Blackout Preparation?

Oh that’s interesting, maybe to second homes or not being situated in a city area.
I do remember in the 80s, that electricity was sometimes cut for a couple of hours because EDF couldn’t cope with the demand, usually, just before Christmas.

mokryna not me, I do not have a pool, UK or France, but when we first bought our French house there was a scheme, which reduced our bills if we agreed to up to three days a month electricity cut off, as needed.

We thought about it, but decided that the house, bought as project, so cold and drafty, if we visited in winter, and this happened, even for a day, we would probably end up with hypothermia.. That was 30 years ago, so exact details elude me.

M0nica Joseanne I would love to have free electricity to heat up my flat in winter, how do you heat up your pools?
I do have ‘cheaper’ electricity from 11.30pm till 6.00am when all the white goods that can be used are.
However, it does annoy me that EDF retired or working get very cheap electricity even to recharging their electric cars.

I remember living in my new all electric house in the 70s, annoying but I had to work round it.

Dickens

MaizieD

Can't read the article. Can you give us an idea of what it says, OP?

The only bit I could read is this...

Hard-up families will be paid to use less electricity and avoid blackouts
Millions of households could be paid to use less electricity at peak times this winter under plans from the National Grid to reduce the risk of blackouts. The company responsible for keeping the lights on is working urgently to establish a scheme to pay consumers with smart meters to ration their usage voluntarily when supplies are scarce.

... which you probably also read, I guess?

Might be feasible for those who're retired - we often have all day to get things done, but for working families, well it's pretty impractical for obvious reasons.

I'd like further information.

A lot of us poor on PAYG meters can barely afford to use a tiny bit anyway lol some scheme that is!

If we knew it was going to be for a few weeks/ months? I think we’ll go to Spain in the Motohome.
If it looks as if it’s short term we’ll just live in that outside the bungalow ?
We have gas and diesel heating, solar panel for telly and lighting.

Hurdygurdy I’ve seen on visits to stately homes that they have had candle sconces on the walls that have mirrors behind them, so perhaps that’s right.

I’d like the kind of candles shown in TV period dramatisations, when half a dozen small candles seem to suddenly illuminate an entire ballroom!

Does anyone know if it's true that if you put a lit candle in front of a mirror, it doubles the light produced as the light is reflected off the mirror? I heard that years ago, and whilst I can kind of see the logic behind it, I'm not sure if it's correct.

I am now beginning to appreciate that my husband had the solar panels installed seven years ago (I thought it was a bit of a gimmick at the time) and has just had batteries installed to store the surplus electricity that is produced.

Dickens

MaizieD

Can't read the article. Can you give us an idea of what it says, OP?

The only bit I could read is this...

Hard-up families will be paid to use less electricity and avoid blackouts
Millions of households could be paid to use less electricity at peak times this winter under plans from the National Grid to reduce the risk of blackouts. The company responsible for keeping the lights on is working urgently to establish a scheme to pay consumers with smart meters to ration their usage voluntarily when supplies are scarce.

... which you probably also read, I guess?

Might be feasible for those who're retired - we often have all day to get things done, but for working families, well it's pretty impractical for obvious reasons.

I'd like further information.

Dishwashers, Washing machines, tumble dryers and most heating have timers on so people can choose when to use some of the electricity. I had to call door to door early one December and was amazed how many people answered wearing tee shirts etc. I was brought up in the put another sweater on era!

Keeper1

Why
Only people with smart meters?

To encourage us all to have them

It's been clear for several years, well before Net Zero was invented, that blackouts could well be coming. If it's any consolation (it isn't to me!) you may well be suffering but you're also supposed to be 'saving the planet'.
In fact everything that you may be worried about could be changed in very short time had our crazy government allowed fracking. But of course, it hasn't and it probably won't, despite the fact that we could be saving thousands of lives with the gas fracking would produce.

Just a clever way of making people have smart meters which do nothing to help of you are already cutting back. I can have a smart meter on my gas as there's no room. I don't particularly want one anyway.

MaizieD

Casdon

PattyFingers

It's disgusting, we can't even make a phone call without electricity as we are on the new system.... All hope has gone!

Get a phone battery portable charger for your mobile, or plug it into the usb point in your car to charge it up?

How long are we envisaging that these hypothetical power cuts are likely to be? 2 hours? 4 hours? 12hours? 24 hours?

We all hope not at all, but if it does happen it probably will depend where you live MaizieD. We are used to them happening regularly here anyway, because our power is supplied by only one cable to the village, so every time there’s a bad storm or snow we are vulnerable - it can be off for an hour, or a day. There’s never any harm in being prepared, but I don’t subscribe to a Siege mentality (except when it comes to the mobile phone and the backup log supply!)

We shall drive to whatever AC still has power.

Casdon

PattyFingers

It's disgusting, we can't even make a phone call without electricity as we are on the new system.... All hope has gone!

Get a phone battery portable charger for your mobile, or plug it into the usb point in your car to charge it up?

How long are we envisaging that these hypothetical power cuts are likely to be? 2 hours? 4 hours? 12hours? 24 hours?

PattyFingers

It's disgusting, we can't even make a phone call without electricity as we are on the new system.... All hope has gone!

Get a phone battery portable charger for your mobile, or plug it into the usb point in your car to charge it up?

It's disgusting, we can't even make a phone call without electricity as we are on the new system.... All hope has gone!

Calendargirl

Baggs

Get candles.

I still have a stock of candles which my mother prudently bought in the 1970’s, when we had the 3 day week, and power cuts.

Good old mum, she always knew they would ‘come in handy sometime’.

I had to laugh at that one. When my Dad had to go into a nursing home, a few years back, we had to clear his house to sell it. My mum had died 10 years earlier.

Under the stairs, we found over 200 candles, bought in the 1970s, by my mum.?

She never did anything by halves lol ?

Tbh it’s usually not pour people who cut their fuel , it’s usually the elderly . I have worked in local government and social housing for many years and food and heating are the last things to go , usually bills, rent and council tax go first

We live on the edge of Dartmoor, and get regular blackouts so each room has torches, lamps etc, both battery and solar powered.

Nannan2

Yes i remember we had power cuts when i was growing up.in the mid 70's i think.(I'm 58) we had water shortages with a street tap as well, and petrol shortages i think??

Standpipes in the street in the very long, hot summer of 1976, because of water rationing Nannan2
I was washing two lots of terry nappies as disposables hadn't really been invented.

DH still has the petrol coupons somewhere!

I threw out an old triple candle holder after Christmas, silly me!

we are very unlikely to have domestic blackouts, manufacturing and industry are told to reduce electricity consumption if there is a strain on the grid. Domestic voltage would likely be reduced and has been at times

A couple of weeks into the invasion of Ukraine we bought wind-up torches and radio. Have long had a ’just in case’ camping gaz and bought some more canisters. We have a few packs of Evian and tins of soup, beans, powered milk etc. Keeping flour in stock as it couldn’t be had during lockdown. It makes sense to overbuy a little at a time so there’s no great toilet roll rush.

My DH is on a condenser for Oxygen 24/7 the bottles of oxygen lasts 4 hours I'd have to set the alarm to change it in the middle of the night, using a ? to see what I'm doing ? oh can't set the alarm its on my phone

They shouldn't have got rid of coal fired power stations. There wouldn't have been a problem then.

When I was a child we had a coal fire, pack of playing cards and candles and we managed ok for a few hours. I've no coal fire, no one to play cards with, but a whole cupboard full of candles.