Living on board through winter !

[Naughty Cal]

The wonders of Tupperware and we cook mostly from scratch, so I have a pantry of dried goods, stacked in Tupperware

So do we.

 

We just tend to buy fresh ingredients every couple of days

 

Our emergency rations consist of a bag of dried pasta, a jar of pasta sauce, a packet of precooked rice, a tin or two of canned fish and cereals.

[BGA]

 

I once fitted a solid fuel stove in a canoe when I was winter fishing, but the damn thing melted it's way through the boat's bottom and I sank in ice cold water.

 

My own fault really. My Missus did say "you can't have your kayak and heat it*

You've been at the Christmas crackers again

[Tom Richmond]

I don't think you need to open all the taps, just a couple to release the pressure in the system. You'll get the same amount of water out of the system whether you open 2 or 6 taps. I normally open 1 cold and 1 hot. Also if you isolate the water tank you must turn the pump off too.

 

But is it not the case that if the water in the pipes were to freeze, then having open taps would allow it to expand in all directions, whereas closed taps would limit expansion, with the possibility of blockages and burst pipes?

 

Save on your battery usage by storing meat/dairy in a sealed container outside so you don't need to run the fridge

 

...

 

Collect sticks for kindling whenever it's dry out, because the one day the fire won't light will be the one day you run out of kindling and it's raining outside

...

 

Keep a kettle on the multifuel stove so you can fill a hot water bottle at bedtime without needing to use the cooker

 

...

 

+1 on all of these!!!

[system 4-50]

I am surprised that people keep kettles on stoves. Doesn't it raise the humidity?

[b0atman]

In the winter with correct air vents then the internal air will be changed a good number of times.

[Wassat]

If you use one of these new fangled electronic gas lighters, which seem to have the uncanny knowledge of the most inconvenient time to run out of gas,make sure you have FULL refill available for it.

.

.

.

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OR Several boxes of matches

[blackrose]

But is it not the case that if the water in the pipes were to freeze, then having open taps would allow it to expand in all directions, whereas closed taps would limit expansion, with the possibility of blockages and burst pipes?

 

If water in pipes freezes it will limit its own expansion and block the pipe as some areas begin to freeze before others. So I don't think it will expand in all directions anyway within the system.

 

Unless you're going to get all the water out of the pipes then releasing the pressure in the system by opening a couple of taps is all you can do. The remaining water will be at the bottom of the system not near the taps (unless it's being held by a vacuum).

 

But it certainly won't hurt to open all the taps.

Edited January 21, 2015 by blackrose

[dor]

I don't think you need to open all the taps, just a couple to release the pressure in the system. You'll get the same amount of water out of the system whether you open 2 or 6 taps. I normally open 1 cold and 1 hot. Also if you isolate the water tank you must turn the pump off too.

I open all the taps. It's not to release the pressure in the system, it is to prevent damage to the taps as they will be the first thing that freezes. It does also allow the water out if it does start to freeze in the pipes.

 

When I worked on a marina, the most common damage to water systems was shower mixers and filter bowls.