How are you preparing for gas shortages in the coming months?

Leo said:
That's not true, many of the larger complexes use a district heating model that is centrally controlled. Germany have specific legislation in place governing the temperatures these must operate at within the living accommodation itself, with mandatory and significant rent reductions if targets are missed. There are discussions underway currently about reducing the minimum temperatures,
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Yes, but you can turm off the radiators in your appartment, to suggest otherwise is bizarre. Of course, you have to look after your appartment to a certain standard, as determined by your local appmt housing committee, which I was once a part of.
 
fidelcastro said:
Yes, but you can turm off the radiators in your appartment, to suggest otherwise is bizarre.
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Just a little reminder, but the comment was that temperature would be reduced centrally. and you suggested that wasn't the case and people could 'can do whatever they please', and 'heat their homes to whatever they please'. So clearly you were not aware that central control is common.

I'm not sure why you think the ability to turn down heating is relevant in the context of a forced reduction in temperature.
 
Peanuts20 said:
Back to the 80s, throw another coat on the bed if you are cold and ignore the ice on the inside of the windows !

Joking aside, Supply will be one thing, but the price will also help reduce demand, some people will struggle to afford it and almost all of us will be reducing usage to reduce the bull
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Back in the 80s we students lived in sleeping bags when not out of the house!
 
DeeKie said:
There are stories about certain German cities turning off lights on public buildings and tourist sites, and forcing citizens to have cold showers in light of gas shortages that are coming down the tracks.

I know that Ireland has a different gas supply route, but it is likely that we will suffer gas / electricity shortages in the coming months, it would seem. How are you planning to prepare for these events? I am just thinking about my elderly parents and what I can do to prepare them for gas and electricity shortages. I’ve already got them a few torches and candles et cetera but I am sure I could do more.
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I live in Switzerland where our winter temperature is between -15c and -25c. We have gas heating on tap as opposed to from a tank. However like most Swiss houses, ours is very well insulated so if we get to turn on the heating once every three days we should be fine. There is not much you can do about gas shortages but perhaps you can improve your insulation so that it stays warmer longer.

Our bigger concern would be a shortage of electricity as all cooking etc need electricity. So we bought a power station, it delivers about 5 hour at 80 watts, so enough to do cooking, recharge devices and run my desktop computer. The charge time is about 3 hours, so that should cover us.

There is not much talk of food shortages, but I imagine some items will be in short supply this winter, but not major issue. At least I hope so.
 
Leo said:
Just a little reminder, but the comment was that temperature would be reduced centrally. and you suggested that wasn't the case and people could 'can do whatever they please', and 'heat their homes to whatever they please'. So clearly you were not aware that central control is common.

I'm not sure why you think the ability to turn down heating is relevant in the context of a forced reduction in temperature.
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"in the shared areas e.g. staircases, corridors yes, but not inside a persons appartment, they can do whatever they please."

Shared corridors clearly implies an area outside of a persons appartment door, therefore under control of the control of appartment block committe , who after all have to pay the bill for the unkeep and heating of shared appartment blocks. This is in the continent, I'm not talking about Dublin.

For your information, running costs and maintenance are apportioned on a cost per sq m basis amongst all of the appartment owners. Each owner has a vote on the committee, so if they wish to heat the appmt block to +30C, they can, or if they chose to heat it to +10C they ca

As they say, I'm OUT.
 
Would you share what type of power station that you got?

We cook on gas and our house is heated by gas. I picked up a sandwich toaster in Lidl and plan to pick up some sort of one pot plug in cooker. We will use both anyway, and they are small purchases.

On the power supply side it’s interesting to hear about what others have done. was thinking about using our EV as you can charge it and reverse the flow into the house.

I’m an equity partner in a firm and we should probably think about the possibilities. The last firm I worked in was fully agile to run remotely for the pandemic, other were not and lost clients and business. In terms of the kids schooling and our lives having a bit of resilience built in might be a good thing. I

That’s the point of the thread rather than people nitpick about whether municipal showers are showers used by German citizens.
 
