Constant power outages/surges and broken appliances. Compensation?

cherokeebee

I've seen a few posts that deal with similar situations, but can't seem to find an accurate answer, so apologies if this is something that seems like it's been answered before.

I live on a farm and have my power supplied by Scottish Power. My mum lives next door and is billed by EON, but her power is also supplied by SP. Both of us frequently experience flickering lights (sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes a few times a week). We also frequently have power outages (we notice about one a month lasting an hour or longer, but we know there are more because I often wake up to the microwave blinking "refer to manual"). The thing is, a few months ago there was a storm, the electricity went off and my mum's wireless modem had a problem connecting to the internet. We had BT and AOL engineers out and eventually bought a replacement modem because no-one could determine what had gone wrong - despite me telling them that I had actually seen lightning hit the box on the electricty pole near our houses and sparks come from it. A week or two after the storm, the power went out again and then my laptop wouldn't power up. Luckily, I'd only had it a month and the warranty covered the repair - it was the power adaptor that had shorted or something. Anyhow. Coinciding with other recent power outages, my mum's oven stopped working and today, after a 4-5hour outage, her laptop power adaptor also stopped working (luckily we have a replacement lying around )

One of my mum's coworkers apparently received compensation from her electricity company for items that were damaged following a power outage, and we were wondering if we would be able to do the same? I think I read that there's a greater chance if there is more than 1 item not working following an outage - but what can we do in our case, where consistent multiple outages are affecting appliances one at a time? I don't want to have to keep replacing items on a monthly basis (and the oven is an expensive one for my mum to replace!). We don't have any house contents insurance to cover them.

(The BT guy suggested we use surge protectors and I'm going to look into this - do you use a protector for each socket? What about things like the oven that are already wired up and don't have a socket?)

If we can't claim compensation, is there anything we can do to get them to investigate the constant outages and surges? Living in the country, we're quite prepared to accept power failures during bad weather, but these things are happening on a near-weekly basis!

Sorry for the multitude of questions, but I can't seem to find answers anywhere else! If anyone has had any experience with claiming compensation or has any inside info on the power company's policy with this sort of thing, I'd be really grateful for any advice or tips!

spiro

Have you both informed your suppliers of the issues? Did you inform anyone that the transformer had suffered a lightning stirke?
Keeping a log on time and duration of outage may help.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

cherokeebee wrote: »

I live on a farm and have my power supplied by Scottish Power. My mum lives next door and is billed by EON, but her power is also supplied by SP. Both of us frequently experience flickering lights (sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes a few times a week). We also frequently have power outages

Hi cherokeebee

I'm really sorry to hear of the problems you and your mum are having with the power supply to your properties.

Even though we are billing your mum for her power usage, problems like this are the responsibility of the host distributor of electricity for the region. In this case, Scottish Power.

I would talk to them about the problems you are both having. Contact details will be on your mum's bills.

Sorry I can't offer more specific advice cherokeebee but hope this helps point you in the right direction.

Malc

nathanbarley69

Write to your supplier and explain the problem. As part of the Guarantee of Standards, they are required to investigate voltage complaints by visiting customer’s premises within 7 working days or dispatch an explanation of the probable reason for the complaint within 5 working days, otherwise a payment must be made.

kjsmith7

nathanbarley69 wrote: »

Write to your supplier and explain the problem. As part of the Guarantee of Standards, they are required to investigate voltage complaints by visiting customer’s premises within 7 working days or dispatch an explanation of the probable reason for the complaint within 5 working days, otherwise a payment must be made.

As Malc said above, no point in writing to the supplier as they are not responsible in any way. It is the distributor in the area that the OP must write to.

westom

cherokeebee wrote: »

The thing is, a few months ago there was a storm, the electricity went off and my mum's wireless modem had a problem connecting to the internet. We had BT and AOL engineers out and eventually bought a replacement modem because no-one could determine what had gone wrong - despite me telling them that I had actually seen lightning hit the box on the electricity pole near our houses and sparks come from it.

You saw lightning hit the pole. So what was the best path for that current to continue on to earth? Often via household appliances. Those that made the best connection would be damaged immediately. Those that were slightly less good paths to earth may have suffered overstress. Overstress means the damage is not apparent till days or months later.

You did not earth that surge where it entered the house. Therefore only you are responsible for the resulting damage. Either a 'whole house' protector (ie from Kieson) makes a short (ie 'less than 3 meter') connection to single point earth ground. Or that current was inside the house hunting for earth destructively via appliances.

