Yup, I like ice cold drinks. Luckily the creeks here are in the fifties, so that could come in handy.
If shtf tomorrow, what would you miss most?
- Thread starter Brent S
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I third icecubes...what we gonna due without sweet tea in ice.
I found a link for how to make a simple pot in a pot to keep foods cool but not finding anything on how to turn water into ice without freon
A solar setup large enough to run a fridge would be great. I think with a little care on when you open it, you could even get by without batteries. If it ran all day and you leave it closed in the night, along with some blocks of ice inside, you could keep food fresh pretty well. I will try to get started on a setup as soon as I can afford it.
I've never thought of doing it without batteries but I can't see a reason why not although you might have to be careful of the voltage produced by the panel. You can get super efficient fridges but they cost a lot, I would DIY, buy the compressor and evaporator plate (available from several of the big guys like Waeco) and build a chest fridge with at least 4" of insulation, the more the merrier but there is a point of diminishing returns.
Even better use a eutectic plate instead of a standard evaporator.
I plan to do this for my next camper build although that will have batteries.
Where will the ice come from? It has to be from outside the "system", in which case are you also having a freezer?
Even better use a eutectic plate instead of a standard evaporator.
I plan to do this for my next camper build although that will have batteries.
Where will the ice come from? It has to be from outside the "system", in which case are you also having a freezer?
I am getting some of the $1 gallon jugs of water to put in my freezer for when I start turning off my electricity most of each day next month. My refrigerator is just going to be a giant cooler for my veggies, milk and eggs.
You know what? My Amish friends have what on the outside appears to be a regular fridge/freezer, but it has special trays inside for, I believe, dry ice. They don't use electricity at all. They buy the refrigerators, then convert them themselves. I'll contact Lester and see if he can give me some more information on how they make them and I know they don't buy the dry ice, either.
I've got a Sundazer Freezer two years ago as a backup, it works pretty good and didn't cost me that much. I've been thinking of getting a solar refrigerator for the back patio for sodas.
That would be interesting because from an net energy point of view ice doesn't help because you still need the energy to create it. But if it's possible to make dry ice without needing electricity that's a different story.
LW, Seems pretty cost prohibitive because dry ice even in small quantities is very expensive. When I use to trap mosquitoes, since the dry ice gives off carbon vapors and attracts the little critters to the light mosquito traps...I was spending a good size amount of tax payers dollars to buy it locally. Someone came up with the idea to make it out of the tanks, but even then it was for very small blocks and it took a lot of compressed gas to make it.
During the winter, as Psalms and Brent mentioned using wet ice (from winter ponds, the ice was cut out) and then stored like Jontte mentioned in home-made ice houses. Covered with hay back in the day...and used to cool down old ice boxes...but its been years since that has occurred. Think my aunt had one of the old "ice" boxes in the garage back in 1960.
Everything I find online about making dry ice involves no electricity, but you do have to have a carbon dioxide source.
The Amish must have a way because I've had ice water out of their refrigerator. I know Lester and his family do not use electricity and they are very frugal so they wouldn't pay huge amounts for dry ice. I will definitely contact him. Because of his business, he is allowed to have a cell phone with all the bells and whistles!
Nope, no electricity needed on making the dry ice, but pretty expensive gas cylinder needed with apparatus, not sure how economical it is.
Something like this may work with bat/solar combo though not cheap! 'Koldfront 43 Quart 12V DC Portable Fridge Freezer: Power: 65 W/0.75-4.5 A'
http://www.livingdirect.com/Koldfro...5RKS1Vs9bNAsEiKpzw8iZCrwHet0jP-MeRngXg_PD_BwE
Yup, Amish don't use electricity. Mennonites do though.... Who knows, but good luck the same. lol...he's one of those urban Amish..the ones I knew in Pennsylvania are very orthodox. The Mennonites that live near my mom's home, while religiously related to Amish, don't hesitate to drive cars, use cellphones, tractors, electricity...anything to turn a profit. Same goes for the ones in Oklahoma...all good folks, but use all the comforts.
Almost all of our fridges here have a freezer on top or bottom with a seperate door. You could freeze a soda bottle full of water during the daylight while the panels are operating, and stay cold all night by putting them in the fridge part.
Easy to say...not so easy to do. I may prep for something bad to happen, but I kind of like the modern world and its conveniences and luxuries. Can I survive without them? Sure, but at a much reduced quality of life.
My brother-in-law has proposed building a room underground at the BOL to escape the heat. It's not really practical however because the water table is only a few feet down, and there are no hills. I think we might have to build a mound. Perhaps cover a trailer with dirt or something like that.
yeah jammy life as (WE) know it will be reduced to nothing when it comes to electronics and all..but the quality of life will only be reduced if a person allows it to be reduced.take the folks that lived in the 1700's and 1800's..they got out there and worked hard for what they earned..and thats without most of what we have today..to me thats high quality.
I may prep for something bad to happen, but I kind of like the modern world and its conveniences and luxuries. Can I survive without them? Sure, but at a much reduced quality of life.
a camper or a RV inside a above ground structure sounds good to me.and maybe a well and some source of electric.
No need to go without almost all of those things, with solar and a wood stove you can have the lot, although few changes would be advisable, for example a drying rack rather than a dryer.
I do most of that now and have done for years, when I add the wood stove in a few weeks that can take over cooking and heating thus freeing us from needing propane as well. I think transportation would be the only thing that can't be handled by a good off-grid system.
Depends on each of our definitions of "quality of life", in my case I've spent a lifetime tinkering with high-tech for a living and frankly I'm a bit burnt out with it, I would miss the internet for sure, but I doubt there's anything else (that I need) that I would lose.
my mom and me went into town yesterday to get a steroid iv for her rheumatoid arthritis..and as i was walking to the main entrance after parking the van..i couldn't help but notice the ppl with ipods,cell phones,and other electronics in hand.and here i am with my nook in hand.my first thought was..what will all these ppl do if we no longer had these things for entertainment and/or communications..?
Yahtzee, Scrabble and Uno once things calm down enough that people have the time to get bored.
yeah..but think of all the ppl who are so dependant on todays technology? especially the younger ppl thats had these items in their lives since birth.and the ppl who is totally dependant on electronics for work and business?and there's all of us herein dpf..how hard will be to switch back to the way we use to live before all of todays technology? and how long will it take? how many ppl will not only able to deal with the drastic change in life as WE know it now..? but how many ppl will actually do so?what if there was a nation wide power grid failure that lasted no longer then a month?if that long..how will will ppl react to that?
Well, they'll have to adjust immediately, won't they, if the power grid goes down. They will definitely be at a loss, but they won't have a choice. I know I will have some adjustment but I will have plenty of other immediate issues to deal with - like figuring out whether or where I'm going and how I'm going to get there and what to take, depending on whether I'm walking, biking or taking my truck.
