Has anyone prepared for possible powercuts this winter?

bainbridge

bainbridge

bainbridge

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Joined
9 Dec 2009
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Bristol
Haven't had a powercut where I live for over 5 years now (the only one I had was due to the Consumer Unit malfunctioning) but apparently there is a high risk of powercuts this winter:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-of-winter-blackouts-for-almost-a-decade.html

So I thought it best to at least have the bare minimum of a plan in place:

Lighting:

  • No plain white candles for sale in the supermarket so bought some fat decorative ones which should last ages if needed.
  • Already have a camping lamp with spare batteries so that can be used as the main light.
  • Already have 2 head torches from my beachcasting kit (main one and a spare).
Cooking:

  • The cooker is dual fuel so if the power is out the gas hobs will still work (with matches/lighter).
Heating:

  • Gas fire so if the central heating stops working (which I guess it will because the boiler is electronic and mains powered) I can heat the living room.

So that'll be enough to get by, all it cost was a couple of pounds for the candles as I had everything else anyway. I've shoved all the bits together in a cupboard just in case.

Has anyone else made any preparations or does anyone think this is just being paranoid?
 
Keep in mind the risk has moved from "almost entirely non-existant" risk to "extremely small chance of risk".

That said I'm not completely unprepared got spare torches, we've almost always got a few candles and matches, etc. about and as an aside (though not hugely useful if its really really dull and wintery) I have a couple of 7w solar panels w/ 12000mAh batteries to top up torches, phones, tablets, etc.

EDIT: Might look at backup heating options though as we had a powercut for a couple of days earlier in the year and it was a bit inconvenient on that front even though we had everything else covered and they are forecasting a potentially colder than average winter.
 
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nah I'm thinking if there are cuts ppl will just turn off stuff so the grid recovers

also... without leccy, there's basically nothing to do ... so I'd sleep when it gets dark.

foodwise there's loads of options. even without gas.

the problem would be businesses, hospitals, police, buying fuel, etc.
 
Candles are great, even a few little tea lights put out a decent amount of heat. Always good to have some around, and they look pretty.
 
Got a gas fireplace, dual fuel heating, gas hob. Plus I'm in the US and every just buys generators here.
 
Not really prepared but living in the sticks means I have a healthy stock of candles and torches and batteries. This last month we have had two cuts, they did not last long but in the winter it does not take long for a house to turn cold.
 
Lighting:

  • Ikea candles x 1,000,000 for 5p
  • Petrol lamp
  • glowsticks!
  • various torches and one of those big searchlight things
  • thinking of rigging up some LED strip lights for rooms I only walk through.
Cooking:

  • Gas cooker
  • I've got a few camping stoves somewhere, so it's on the to-do list to sort out the tube, regulator and gas bottle.
  • 12v Fridge, although not big I could rig it to run from the battery/genset and keep milk in it.
Heating:

  • Gas fire
  • 240v AC inverter and 120Ahr deep cycle battery which I'm hoping will power the boiler and pump to enable CH to run, not tested this idea yet.
  • Wood stove, although not installed yet. Wood shed isn't built yet either, although I do have a few tons of wood a car journey away.
Power

  • 3kW petrol generator + fuel
  • 200W solar panel

I've got a few 3G sims for the iPad too :)

Biggest issue for me is only having an electric shower, that's going to be awkward if power is out for a few days.
Plus I've not tested some plans yet which still amounts to poor planning
 
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candles- check
hurricane lamp- check
old fashioned oil lamp- check
wood/coal burning fire-check
ability to cook on fire-check
camping stove- check
bottles for storage of one's own urine for latter consumption- check

power cut?

edit: also, 13MW power station within 3 miles- check
 
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Power cuts are vanishingly unlikely unless there is physical damage to the system or a really unlikely event like Sizewell B tripping within a few minutes of another major unit say a Drax unit. Push comes to shove many large demand side users have contracts that allows the grid to cut them off to maintain domestic services.
Locally all bets are off, clashing 3 phase lines in high winds or a tree falling on the substation could bugger anyone supply for a day or two irrespective of the generating capacity available.

That said, I'm fairly remote and have a baby, so I have a 1kw inverter generator to power the oil fired boiler. I have petrol lamps, a camping gas stove with two large bottles and a wood fired stove and fuel.

I had to use the generator this June to power my chest freezer when we had a 20 hour power cut, must remember to buy a second jerry can for petrol.
 
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