I am accidentally semi-prepped in that I currently live without a refrigerator and I am developing skills for reducing electricity and heating bills. While I am nowhere near where I would like to be in this respect (still feeling a lot like consumer deprivation
), trying to find ways to reduce bills will bring one a long way towards being temperature resilient.
As for living without a fridge, it's not a system I've mastered anywhere close to fully. I still am tempted to go out for sliced pizza way more often than I should. But it's also pushing me towards shelf-stable grains, potatoes, carrots, onion, etc. I have a balcony protected from flying critters who'd be interested in my supplies - for folks living in houses, I assume the same can be achieved by setting aside part of your basement as an unheated storage area.
Looking at how many mains have busted in texas, I am also thinking of the advantages of holing up in one's kitchen for the winter. This may not be a good solution for most, but as I live alone and my kitchen can fit a cot, I am thinking that sleeping there during the winter might have the advantages of doubling up keeping the area warm and protecting my pipes.
The way my apartment is, my heating and electricity will only go bust if the coal power plant goes bust. There were blackouts in the early years of the transition, but they've cracked it now: they incinerate trash (which they're not supposed to do) in the middle of the night. It does make the air crap. It also reduces the chance of blackouts as western europe isn't running out of trash any time soon.
This situation has me thinking of equipping my kitchen with a small wood stove. There is a chimney where your extractor hood would usually hook up, but if I put my cooking plate on the balcony, which can be aired out, there will be no need for a cooking stove and the chimney can be used for a heating stove. Still thinking this through and unsure how far I'll go with it given that I disapprove of burning shit for heating individually (power plant is a socialized solution; even though it makes the air crap, the air in areas of the city where individual houses are heated via wood stoves/furnaces is worse).
Also, shelling out the cash to replace my crooked, drafty, 70s windows might be a step in the right direction. Cash outlay now, resilience later. Or I can just do the usual weather proofing hacks - bubble wrap, curtains, caulking/tape, etcetera. Still undecided on this one.
have left me thinking about prepping for keeping electricity, heat, and water available in my house. My house is connected to the grid for electricity, natural gas, and water. I would consider big solutions like a woodstove, solar panels, battery bank, generator, etc. but I don't think I'll be in this house too much longer so they don't make sense right now.
