Winter blackout contingency planning

ariarnia

MattMattMattUK said:

ariarnia said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Deleted_User said:

ariarnia said:

Deleted_User said:

ariarnia said:

Deleted_User said:

ariarnia said:

Deleted_User said:

ariarnia said:

Dolor said:

Bear in mind that those of us in our 70s and older lived through the three day week. I recall that it was a very cold Winter. When I mentioned this to my late Mother she gently reminded me that she had lived through the 2nd World War blitz and the Germans didn’t provide any prior notification of power outages! 

... you could be coming home to a dark cold house and have no way to make a hot drink or something to eat. 

I think this is a bit dramatic, hot drinks aren't essential and you can make a full meal without electricity, you don't have to cook a sandwich.

we've had the conversation about 'essential' before  its about relative experience and comfort vs the relatively small cost of some basic things to make life more comfortable.

after a full days work (plus commute) on a cold wet winters day then sometimes all people really want is a hot drink/meal. winter is tiring and depressing for a lot of people. january and febuary can be entirely miserable months even without powercuts.

and there's a not small group of people who live entirely by electric (often living alone and in flats) so a badly timed power cut has the potential to make them a lot more miserable than people like us in our house with other people alternative cooking and heating and hobbies that dont require electric. those are the people who will benifit most from knowing what block they are in and thinking about what they can do now so if theres a power cut (or more than one) they can be more comfortable. 

Just my opinion, but I say being "comfortable" in an emergency situation isn't a priority, people just need to stay safe and survive.

My parents remind me of the times they spend many nights in air raid shelters in the dark and cold but they survived and lived a long life. 

Being prepared is half the battle with thing like this, having a plan means that unexpected power outages can be dealt with and are quite exciting when your emergency plans come into play.

Part of my job role involves planning for emergencies, had one this week when a tree fell on a powerline and resulted in an unexpected power outage to one of my offices. We had a plan, executed the plan, everything was ok. 

i dont think a planned/pre notified time limited blackout really counts as an emergency, do you? 

people will survive for three hours without any planning or preps at all. they have an opportunity to plan to be more comfortable so why not take advantage of that to plan to do more than just 'survive'? 

Exactly, so what's the problem with not having a hot drink during a planned / short black put?

i think it's the other way around. whats the problem with someone making plans to let them have a hot drink in a blackout if it would make them more comfortable? 

Priorities is the problem.

I don't consider a hot drink a priority.

Around half of the world's population have a shortage of water and the risk of dehydration. Being in the other half and being upset about your water not being hot is not a real problem.

I don't think that someone in a third world problem has a drinking water shortage is really relevant, this is a comfort issue for people who are used to a comfortable lifestyle, however I would also have to question about the psychological state of someone who feels uncomfortable if they do not have a cup of tea or coffee for three hours.

maybe it's just me and my 'psychological state' but i can clearly remember back in 2008ish when i just joined this forum i was living in a little bedsit and commuting for an hour each way on the train and by foot. there were several days when i would be going to work in the dark. standing on my feet all day. and coming home in the dark. sometimes soaking wet because theres only so much an umbrella can do when the rain and wind are up. and i would get into my flat completely miserable wet and cold. being able to change into dry clothes make a hot water bottle and put the kettle on was a god send on those days. 

powercuts arent likely but if i was still by myself in that flat then knowing i was expecting a power cut and knowing the caf by the station wouldn't be having one so i could make sure i had a £5 on me for something hot before heading home wouldn't be 'psychologically' a problem if i couldn't but would make my day better and more comfortable. 

i'm really not understanding why some people think that's unreasonable? 

I've done awful jobs where all I wanted to do was get home and be in my own space, but I was never bothered about anything other than getting in and getting some sleep, but I never found I needed anything in particular when I got home and it would not have bothered me what I ate, what I drank, or whether I slept on the bed or floor on some days (I was working 80-100 hours as week across two jobs to pay off debts). 

I think there might be the intricacies of the conversation being lost in text, I do not view a power cut as an "emergency situation" as some others on here seem to, but neither do I think that a three hour window is worth much effort to circumvent if one is an adult without children in the home. I am not going to spend money, or get stressed about mitigating factors. I can watch/read/play/listen to multiple forms of entertainment, I can eat food that does not need cooking, or just not eat, after all it is only three hours, if it is a bit gold I can put on a jumper, or keep my jacket on etc. or in a worst case scenario go to the pub, a friends house a family members house etc.

The part that I think is unreasonable and shows that some people might have bigger issues is those people who take the view that they will be unable to cope for a three hour window without a cup of tea or coffee, or that they are buying additional cooking equipment because the idea either not something which is hot in a three hour window is so upsetting to them. There are people on here who seem to want to spend hundreds of pounds to try and mitigate the very low probability of a three hour power cut whilst also complaining that they do not have enough money for essentials, that seems to me to be an illogical position. 

the thing i think is unreasonable is people are putting words in my posts that arent there to justify criticising what i said

i haven't seen anyone has said they would be unable to cope or that it requires much effort to circumvent or they would be 'upset'.

all i have said is we have advanced notice of the cuts (which is unusual) and that is an opportunity for those people who might be impacted more by the cuts (because they are more reliant on electricity) to think about if theres anything they want to do to be more comfortable. 

for example if you know when a cut is planned for your house then you can make sure your laptop and power banks are charged. not go out of your way or panic about it if you forget but the same as i would double check everyone had there things charging if we were planning a trip the next day with a long train journey. if the kids forget and dont have there tablets to keep them entertained then we would all 'survive' but it's more pleasant if everyone has something to entertain them and its not a big effort to remind everyone at bedtime. 

just read @EssexHebridean's post and they said it much better than i could have. 

Chrysalis

Lets not forget the junk blocks have a lot more than 3 hours of cuts as well, and S has 6 hours in one day.

matelodave

It appears that two people have dominated this thread and there's still no consensus.

Perhaps we could call it a day and agree to differ and make what preparation you may feel appropriate for a few hours without leccy

EssexHebridean

matelodave said:

It appears that two people have dominated this thread and there's still no consensus.

Perhaps we could call it a day and agree to differ and make what preparation you may feel appropriate for a few hours without leccy

Or alternatively, the thread could return to what I believe was intended by the OP - a place to discuss what people might want to do to make life easier/safer/more comfortable if the planned outages happen.  I can’t see any need to try to throttle discussion - it’s really just that the thread spoiling and attacking other posters viewpoints that needs to stop IMO. 🙂