Winter blackout contingency planning

RAS

Deleted_User said:

What do all these people who are terrified about a power cut that they can plan for and will have exact times for do when there is a ‘normal’ power cut?

Some of us have power cuts not infrequently as a result of storms, squirrels and falling trees. We still have plug in phones and know which socket to plug them in. Non-electric heating and cooking facilities, hot water bottles and solar powered lanterns or candles and matches. And know the number of the utilities support line.

In the city, we used to have regular power cuts because the infrastructure was aged, and it was not replaced until the new houses were built. It was bizarre as the boundary was between our house and next door, so one of us would be on and the other in darkness. Since moving a few miles, there's not been a single power cut in over 20 years, so it would be more of a shock and it takes discipline to keep everything where you can find it and use it. 

Lots of people will have never experienced the situation.

YorksLass

Eldi_Dos said:

YorksLass said:

Spare a thought for those who live in high rise blocks of flats.  Power cut = no lifts.

Can see why that would be a big concern.

Can I ask did the landings and stairwells have emergency backup lighting when the power cuts occurred, my memory is that they only began to appear later.

Ours did - it wasn't very bright but at least it was sufficient to see where you were going.  

p00hsticks

Silvertabby said:

I worked in a supermarket during the early 70s power cuts.  When the lights went out we lit Tilly Lamps and kept the (manual) tills ringing by listing the price of each purchase on a hand-written 'receipt' and adding up the total cost by brain waves.  I suppose shops would just close now.

I was the same - but our tills must have been more mechanical (like old fashioned adding machines), because when there was a power cut we has handles that fixed to the side of the till, and turning it once after having entered the price (via the push bottons) operated it. I agree shops today woudn't be able to manage at all, either in ringing the prices through or in taknig payments,

Our customers would never have let us get away with doing sums in our heads. I still have nightmares about having to ring though 12.5p 48 times for two trays of dog food on special offer because a customer couldn't follow my (written) maths (I even offered to break it down into 4 x £1.25 and 8 x 12.5p but they still wouldn't believe me!)

Glum

[Deleted User] said:

What do all these people who are terrified about a power cut that they can plan for and will have exact times for do when there is a ‘normal’ power cut?

It really makes you wonder. Most of us have become so lazy and snigger at 'preppers' but I'll bet (even in a G7 country) they have a few of the following (incomplete and in no particular order): 

Relatives, friends and neighbours
Torch
Bottled water
Flask
Camping stove
Matches
Blankets
Standard phone (not cordless)
Long-life milk
Food that doesn't need much cooking
Something to lift your mood
A 5V power bank and an adapter for the car's cigarette lighter socket
First Aid kit/spare medication
Spare fuel for transport
A valve-based multiband transceiver and enough battery power to run it for a few days until the aliens rescue us from our self-inflicted doom (optional).

Disclaimer: I'm no expert on this but doing a basic dummy run is always worthwhile, even if it's just for three hours during the day when it's cold, especially if you are vulnerable or are likely to have to wait hours for an ambulance.

[Deleted User]

I was born during the "3-day week" so I was born prepared for this. I survived and can't see any reason why we all can't.

It does cost a little to be prepared but I've been ready for this for a long time.

For a few hours, I've got enough battery devices for lighting and UPS for keeping essential devices running, beyond that I have a petrol generator and about a week's worth of fuel.

A few hundred quids worth of equipment is worth the investment and I'm looking forward to getting the benefit of it as it has been sitting idle for several years. I do test it all regularly and this thread has reminded me to power up my generator it is all working good.

MattMattMattUK

Glum said:

I'm a bit surprised to find no mention in this thread of stair lifts, wheel chairs, respiration or dialysis machines etc. [Edit: Apologies. Saga posted while I was still typing.]

I know an elderly lady with an upstairs toilet and an electric stair lift. If the worst happens (believe me, she wouldn't have a clue) I can see her getting stuck halfway up the stairs for three hours with no phone and no idea what is happening, other than saving a few quid while the power is off.

If you live on your own in a G7 country and have no relatives or friends to watch out for you, life can be bitterly cruel.

Stair lift operate on batteries, they charge when they are docked at either end, the batteries hold enough charge to operate the stair lift multiple times. Wheel chairs don't tend to go flat in three hours of use around a house, with a days warning makin sure it was fully charged before that time would be simple. Anyone who needs home breathing assistance is also provided with backup. As an example by dad had to use an oxygen concentrator before he died, he had bottled oxygen good enough for four days and enough cryogenic oxygen to have lasted more than a week if needed. Dialysis machines are not operated twenty four hours a day, usually eight hours a day is what is required and we are only talking about three hour power cuts as a maximum, so it does not present an issue.

sheramber

During the three day week we had a street lamp outside our house which wa son a different circuit to us.

When it was off, we had light / power in the house

When we had no power the street lamp was on so we kept the curtains open for light.

We had storage heating so the house stayed warm and cuddling the dog kept us warm.

IanIanIanIanIan

If I may:

SP Energy Networks explanation of rolling power cuts:

https://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/rota_load_faq.aspx

--------

The actual Government plans, very complex, good luck:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/995049/esec-guidance.pdf

TheGardener

@EssexHebridean - Yeah - Stornoway bound during a power cut for sure  but I know the storm of 2005 was harder in every way on the deas 

We still have an 'old school' phone in the cupboard we can plug into the old BT socket (I test it a couple of times a year and it still works) so I Can communicate with my elderly Mum. 
Our modern gas hob happily works without its internal electric ignition and one of the kids is a candle freak so there is no shortage of long-nosed lighters in the kitchen drawer - or shortage of candles (if I can stand the scent...)
A decent power bank bought by one of the kids for festival trips will recharge a mobile phone at least 4 times
plenty of torches and camping lamps.

Definitely, no comparison to the 70's - the world really was a different place then - the only real inconvenience was that the TV didn't work (but we still had transistor radios with batteries) 
Today the whole infrastructure of our world is dictated by electricity. We'll manage a couple of hours without the world collapsing completely but still - a lot of people need to have time to get things in order such as medical equipment back-ups 

EssexHebridean

@TheGardener We were over just a few weeks after the 2005 storm and it was all still incredibly raw for the islanders then. I remember being told about damage one lady had experienced “ah but it can all be fixed and it’s not as bad as some” - turned out the whole roof had blown off - but she was right, in the grand scheme of things it could have been worse. The family who lost their lives are still very much grieved for. Thank goodness there are plans these days for making sure the causeways are closed when needed. 

It’s all well and good folk being sniffy about “how these people would cope in a non-planned power cut” but it should be remembered that an awful lot of under 30’s never have really experienced power outages. We’ve lived where we are now (in East Anglia) for nearly 20 years - in that time so far as we can think we’ve only had a single power cut in waking hours -  and that only for a couple of hours. It’s entirely natural for people to be scared of things that are outside of their knowledge - and to be honest it’s far more useful to provide reassurance and helpful input, rather than sneering. 

On the flipside, suggesting that in reality a short planned power cut is likely to cause most households any significant issues so long as they HAVE planned for it is also unhelpful. Like so many things, a bit of balance goes a long way!