Energy rationing

TheBanker

ariarnia said:

can someone recommend a power bank (or two)? i've seen lots of talk about them but i don't really understand the tech side of things.

in an emergency we've got up to 4 smartphones that might need a top up (though we could probably manage with just one or two). next priority would be an e-cig for the OH! after that (if it's a long cut) it would be good to be able to top up or charge two iPads and a MacBook air. 

is that something that's possible with a power bank or would that be too much realistically? we do keep things charged but if it's the end of a day or int he middle of the night the phones at least are normally charged over night so might be starting with less than full power or be cut off mid charge. 

I can't recommend a particular type. I bought mine from a phone shop, because I make some long journeys by train and you cannot always guarantee being able to charge up on board. They charge via a USB cable, which can then be used to power devices. 

I actually have two mobiles - my personal and work ones. Depending on when the outage happened, I would turn one of them off to save battery. I can't really do much personal stuff on my work one due to restrictions, but at the end of the day I can make calls, including to 999 if there was an emergency.

I think charging laptops would be unrealistic - and remember your router would be down so you'd need your phone charged to access the internet via 4G - in my experience using the phone as a hotspot kills the battery. 

My plans are not intended to enable me to carry on as usual - they're to let me quickly check the power company website, send/receive messages and make phone calls. I wouldn't be using my valuable power to kill time browsing MSE, for example. 

ariarnia

we don't have many paper books now. most are electronic on the iPads which would be why we would want them charged (and on airplane mode).

same with the MacBook. the whole of the planet earth series and a couple of other things are saved to the hard drive for long train journeys. 

they would't be an issue for a short blackout but if it was a longer one then it would be good to have the options for entertainment. two youngish kids means its good to think about these things. 

pensionpawn

TheBanker said:

ariarnia said:

can someone recommend a power bank (or two)? i've seen lots of talk about them but i don't really understand the tech side of things.

in an emergency we've got up to 4 smartphones that might need a top up (though we could probably manage with just one or two). next priority would be an e-cig for the OH! after that (if it's a long cut) it would be good to be able to top up or charge two iPads and a MacBook air. 

is that something that's possible with a power bank or would that be too much realistically? we do keep things charged but if it's the end of a day or int he middle of the night the phones at least are normally charged over night so might be starting with less than full power or be cut off mid charge. 

I can't recommend a particular type. I bought mine from a phone shop, because I make some long journeys by train and you cannot always guarantee being able to charge up on board. They charge via a USB cable, which can then be used to power devices. 

I actually have two mobiles - my personal and work ones. Depending on when the outage happened, I would turn one of them off to save battery. I can't really do much personal stuff on my work one due to restrictions, but at the end of the day I can make calls, including to 999 if there was an emergency.

I think charging laptops would be unrealistic - and remember your router would be down so you'd need your phone charged to access the internet via 4G - in my experience using the phone as a hotspot kills the battery. 

My plans are not intended to enable me to carry on as usual - they're to let me quickly check the power company website, send/receive messages and make phone calls. I wouldn't be using my valuable power to kill time browsing MSE, for example. 

We always used to keep a "dumb" phone (plug in the wall and it works) in the cupboard just in case of a prolonged power cut and after mobiles have run out of charge. The traditional phone network has its own power supply to the door. Never needed it and threw it out recently when we migrated to fibre. The new house phone is IP and is only used to take incoming calls and complain to BT. Of course that will be useless in a power outage. Makes no difference as like everyone else we have power banks to charge them on the move. My wife bought me one recently that has a solar panel on one side (as well as mains charging). It takes ages (days / weeks) to charge from flat off solar, however it's a sensible idea, especially if you're also the outdoors sort of person.

MattMattMattUK

I forgot about the laptop one, I have three not two, they are all Anker ones (from Amazon), I have one 10,000 mAh one, a 20,000 mAh one and a 26,800 mAh one with 60w USB-C PD (which would give me most of a charge on my laptop). They are all fairly high capacity so in theory I could keep myself going for several days, but I only expect rolling blackouts to last 3-6 hours, so I could recharge in between. 

