exactly helping alternate power sources like uranium. He only wants to sell it, to exploit it, but not be responsible for it.

I tell ya, I'm worried for our kids & their mobs....we'll likely be OK, but as we keep on pillaging the environment by burning fossil fules, we are rooted. Lucky you & I don't have a lovely shack on Eyre Peninsula 20 feet from the waters edge..........climate change will make that a very cheap shack before we are departed this earth.

oh, hang on, my Big Niss uses tyres & burns fossil fuels.

S'pose I will have to be like eveyone else- double standards, NIMBY philospohy.

Cheers, and hope you all don't mind the twisted outlook. Perhaps I need to camp in red dirt sooner rather than later?

PS Willie................. LOL. With a significant alcholic content, is the PP juice immune to the vagaries of electricity?

Only 5 hours ? Ours has been out 3 times this year and it takes around 6 hours for them to fix it.
We had to replace the mains on our property last year and were without power for 4 days. I bought a cheap gen set just to run a few essentials like the freezer. Our place couldnt survive without it. We were using the camping gear to get a cuppa nd to cook. And you're right, its so quiet. I love peace and quiet but it drove my missus batty. TV is her stress relieving choice.
Even our mean green Biocycle waste system has a 240v pump ! So much for joining the enviro generation. And the water has to go somewhere, so I have to use more fossil fuel to cut the faster growing grass.

Agree with taking electricity for granted. Nth Coast NSW we lose power regularly with storms so we've got all the camping gear ready to go; gas stove (power always seems to go in the middle of cooking!), torches etc. We're on tank water though which means no showers, toilet flush, etc. I don't understand the lack of forsight that it takes to not put a gravity-fed tap on a water tank so you can access water when the pump's not going; such a simple answer....

G'day Willem.
We keep losing power up here in Bundaberg every couple of nights. When I asked why it kept happening it turns out fruibats are shorting out the overhead wiring and causing blackouts.

Now these stupid bats are protected and we can only hope enough get zapped as to give us back our usual power supply. Small hope as a large colony has decided to make there base camp on the river just down the road of our place.

Regards
Sparkiepete

G'day Willem,

A couple of years ago we were out for the weekend after one of the high voltage power poles collapsed in a storm. Used my Honda 20i for our power source, the trick was to turn of the main power swich. I plugged it into one of the power points via an extension lead with 2 male fittings to hook up the house, this ran the fridge, freezer, TV and video unit also made up a bayonet fitting for the light circuit which allowed me to switch on lights like normal. Worked fantastically and made the money I paid for this thing seem even better spent.

Kind regards