Back Up Generator

andersonwl

I have a friend who has a child with cerebral palsy. As he gets older and bigger, she relies more and more on lifting equipment during their daily lives. Her existing energy supplier has offered her a back up generator but she'd really like the freedom to switch suppliers.

Are there people on here who have experience of these matters? Do all energy suppliers offer this facility?

Thanks in advance for any advice/ suggestions

Robin9

Switching suppliers will not help her.    If the electricity supply fails - perhaps during a storm - it the the Network Operator who puts emergency crews out to do repairs.  Being with EDF or SP or Octopus makes no difference.

Accept the generator offer  -   

MattMattMattUK

Do they live very rurally? Otherwise in a town or city the likelihood of the power being out for more than even an hour is incredibly low. Do they have the space to store it, keep fuel for it etc.?

Keep_pedalling

Are they providing it for free? I was not aware there was such a service and could not find anything on line about this.

I think back- up batteries might be a better option, so might be worth seeing if there is any help with that option.

Robin9

THe DNO will not provide it and leave it on site -  they will provide and connect as and when necessary - that may well be several hours after the supply has gone off  and the generator may npt be on her property but at the substation down the road.

MattMattMattUK

Keep_pedalling said:

Are they providing it for free? I was not aware there was such a service and could not find anything on line about this.

I think back- up batteries might be a better option, so might be worth seeing if there is any help with that option.

I cannot find anything online, but I do know of the generator program, they will also bring them in for planned works where people have specific medical equipment at home. My dad required an oxygen concentrator and he was supplied with an LPG generator and enough bottled gas to run it for 48 hours, which they said they would restock if the power cut was going to go on longer. They also called ahead of local works that may cause a temporary outage even if that risk was low, this was a suburban location so hardly the middle of nowhere. My parents had more than enough space for the generator and gas bottles to sit in the garage, but for some with less space that might present an issue.

I very much doubt batteries would be supplied, a generator and gas bottles cost a few hundred pounds, would last for 48 hours, take up less than a cubic meter and only way a few hundred kg at most. The equivalent batteries would way 400-600kg, take up more space, likely need to be wired directly into the home supply and cost a huge amount more money, several thousand at a minimum.