Hot water

[Yorkshire Andy]

So like most homes our sole way of getting hot tap water is the combi boiler ..

Some people might be lucky and have a electric shower ..

So the combi dies we have no washing up water unless we boil the kettle and a cold shower...

Or a big blackout which I'm sure some will agree is probably brewing in the background.

So as I was saying to gee gee last month I've been looking for a way to heat water for a shower and general household use

I've settled on a little 5 litre per minute gas boiler which is totally portable and comes with a 12v water pump for drawing water from a container/ barrel / butt or can be connected directly to a tap via a hose pipe...

There are bigger units with more flow but the 5l is smaller to store shtf there will be no massive rush to fill a bowl and at 5l per minute a 20l barrel will only give a 4 minute shower at 5lpm

And the bigger units need screwing by to a wall the 5l has a Cary handle so you can hang it

It's got a rated power of 12kw so not shy on output

Ignition of the gas is battery powered my mates used 2x D cells I will see when it arrives

It must be mounted outside due to the combustion gasses

[pseudonym]

old skool:

https://www.toolstation.com/hawksmoor-p ... lsrc=aw.ds

and a hot kettle.

[jansman]

A couple of good ideas there. I do like the plastic spray tank though. Simple idea P.

Blackout is a real possibility the way we are heading though. Our electric hot water tank has busted ( first time in 8 years though) . When it’s operational it holds for 24 hours without power anyway. Right now though,kettle boils and the remaining hot water goes into stainless steel vacuum flasks. That works very well. Mind you,it’s being fixed tomorrow.

In a blackout,obviously like everyone here,water will be heated over a camp stove - we all have our personal preferences and opinions there! We have the solid fuel stoves going in Winter,and I keep a kettle on one of those,so there is always hot water.

However we warm it though ( tell us how you do it!) hot water is civilised.

[Frnc]

In the event of no electricity, I presume the boiler won't work, so there would be no hot water. I would heat water on the gas hob. If there was no gas, but there was electricity, I would use the kettle. If there was neither gas nor electricity (unusual), I would use backpacking-type gas stoves - I have three. I don't have a massive amount of gas, and I would need some for coffee and cooking. If that ran out I would go over to meths, and if that ran out I would use a twig stove (folding or vapouriser type).

To bathe, I would put about 2 litres of warm water in a washing bowl that's kept for this (plus clothes washing). Use a coin towel to apply water with soap, starting with cleanest areas. This needs to be done all in one go, to keep the water in the bowl clean. Then rinse, with handfuls of water splashed on. The shower might actually work, but if it did it would be cold. Cold is ok in warm weather, but I wouldn't fancy a cold shower in cold weather. I might use a clean dried out coin towel to dry my feet. In summer they can air dry. You need to make sure you are fully dry before putting clothes on. As I said, the washing up bowl is also for washing clothes. Hanging them on the line has the advantage of UV steralisation as well as speed. We never use the dryer anyway. For soap, I just keep bars of plain soap. Easy to stock.

Another option is just to use a few wet wipes. Not as good, but better than nothing. You could alternate.

Of course water might be at a premium. My 2 litres is a guess. Washing clothes would take a lot more. You need to use the minimum amount of laundry liquid, so rinsing doesn't take more water than necessary. My emergency plan for water is to catch rain water on a tarp (obviously I have containers of drinking water). 1mm of rain per hour yields 1 litre of water per sq m. So 2mm rain on a 3 a 3 tarp = 18 litres. Halo sports wash is good for hand washing clothes, as it is low temperature compatible, non-bio, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial. I also have Dettol antibacterial laundry liquid that can be used for a pre-soak.

[Arzosah]

I like the sprayer as an idea - as a child, I grew up with having to bend over a washbasin and use a beaker to rinse my hair - it took 3 changes of water usually. If there was a power cut that turned out to be really long, I'd cut my hair

[Nurseandy]

If washing with limited water another method is to have two bowls, one with soapy water and the other with fresh water then it's a case of rinse on,rinse off starting at the top & working down. Obviously don't overdo the soap or both bowls end up soapy.

[Yorkshire Andy]

I like the sprayer as an idea - as a child, I grew up with having to bend over a washbasin and use a beaker to rinse my hair - it took 3 changes of water usually. If there was a power cut that turned out to be really long, I'd cut my hair

I've got a hozelock porta shower

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334016717586 ... FkQAvD_BwE





We've also been doing more off grid camping with the camper which doesn't have have a water heater it's ok boiling the kettle on gas but a group of 5 or 6 it's nice to have hot water "on tap" and a toilet tent up round the back makes a good shower room

Likewise at home if the combi boiler dies and the gas man says parts will take a week to arrive despite the factory that makes the blooming boiler being about 30 miles down the road it's another option to use to tide us over against a household of 5 and carrying pans of boiling water through the house isn't the safest method when there's half of the hot wheels and micro machines ever produced all over the floor

A camping stove cartridge even for the bistro stove is pushing £2 a cartridge and in boil lots of water mode they don't last that long .. yet I can get about 3kg of autogas (propane) for under £4 and use my refillable gas bottle to fuel it likewise the standard size for the jet boil is pushing £8 now


We dont have a wood burner or gas hob so power cuts would leave us stuck to a camping stove after a short time that'd be a pita

[Frnc]

Very basic, but cleaning your teeth using half a cup of water. Dip toothbrush in. Add toothpaste. Clean teeth. Use half the water to rinse mouth. Dip toothbrush in rest of water and stir to get toothpaste off. Done. This will leave a little bit of toothpaste residue in the cup. The alternative is to hold the toothbrush sideways and carefuly pour the water over it.

[Arzosah]

We dont have a wood burner or gas hob so power cuts would leave us stuck to a camping stove after a short time that'd be a pita

Ditto - except gas hobs use electricity, or at least mine does - I switched off at the mains, and the gas hob wouldn't work. I'd use the bistro cartridge stove first, then any of the other bits of fuel I've got around the house - oil, gel, fuel tabs, etc. I also have a rocket stove and a haybox.

Very basic, but cleaning your teeth using half a cup of water.

Frnc, I meant to ask you, with your water cut recently - what did you do about the toilet? Must have been so difficult with two lodgers, or maybe they just held it in till they could get to work

[Frnc]

We dont have a wood burner or gas hob so power cuts would leave us stuck to a camping stove after a short time that'd be a pita

Ditto - except gas hobs use electricity, or at least mine does - I switched off at the mains, and the gas hob wouldn't work. I'd use the bistro cartridge stove first, then any of the other bits of fuel I've got around the house - oil, gel, fuel tabs, etc. I also have a rocket stove and a haybox.

Very basic, but cleaning your teeth using half a cup of water.

Frnc, I meant to ask you, with your water cut recently - what did you do about the toilet? Must have been so difficult with two lodgers, or maybe they just held it in till they could get to work

One managed to shower and went to work before it went off. Other was in. The outage only lasted about two or three hours. I had 10 litres out ready, but we never even touched it. I used my bike water bottles to fill kettle. I keep 3 in the fridge, more than I need for a normal bike ride, for bugout purposes actually.