For example, that modem. Incoming on AC mains. Outgoing via telephone line to earth. If both paths do not exist, then no modem damage. You know exactly why that modem was damaged. Lightning found a path to earth destructively via that modem. That surge current was permitted inside the building. So it found destructive paths to earth.

What only you can further answer is what the incoming path was from the pole. And what the other outgoing path was to earth. But if any utility wire was not earthed through a 'whole house' protector (AC electric, telephone) or connected directly (cable TV, satellite dish), then you have only yourself to blame for letting current seek earth destructively via your appliances.

dannymccann

westom wrote: »

You saw lightning hit the pole. So what was the best path for that current to continue on to earth? Often via household appliances. Those that made the best connection would be damaged immediately. Those that were slightly less good paths to earth may have suffered overstress. Overstress means the damage is not apparent till days or months later.

You did not earth that surge where it entered the house. Therefore only you are responsible for the resulting damage. Either a 'whole house' protector (ie from Kieson) makes a short (ie 'less than 3 meter') connection to single point earth ground. Or that current was inside the house hunting for earth destructively via appliances.

For example, that modem. Incoming on AC mains. Outgoing via telephone line to earth. If both paths do not exist, then no modem damage. You know exactly why that modem was damaged. Lightning found a path to earth destructively via that modem. That surge current was permitted inside the building. So it found destructive paths to earth.

What only you can further answer is what the incoming path was from the pole. And what the other outgoing path was to earth. But if any utility wire was not earthed through a 'whole house' protector (AC electric, telephone) or connected directly (cable TV, satellite dish), then you have only yourself to blame for letting current seek earth destructively via your appliances.

Is this not a bit harsh on the OP? Text is difficult to interpret, but surely an explanation rather than a telling off would have sufficed....?

Gurn_2

As has been said above, contact the power distribution company, this may have to be done via your supplier.
requesting that a voltage recorder is fitted to the incoming supply, so they can monitor whats happening for a couple of weeks, then go back and look at the results, this will give them the best chance of being able to find the fault.

cherokeebee

Thank-you all for all your advice. We did contact Scottish Power some time ago to let them know about the problems, but we were told they'd investigate and then never heard back. So, I'll do what some of you suggested and keep a log of the surges/outages and get in touch with them again. Hopefully then they can ascertain what's going on and do something about it (the outages are particularly annoying as we have our own water supply through the use of an electric pump - so when there's no power, we also have no water!).

westom wrote: »

But if any utility wire was not earthed through a 'whole house' protector (AC electric, telephone) or connected directly (cable TV, satellite dish), then you have only yourself to blame for letting current seek earth destructively via your appliances.

Yes, as I mentioned in my post, I've been meaning to look into surge protectors and will get onto that asap.

westom

cherokeebee wrote: »

Yes, as I mentioned in my post, I've been meaning to look into surge protectors and will get onto that asap.

Not surge protectors. Protectors from Belkin, APC, Monster, etc do not even claim protection from that surge. Your concern is the protector that actually does effective protection. IOW is has that short (ie 'less than 3 meter') connection to earth. Or it claims no protection and sells at an obscene profit margin.

A protector adjacent to the appliance cannot, does not, and will not discuss earthing. Again, the Keison was cited as one example because (if properly installed) energy does not enter the building. Some examples of protectors that cost about one quid per protected appliance:
http://www.keison.co.uk/furse/furse06.htm
http://www.keison.co.uk/furse/pdf/mains_supplies/m2_m4.pdf

If it does not have that dedicated wire for a short connection to single point earth ground, then it does nothing useful during your event.

More numbers. Destructive surges occur typically once every seven years. A number that can vary significantly even in the same town. And events that 'monitoring' cannot measure. Your other concern - was this a rare event or do you want to avoid all future headaches (even when a stray car strikes the local utility)? A number that may require ten years of neighborhood history. And a question you may want to ask. Destructive surges occur typically once every seven years - which means nobody need waste money in a casino to gamble.

Owain_Moneysaver

dannymccann wrote: »

Is this not a bit harsh on the OP? Text is difficult to interpret, but surely an explanation rather than a telling off would have sufficed....?

westom is renowned on Usenet for popping up at any mention of surge protection - I see he's found this place too. And most of his comments reflect the American electrical distribution system and quality standards.