What to do in a power cut

Spoonie_Turtle

wrf12345 said:

If you have lots of power tool batteries you can get LED lights and USB converters for next to nowt on aliexpress.

Or for the sake of a few ££ you can probably find them for sale by reputable companies (not random brands on Amazon) where you know they'll meet the required safety standards.

m_c_s

Just a thought - perhaps you could consider mentioning having a portable power station (rechargeable battery type) as well as a portable power bank. Portable power stations are still rechargeable batteries but they typically have a 3 pin standard UK power socket output and can supply 230-240V as an emergency backup. They are the size of toaster or air fryer and are getting cheaper all the time and typically start from £100 for a 400W one. 
During a power cut they could power a fan heater, small fridge or other electrical device for 30mins to a few hours to add some heating or power a radio for news as many elderly still rely on this form.
The better ones are 1000W+ but they start at around £400 to £500 so may be not affordable for most if only to be used in rare power cuts or emergencies.

Robin9

If you still have access to the Internet -  you can check progress with restoration times.

Also local radio


As a  former DNO engineer I've have worked many storms - missed out in hurricane but went to help the south out during Storm 90 .   The initial hours are chaos as we try to determine priorities - don't expect accurate info.

t0rt0ise

When I was a child and power cuts were common we had a candle tin containing white candles, old fish paste jars to hold them, and matches. That was it and we did just fine.

luvchocolate

I have 2 rechargeable lamps which are on charge as I type...easy to move safely between rooms 
Some in Lidl this week

Alnat1

t0rt0ise said:

When I was a child and power cuts were common we had a candle tin containing white candles, old fish paste jars to hold them, and matches. That was it and we did just fine.

You brought back a forgotten memory for me, the candle tin, kept in the cupboard under the sink. It was pale blue and had once contained baby milk and came out often in the 70s power cuts. It was kept next to the bucket that had the "floor cloth" in it, usually one of my dad's old vests

t0rt0ise

Alnat1 said:

t0rt0ise said:

When I was a child and power cuts were common we had a candle tin containing white candles, old fish paste jars to hold them, and matches. That was it and we did just fine.

You brought back a forgotten memory for me, the candle tin, kept in the cupboard under the sink. It was pale blue and had once contained baby milk and came out often in the 70s power cuts. It was kept next to the bucket that had the "floor cloth" in it, usually one of my dad's old vests

Ha! Our tin was exactly the same. The old free National Dried Milk tin with the blue writing.  Also kept under the sink.

Eldi_Dos

Scot_39 said:

To be honest there is a pretty decent chance your local mast will run out of battery backup long before your mobile phone will.

And similar problems existed with FTTC in street green cabinets only lasting say upto 1 hour in may instances - not sure about FTTP though.  If street broadband cabinets - at least for FTTC if not FTTP - so you cannot rely on battery back up / UPS for some digital lines either.

Its part of the reason there is still a lot of unease amongst health, disability and elderly charities etc about the PSTN copper land line switch off.

It may get better with time - but seems clear Ofcom are way behind the curve on sorting a decent secure replacement for PSTN.

Eldi Dos said:

Probably only of academic interest now but when the system worked providing a signal over a metallic path the way it worked was

Each exchange would have a array of batteries, sized to the amount of subscribers fed from that exchange, when a power cut happened the batteries would kick in straight away. If you were on a call you would hardly notice the switch.

While that was going on the generators would be firing up and after running for a short period, to stabilise the output, they would then kick in and provide power until normal suppy resumed.

If for any reason the generators did not kick in or ran out of fuel before supply was restored I am led to believe that there was a hierarchy of who would continue to receive service to conserve the battery power.
I imagine it would be along the lines of emergency services, doctor's surgeries, council emergency rooms and probably suscribers with certain medical needs.

But back to todays list of what to do in a power cut, if you have no battery powered radio what you could use is the car radio to get updates for your local area.

...........
Edit; sorry seem to have put my post into yours.

Lorian

I'm sat in a power cut.
No power 
No heat.
The most immediate thing is how quickly it gets chilly. Not living without power chilly but chilly enough.

Chilly enough to consider heading to Nero for an octopus free coffee.

QrizB

Lorian said:

I'm sat in a power cut.

Oh, that's not good.

Have you reported it to your DNO by phonng 105? Is your outage on their map, and do you have an ETA for service to be restored?

Lorian said:

The most immediate thing is how quickly it gets chilly. Not living without power chilly but chilly enough.

We've got sunshine here. It's warm where the sun reaches, less so where it desn't!

Lorian said:

Chilly enough to consider heading to Nero for an octopus free coffee.

Good call!

I have avague memory that when there was a prolonged outage here a few years ago the power co sent out welfare vans to provide hot food & drink.