TheBanker

pensionpawn said:

TheBanker said:

ariarnia said:

can someone recommend a power bank (or two)? i've seen lots of talk about them but i don't really understand the tech side of things.

in an emergency we've got up to 4 smartphones that might need a top up (though we could probably manage with just one or two). next priority would be an e-cig for the OH! after that (if it's a long cut) it would be good to be able to top up or charge two iPads and a MacBook air. 

is that something that's possible with a power bank or would that be too much realistically? we do keep things charged but if it's the end of a day or int he middle of the night the phones at least are normally charged over night so might be starting with less than full power or be cut off mid charge. 

I can't recommend a particular type. I bought mine from a phone shop, because I make some long journeys by train and you cannot always guarantee being able to charge up on board. They charge via a USB cable, which can then be used to power devices. 

I actually have two mobiles - my personal and work ones. Depending on when the outage happened, I would turn one of them off to save battery. I can't really do much personal stuff on my work one due to restrictions, but at the end of the day I can make calls, including to 999 if there was an emergency.

I think charging laptops would be unrealistic - and remember your router would be down so you'd need your phone charged to access the internet via 4G - in my experience using the phone as a hotspot kills the battery. 

My plans are not intended to enable me to carry on as usual - they're to let me quickly check the power company website, send/receive messages and make phone calls. I wouldn't be using my valuable power to kill time browsing MSE, for example. 

We always used to keep a "dumb" phone (plug in the wall and it works) in the cupboard just in case of a prolonged power cut and after mobiles have run out of charge. The traditional phone network has its own power supply to the door. Never needed it and threw it out recently when we migrated to fibre. The new house phone is IP and is only used to take incoming calls and complain to BT. Of course that will be useless in a power outage. Makes no difference as like everyone else we have power banks to charge them on the move. My wife bought me one recently that has a solar panel on one side (as well as mains charging). It takes ages (days / weeks) to charge from flat off solar, however it's a sensible idea, especially if you're also the outdoors sort of person.

I also have a dumb landline, but as you say the new IP based landline system (which everyone will use eventually) means it won't work in the future. 

For me, the single biggest requirement is being able to call 999. We are quite rural so it takes a while for help to arrive when we need it, I would hate that to be delayed further because of the lack of a working telephone. Everything else I can manage without, especially since any outages are likely to only be for a couple of hours in any one area.

Obviously everyone is different - for the elderly, disabled, people with medical conditions and those with young children there will be additional priorities. 

But the point is, if you know a power cut is likely, you can be prepared. If the government tell everyone not to worry, then it's only when the lights go out that you discover your torch isn't where you thought it was, the batteries have leaked and your phone  is on 9% charge!

[Deleted User]

jj_43 said:

Does anyone know the highest imbalance price

Data is kept here:

https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=balancing/imbalanceprice

[Deleted User]

Malkytheheed said:

pensionpawn said:

Interesting websites:
https://gridwatch.co.uk/demand/percent
https://grid.iamkate.com/

Why no solar generation at 09:30? I'm currently exporting 2.1 kWs.

the nuclear numbers don't reflect accurately on the graphs? 

I think the data is (or can be) sourced from here:

https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=eds/main

MarcoM

What would happen to those pets that require electricity and heating? for example fish or iguanas. You can't put thicker socks or cover these animals with a blanket to keep them warm.
If I were to deliberately turn off the heater and filter of my aquarium I could be charged with animal cruelty, could the government be the same in the absence of spcific legislation?

sienew

MarcoM said:

What would happen to those pets that require electricity and heating? for example fish or iguanas. You can't put thicker socks or cover these animals with a blanket to keep them warm.
If I were to deliberately turn off the heater and filter of my aquarium I could be charged with animal cruelty, could the government be the same in the absence of spcific legislation?

No. Blackouts would be a national emergency.

MattMattMattUK

MarcoM said:

What would happen to those pets that require electricity and heating? for example fish or iguanas.

The thermal mass of the water in a heated fish tank means that in the 2-4 hour window without heating it is unlikely to drop enough to cause issue for all but the smallest tanks, wrapping the tank with a tank blanket (or a normal blanket) would significantly reduce that heat loss, similar for lizards. An issue might be for an over stocked tank needing high levels of oxygenation, but even then the safe window should be 3+ hours with no intervention, in an optimally stocked tank 12+ hours should be fine. Most serious keepers of tropical fish will have a backup solution in place for all of that, battery powered oxygenators can run for many hours as they draw little power, waterproof heat packs can heat the water etc.