Living without Electric.
- Thread starter badcompany
- Start date
Living without Electric what exactly?
Sorry but of the very few grammar errors that get to me, people saying "Electric" instead of "Electricity" is right up there, I am far from being great with grammar but that just grinds my gears.
Anyway, probably not very long but then who cares? This is the kind of thing I've never understood, yes you can live without electricity or by growing all your own food, however unless there is a nuclear disaster in which case we are most likely all dead we will never, ever have the need to, so "knowing what it's like" is about as important as trying to teach your son what it's like to not breath. We have all this electric stuff because we live in the age we live in, we are not "lucky", we are not "privileged", we just are, we live and electricity and all the lovely stuff that comes with it is part of that life, going without it is and insult to all those great scientists and minds of the ages who and worked to give it to us.
(Yes I am being purposefully over dramatic.)
Sorry but of the very few grammar errors that get to me, people saying "Electric" instead of "Electricity" is right up there, I am far from being great with grammar but that just grinds my gears.
Anyway, probably not very long but then who cares? This is the kind of thing I've never understood, yes you can live without electricity or by growing all your own food, however unless there is a nuclear disaster in which case we are most likely all dead we will never, ever have the need to, so "knowing what it's like" is about as important as trying to teach your son what it's like to not breath. We have all this electric stuff because we live in the age we live in, we are not "lucky", we are not "privileged", we just are, we live and electricity and all the lovely stuff that comes with it is part of that life, going without it is and insult to all those great scientists and minds of the ages who and worked to give it to us.
(Yes I am being purposefully over dramatic.)
Last edited:
This ^
in the short term i'd be okay.
i have 72 hours worth of white glowsticks (nine eight-hour sticks) as well as moderate stocks of spare batteries for my flashlights. i also have nine 30-minute Very-High-Intensity green glowsticks for emergency or signalling purposes.
Unfortunately, because i'm living in a student house i don't have any candles, but if this were my own house i would have a large store of them.
i Also have a few books that would be useful in a less temporary electricity-free environment which would come in handy.
I'm no stranger to going for prolonged periods of time without power. living in Zimbabwe, powercuts were not uncommon.
<edit>
Oooh, six thousand posts
i have 72 hours worth of white glowsticks (nine eight-hour sticks) as well as moderate stocks of spare batteries for my flashlights. i also have nine 30-minute Very-High-Intensity green glowsticks for emergency or signalling purposes.
Unfortunately, because i'm living in a student house i don't have any candles, but if this were my own house i would have a large store of them.
i Also have a few books that would be useful in a less temporary electricity-free environment which would come in handy.
I'm no stranger to going for prolonged periods of time without power. living in Zimbabwe, powercuts were not uncommon.
<edit>
Oooh, six thousand posts
Last edited:
Mental games like this are a good way of finding out if we are too attached to things. It's not necessarily good to be psychologically dependent on something that could be taken away.
The power in my apartment complex was off last week for the whole of Monday and Tuesday. The small hospital next door also had no power, and no backup generator. Gas hob still worked and we have plenty of candles. most of the food in the fridge perished, however the frozen food somehow stayed frozen.
I just read some books, listened to music and browsed the internet on my phone until the battery went dead, then took myself, phone and charger to the pub. It's quite nice to do something different once in a while.
I just read some books, listened to music and browsed the internet on my phone until the battery went dead, then took myself, phone and charger to the pub. It's quite nice to do something different once in a while.
I went camping a few times and we didn't have electricity, asides from torches, but those were self charge kinetic ones. (Debatable if this is electricity use since its self generated). At home though I'm not sure I could cope..
I am very technically orientated so I think I would find it annoying for any period over 3-4 hours. It also depends on what time of the day (irrelevant if it's longer than 12 hours) - I wouldn't be able to do anything at work without electricity but in the evening or weekends, whilst I don't sit in front of the TV/Computer that often, I am often down the pub or meeting up with friends meaning that if that place had no electricity also, they probably would shut giving us little to do.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
It depends - what am I doing that day? If I'm supposed to be at work then without electricity I'd be stuffed. If I'm on holiday then it's much less of an issue, I'll go play sport, read a book or do something else. Cooking on an open fire or using a stove is obviously more difficult than just switching on the cooker but not tremendously more problematic and you can get used to it.
I'd miss electricity and the options it gives me but I could live without it for a fairly long time if I had to.
I'd miss electricity and the options it gives me but I could live without it for a fairly long time if I had to.
.I'd be fine without electricity for 99% of the time but keeping food fresh without a fridge/freezer would be my biggest stumbling block, unless you bought/ate fresh everyday. I don't fancy going back 100 years to Salting/Smoking as a way of preserving food as I'm too much of a food snob and the chances of food poisoning was to high.
Other than that I'd be OK with it, as some have said previously, it'd be motivation to get of my bum and do things.
No I couldn't cope. Not because we need electricity, but because 99% of the stuff we use is reliant on it. So without having a major re-buy of major items and a change in lifestyle. You wont cope very well.
You would need to redo your central heating and hot water with wood burner for a start, things like oil/gas lamps to be able to even read after work. Even gas/petrol powered things usually use electricity.
You would need to redo your central heating and hot water with wood burner for a start, things like oil/gas lamps to be able to even read after work. Even gas/petrol powered things usually use electricity.
Last edited:
good work
i have a little camping stove that runs on butane bottles, of which i have about three weeks worth. came in very handy on the last power-cut.