"Controlled" power shut down - appliances

Sea_Shell

IF (and hopefully it's a big if) we get any planned power outages over the winter, is it best to specifically power down, and switch things, off BEFORE the power just goes?

Which appliances might not like just going off, without "warning"?

Things like Sky box, router, PCs.      I remember having an old VCR that twice, broke, when it had been switched off whilst we were away, and wouldn't power back up.

Is modern stuff more (or less) resilient to power outages?

Also now is probably a good time to make sure any battery back up on things like home alarm systems are functioning properly?

brewerdave

I'd certainly put Sky box in standby ,in fact ,probably switch off and the TV. Wouldn't worry too much about the rest.
As an aside ,one of the most annoying things about power cuts is the cacaphony that breaks out when the power is restored ,as all the unmaintained burglar alarms go off !!

WillPS

Sky box doesn't offer any method of safely powering off AIUI. If you can turn it off while it's not recording you won't end up with a part-failed recording.

The worst case for a PC would be losing power mid-update, but even this is handled gracefully by operating systems nowadays.

Most routers will include plug-pulling (or hard switch off) as a troubleshooting step so you can be assured those should be fine.

Whether stuff is on the whole more reliable or not I couldn't really tell you, but PSU technology is very mature nowadays. In the case of your VCR it was either that or an issue with the mechanism.

facade

brewerdave said:

As an aside, one of the most annoying things about power cuts is the cacophony that breaks out when the power is restored ,as all the unmaintained burglar alarms go off !!

Because the internal battery has died, or simply can't power it for the duration of the cut.

Sea_Shell

facade said:

brewerdave said:

As an aside, one of the most annoying things about power cuts is the cacophony that breaks out when the power is restored ,as all the unmaintained burglar alarms go off !!

Because the internal battery has died, or simply can't power it for the duration of the cut.

And all the IHDs, and (landline) phone handsets, and hardwired smoke alarms...

If the batteries are not at their best...many bleeps await!! 


I wonder how long our Eon IHD lasts without power before it starts beeping?   I know it does it, as i've left it unplugged for a while before, but can't remember how long it took before it started beeping.

victor2

Washing machine can get confused if it's running when the power goes off. Best to plan well ahead, as modern "eco" wash cycles can take hours!
Otherwise, I'll probably just make sure things like computers, PCs etc. Are switched off in advance but leave them plugged in.
The house alarm has a good functioning battery backup. 
Besides, we won't get any power cuts - Liz said so. 

Sea_Shell

I'd also heard that they would be regional.    But on what basis?   How are regions carved up and to how local a level.

Town, County, etc. ?

We have relatives "over the county border" but only 7 miles away.   We could always drop round to theirs, and visa versa if we are affected on different days?

Chrysalis

My PC auto hibernates when battery on UPS is below 70%.

Was three power cuts in last 2 days in my area and a ton of brown outs, UPS clicking away like crazy.

[Deleted User]

Sea_Shell said:

I'd also heard that they would be regional.    But on what basis?   How are regions carved up and to how local a level.

Town, County, etc. ?

We have relatives "over the county border" but only 7 miles away.   We could always drop round to theirs, and visa versa if we are affected on different days?

You make it sound as if we haven't been here before. At the macro level we are all in DNO regions which have little to do with county borders per se. Have a read of this link which explains the stages that would be followed:

https://inews.co.uk/news/uk-blackout-plans-government-emergency-strategy-winter-electricity-rationing-1899998

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

I've missed the midlands pig since they got taken over by WPD.

Section62

I would aim to shut down as much as I could before the power goes off.

Not so much for the 'off' (although some sensitive equipment might not be happy), but also because the 'on' may not be as clean as you'd want it to be to keep electrical/electronic equipment in good health.

How well appliances handle power cuts can be unpredictable, hence I'd aim to shut down what I could.  Mum's Bosch (conventional) oven - which you'd think would be one of the least likely to be affected appliances - died as a result of a power cut killing the electronics in the clock/timer/control.  The response from Bosch was that their built-in ovens are designed to be powered-on all the time, and that switching them off or power cuts could cause problems.

Likewise I'd make sure the heating was off and the boiler powered down as some of the modern ones don't like power issues.