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Sorry the sensationalist headline is from ITV 🙂
But how would you cope with a blackout this winter?
For us I think not being able to use the internet would be the most severe side effect, and from that not being able to contact the emergency services, and then of course not being able to eat or have heating on.
However our last house had a sump pump in the cellar. In very heavy rain that would be pumping out every hour, that would be my biggest worry.
Technology has come on massively since I last remember power cuts in the late 70's / early 80's so I would imagine people are more reliant on electricity
Are we going to say the price of generators go silly?
My parents were without electricity for 3 days after the storms in the spring. They managed on the whole just fine, but they ended up coming here to do washing, have showers etc. However it was warm and sunny back then too, not the middle of winter.
[Mod] please see older thread https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/power-cuts-2/
MSM LOVE this headline! 😂
It'll be great. Save a bit on the energy bills, and get everyone off the internet/social media for a few hours!
3 hours at a time? Go for a walk. Read a book. In the case of an absolute emergency, talk to my family.
Invest in a head torch and some copies of Razzle if you don't already have paper backups.
I've got loads of camping gear a big bottle of propane and gas BBQ with pizza oven. Reckon I'll be reet!
3 hours at a time? Go for a walk. Read a book. In the case of an absolute emergency, talk to my family.
It'll be 3 hours in an evening - so dark.
We're rural, many folk around here only have electric heating - get a big candle to sit around?
Reminds me of a Yorkshire joke:
When I was a kid in winter we'd sit as a family around a candle to keep warm - and when it was really cold, my Dad would light it.
I think I'd love it, 3 hours of ham radio from home without all the electrical noise of nearby cheap and nasty power supplies, chargers, powerline network adaptors. I've a battery all set up to run the radios and last time we had a short power cut it was amazing being able to hear loads of stuff again.
The other point I meant to mention is that I imagine the Fire Service is dreading it. Candles are/were a thing of the past but I am sure there will be more in use this winter, even without power cuts
We’re rural, many folk around here only have electric heating
Most peoples heating wont work without electricity no matter how its fuelled.
Sorry I didnt realise there was an existing thread on a similar theme.
Feel free to close this thread and consign it to history
Most peoples heating wont work without electricity no matter how its fuelled.
Correct we have a big tank of oil sat outside, but its useless without electricity to spark it and pump the water around the house.
Very selfish, but if it could be arranged to happen on clear, transparent, steady atmosphere, dark moonless nights it would make for some of the best astronomy possible.
(and without disrupting the lives of anyone who's lives or livelihoods would be terribly impacted, of course!)
Correct we have a big tank of oil sat outside, but its useless without electricity to spark it and pump the water around the house.
Gravity-fed AGA for us 🙂
Gravity-fed AGA for us 🙂
Yes our tank feeds the boiler by gravity. I suppose I could light the boiler with a match and use my turbo trainer somehow to pump the heated water around the central heating system ?
Or maybe that is what we should be doing? 3 hr turbo sessions linked to a generator ?
I'm sure with the suggested notice of your 3 hour cut most people would manage absolutely fine. Make sure your house, or a room, or you are warm in advance, eat a hot meal in advance, fill a flask of two with hot water etc... Jesus just wrap up in bed for 3 hours with a hot water bottle if it's arctic.
Unless you have a medical device issue then 3 hours is really no time really to have no power, especially with advance notice
living in London (which is far too important to loose power) i think it would be better if they just turned the North off...
Seriously though - as others have said - i remember regular power cuts as a kid in the late 70s - we had candles all round the house and thought nothing of it. However our house had very little electrical equipment compared with today.
We're on gas heating but our combi-boiler won't work without electricity.
Personally i think its a worse case scenario which has been published just to make people think/force a conversation..
Government should be stepping up now with guidance/advice on best times to run power hungry appliances like dishwashers and washing machines, asking businesses to turn off unnecessary lighting, etc.
LPG stove, log burner and some rechargeable camping lights.
Sales of those big power banks with mains sockets will go through the roof if it actually happens 🤔
I think it would be quite cool - it would bring back memories of the early 70s for me when the general strikes were going on. I still remember the brown ring in our bath at the house I grew up in - a permanent reminder caused by burning candles in there.
In our current set-up we would be fine too - gravity-fed hot water (with a big tank) and a log burner (which is our primary source of heat when we are at home anyway) and I have a couple of rechargeable lights (one is a work light so can illuminate a whole room quite nicely).
Worth investing in a stove top kettle if you have a gas hob.
Was clearing out the garage a month ago and threw away the box of emergency candles which I inherited from my grandparents 20 years ago and have dutifully kept "in case of emergency" through 6 house moves. Will have to rely on headtorches and gas camping lanterns.
I'm with Big Scots Nanny on this one. A three hour blackout on a clear night would be telescope heaven. I'm actually hoping that the cost of energy increase will deter some of my neighbours from switching on their Heathrow Landing Strip insecurity lights.
I've started wearing jumpers in the house to toughen me up for this winter, haven't switched the heating on yet and Mrs Beagleboy has enough candles scattered around the house to make a Satanist feel comfortable.
Bring it on.
Just bought four candles
Fork Handles?
I keep hearing “there will be incentives to move EV charging & power usage to off peak times” but absolutely no detail of a likely plan.
Personally I'll just make sure the campervan is charged and fuelled.
Of course they should direct the electricity to the region's that need it most in account of the prevailing temperatures. That'll mean keeping the frozen North a bit warmer and that the balmy South can withstand maybe 6 hours.
Can't remember power cuts since I was a lad other than the very rare local sub-station tripping out for a while. We've enough camping stuff to manage with heat and cooking if needed, although most of it's at our static, but as it's closed November to March, I'll bring some of the kit back.