Home (and Shed) Renovation Tips for Those Who are Now Living in the Economic Apocalypse By Uncle Len, Shed Dweller
In these end times, you cannot beat home grown survival tips from those struggling to survive; life or death brilliantly focusses a person’s mind. In Europe, the focus is surviving their bitter winters with a fuel shortage crisis, and one father has made the innovation of insulating his home with cardboard, which is cheap and effective. I have slept rough out in the open on cardboard many times, and it is a true luxury for the homeless, warm and softens the ground somewhat if you have enough of it, and keep it dry. We Aussies are heading to summer, which will probably be a stinker, so that cardboard is an idea for next winter, when poor people can no longer afford electricity. As for summer, basic common sense, to cool houses naturally, maybe even get mossy nets and secure the back area of the house and sleep there. We, the poor, will need to embrace the ideas and strategies of the homeless, as the New World Order Great Reset works to make us all, refugees in what was once our own country, and home. Of course, the answer is people acting, but until that, we have to survive somehow. See cardboard as a symbol of the new minimalist way of living.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbZeg9I-gQI
“A desperate single father has been forced to insulate his freezing home with cardboard after his energy bills spiralled to more than £1,000-a-month.
Nigel Cleall, 51, said he even considered moving into his garden shed with his 12-year-old son Oliver as it is warmer than the ground-floor flat.
In a desperate bid to keep warm this winter, Mr Cleall bought 330ft (100m) of industrial packing cardboard for just £1 off eBay.
He has now used it to cover the walls and ceilings of the 1950s prefabricated property in Martley, Worcestershire.
The lorry driver says he was forced to take action after Platform Housing Association, which owns the flat, failed to fix the heating system or provide adequate insulation.
Mr Cleall explained that his flat is fitted with a heat air source pump system which is supposed to switch off when a room reaches a certain temperature.
But the father-of-two said that because the insulation is so poor in his home, the temperature is never reached meaning the system stays on all day and, at £1.92-an-hour, costs him a fortune.
He said if it was allowed to run for 20 hours - which he said it would on account of his poor insulation - his daily bill would be around £39.
Does using cardboard as insulation really work?
Cardboard is a surprisingly good, low-cost insulator as its corrugated structure traps air in its little pockets.
Materials with a low thermal conductivity, like cardboard, are good for blocking heat transfer.
Cardboard is often recommended as a temporary solution to covering up a broken window as it keeps cold and warm air out.
The thicker the cardboard, the better its insulation qualities, so using heavy-duty corrugated cardboard would be the best way to keep your house warmer over the winter.
The corrugated structure prevents conduction of energy from one object to another, even with a significant temperature difference.
However, cardboard is not as durable as other insulators and can become mouldy or break apart if it becomes wet. It could also present a fire hazard.
Mr Cleall said: 'I'm basically heating Martley when I put my heating on - it goes through the ceiling. The roof is over 27 years old.
'I'm heating up my street, not my house. The heating just goes through the house because there is no insulation.
'It's a prefab flat with a concrete floor built in the 1950s and is simply no longer fit for purpose. It's basically a garage.
'Platform Building came out with a thermal imaging camera to see how insulated it was and you could see heat leaking out everywhere.
'The windows are 18 years old, the roof leaks when it rains and it's so cold I have to wear a coat while I watch TV.
'My plan of action is to cardboard up my walls in the front room.
'Obviously, I will have to use my other rooms but I will live in my front room during the winter.'
Mr Cleall, who has separated from his wife - who lives with their other son Christopher, 10 - said he can no longer afford to put the heating on.
He said: 'I come home from work and can't put the heating on. I can't afford it, I'm a single dad.
'Last year, I could only afford to put the heating on when my boys were coming down to stay with me. But I can't even afford that now.'
'If I did that now, it would cost me £78 just for two days.'
He said for electricity alone the cost has gone up from £120-a-week to £192 in the past year, while his total energy bills would now be more than £1,000-a-month if he were to keep the heating on.
'I can't afford nearly £200-a-week on my electric, so basically we will be living in my front room,' he said.
'All I want is a comfy home for me and my son, Oliver.
'I go to work, and I keep my nose clean and I am not a criminal.
'I do everything by the book and you just don't get anywhere, it is just wrong.'”
With rising electricity sand gas prices, Aussies will face the difficulty of even being able to afford having a fridge, maybe even lights. We will be eating canned food in the dark, or getting politically active to do something about all of this.
Comments