Abandoned Schoolhouses and Servile Refrigerators

Yesterday I wrote about the old Servile refrigerators. I have collected the "recall" information. I will be selling one this summer. Supposedly (officially), they were recalled because of dangerous carbon monoxide emmissions. Certainly the latch mechanism could be dangerous to young children who could get locked inside.

As I said yesterday they would be perfect for a hunting lodge that does not have electricity. Today I remembered that in the early 90s I modernized an old schoolhouse. Not the one pictured here.

The schoolhouse I modernized was very much like this one, although it was not brick and had a chimney in the very center for the woodburner. The old schoolhouse I fixed up already had basic electricity rigged from an adjoining church. It was not anything "officially approved", and I remember clearly that running a toaster while the lights were on caused circuits to blow. So for many weeks I lived without much power at all. I had a central wood burning stove and there was an outhouse on the property. For weeks I used a Coleman cooler and ice for my refrigeration needs. The nearby church allowed me to use their basement equipped with a stove. After several weeks of roughing it, I had the power company run a official hookup and installed my own circuit box. Eventually I had 220voltage in addition to 110voltage. Eventually I ran basic pluming and had an inside toilet as well as a shower stall. I did this for less than 5000 dollars and I was happy as a clam...until the church decided they had other uses for the property and evicted me.

I loved my old schoolhouse and I wouldn't hesitate to live in one again. This time I might seek out gas refrigeration in addition to other means. This time I might not be able to have electricity hook up at all. In a peak oil crisis situation where the power could be off for weeks, months, or indefinitely alternative sources of power may come into play.

The trick during those times will be finding stashes of natural gas, kerosene, etc. And of course defending those stashes from desperado's and bandits.