Winter blackouts

barker77

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4?tag=pepperegc-21&ascsubtag=2356984363

markin

https://youtu.be/XEwhCDJp3os

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6360585/portable-power-stations

Ultrasonic

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4?tag=pepperegc-21&ascsubtag=2356984363

Boilers? What you linked to is designed to recharge a few portable devices. To give you an idea, the 388 Wh capacity would be enough to run a typical 3 kW domestic kettle for only about 8 minutes.

Bear in mind that any talk about blackouts so far has very much been a 'worst case' scenario not a likelihood. Getting people to actively think about what energy they use when could also be used to reduce the chances of power actually going off completely.

Edited as I'd misremembered the power of a typical kettle.

MattMattMattUK

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4?tag=pepperegc-21&ascsubtag=2356984363

You need a battery that can provide grid style power, that will just just not cut it, boiler, pumps etc. In the central heating system will all need power and they require it at 230v 50hz, you would also need to account for start up draw as well as the sustained running and realistically no portable battery pack generally available is going to cut it.

If you are really worried then you need to have a Power wall (or similar) installed as well as solar, buy you are talking an expenditure of £10-20k+ so it won't be for everyone. 

Realistically we are unlikely to see domestic power cuts over winter, though we may well see industrial users shut down. That being said powercuts for most domestic users only really represent a relatively mild inconvenience and so only worth taking minimal preparation for. As an example I have a small camping stove, torches and lamps from camping so if the power was out I could cook hot food or drinks on my balcony (I live in an all electric flat). I have torches, electric lanterns and plenty of batteries so light would be fine, plenty of books for reading. I have a couple of decent power banks so I could keep my phone running for 8-10 full charges. All that costs me less than a hundred pounds and gets regular use anyway, so it is a reasonable investment.

The chances of winter blackouts are fairly low, the chances of sustained blackouts are even lower. The worst case probable scenario is that we might get a few dozen hours of blackouts in total, spread out over the winter, unless one has specific life sustaining requirements due to medical conditions then it really is not worth anything more than minor preparations. 

Mstty

Yes I will fire up my 2.8kw petrol generator I have had for 10 years and throw some wood in the log burner and invite the neighbours round for a party👍

QrizB

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4

I'm going to disagree slightly; that power pack does produce 300W of AC and might be able to run a central heating system for an hour or two.

If you want it to run all night you'll need a bigger system like the one JKenH has (markin's lInk).

I agree that for prolonged outages a portable battery isn't going to cut it alone; you'll need some way to charge it. This could be a generator like Mstty has, solar like JKenH, or possibly charging from a car or van.

A permanently fitted battery (a Powerwall being a particularly slick example) would be better but you're now talking £thousands rather than £hundreds.

(Apologies for limited formatting, posting from my phone.)

Ultrasonic

QrizB said:

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4

I'm going to disagree slightly; that power pack does produce 300W of AC and might be able to run a central heating system for an hour or two.

Are you thinking of gas central heating?

barker77

Ultrasonic said:

QrizB said:

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4

I'm going to disagree slightly; that power pack does produce 300W of AC and might be able to run a central heating system for an hour or two.

Are you thinking of gas central heating?

Yeah just to power boiler for a few hours was the idea I was thinking 

QrizB

Ultrasonic said:

QrizB said:

barker77 said:

Just seen the news about potential electric cut offs at winter. I wondered if anyone had thought about ways to keep boilers etc going maybe with a large battery or similar?  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerHouse-Portable-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08PCYF3Y4

I'm going to disagree slightly; that power pack does produce 300W of AC and might be able to run a central heating system for an hour or two.

Are you thinking of gas central heating?

Yes, which I'm pretty sure is what the OP was referring to (some of their other energy posts refer to gas tariffs so I imagine they have gas).

markin

If the boiler is around 150w it may be cheaper to get a 200w 12v-240v car inverter, Even with the car running and petrol at £2-4 a L it would be cheaper. A 400w may have the better surge current to start the fridge compressor.

QrizB

markin said:

If the boiler is around 150w it may be cheaper to get a 200w 12v-240v car inverter, Even with the car running and petrol at £2-4 a L it would be cheaper. A 400w may have the better surge current to start the fridge compressor.

I didn't want to suggest that since, depending on exactly where you live, leaving a car idling might be asking for it to be stolen.