I use electric for my cooker and stove top, heating and water is by mains gas. I bought ton of smokeless coal for my stove awhile ago, not cheap at €750. I bought some battery powered lanterns on Amazon and a gas camping stove just in case electricity will be rationed. I also stocked my cupboards with some non perishable foods, saving myself from going out in the cold too much over the winter months. These are things everyone should be doing. I told my neighbour to prepare but he just stared at me blankly.
I might even head to the Canaries for a couple months, probably be best option this year in grand scheme of things.
 
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DeeKie said:
There are stories about certain German cities turning off lights on public buildings and tourist sites, and forcing citizens to have cold showers in light of gas shortages that are coming down the tracks.
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DeeKie said:
That’s the point of the thread rather than people nitpick about whether municipal showers are showers used by German citizens.
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You are the person who raised the matter and even gave a link to a newspaper article that you obviously hadn't read.
 
fidelcastro said:
You'll have gas since it originates mostly from North sea. However the price will be very expensive.
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I’d imagine if the rest of the EU is cut off from gas a significant portion of the North Sea supply would be redirected there, so we’d all end up with a small bit rather than us having no reductions and Germans freezing to death in their homes? I don’t personally think it will come to pass, but if it did I think it would be a mistake to assume we’ll continue to have a sufficient gas supply or consistent electricity given how much is generated with gas. If you’re buying electrical appliances in-case-of-emergency you should be considering either a method to generate your own electricity or how to store some from the periods when the grid amid supplying (eg. an 8kWh battery you might get with a solar panel system).
 
Generation of electricity domestically is problematic I think. But it is a good point to consider it. It crossed my mind to switch from gas heating to a heat pump.
 
Reading this thread I think we must immediately start lobbying for a change in planning laws requiring every house must have basement, with at least one blast proof room, water and air recycling, etc.
A 100% value, interest-free retrofitting grant to be introduced for existing houses.
Furthermore, every back garden, regardless of size, must install at least one wind turbine, in multiples of one per any 25sqm.

Vouchers for free beans (to stockpile in said basement) of course as well. And, liberalising gun laws to allow - no, require - one shotgun per household.

That should get us over the winter.
 
Since February I have been giving slippers as birthday presents; obviously the message stuck because I got 3 fleeces for my birthday last week.

For winter the plan is for extra layers and concentrating the heat in the living room; heating in the morning is gone. A trick is placing a tray of baking powder and salt out in the hallway to absorb damp.

Electric hob for all cooking and kettle for pasta. I have a propane-based bbq grill that can do burgers and other pieces of meat which may get some extra usage until it runs dry.
 
Are we still looking for gas off the coast of Ireland? There must be a bit of gas left next door to the Kinsale Head Gas field?
 
RichInSpirit said:
I hope to prune a couple of 100 metres of overgrown Ash trees after the bird nesting season ends on the last day of August.
Hopefully it should yield enough timber for the winter.
Thinking of using a hand saw to save on the petrol for the chainsaw.
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Not worth saving €2 for unless you have a thirsty chainsaw. I get a full cube cut with 0.5 l.

Have plenty wood, oil and gas bottles if gas and electric are cut off.
I don’t see many planning for gas and electric cuts on this thread. I suppose no one will wake up until it happens
 
AJAM said:
There will be no shortages of gas in Ireland. We get a little less than half our gas from the Corrib field and the rest from the UK.

"Natural gas in Ireland is currently supplied by a combination of domestic production and imports via pipeline from Scotland. In 2019, 53% of Ireland’s natural gas use was imported from the UK." https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/f1ecf1-gas/#:~:text=Natural gas in Ireland is,was imported from the UK.

However, the price of gas could continue to go up.
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Corrib could be our saving grace this winter and next. For another debate re selling it and taxation on it. Even if their rolling rationing of Gas across the country. Gas Power plants would not be cut as Electrical is universally neaded by ever citizen. But don't think we will get to this point.
 
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