Power cuts?

woof woof

woof woof

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With the possibility of power cuts on the horizon is anyone taking any measures to ensure a supply? Anyone investing in a generator?

I have some candles somewhere, I'll have to dig them out. I also have some wind up torches and a big powerful torch we take camping which lasts for hours. I don't have any wind up radios and my phone is on a basic contract which will I think run out of data pretty quickly if I try to listen to the radio or watch a movie on it so I'll be attempting to read a book and possibly by torchlight if power cuts do come and if they're at times when I'm awake. I might buy a wind up or battery radio. I did buy one last year but it was rubbish and went straight back, it just wouldn't pick anything up.

IMO if this does happen someone and maybe a lot of people need to eat humble pie or if they're still in place they need sacking.
 
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ecoleman said:
Geesh. All you need now is a bunker and six months supply of beans.
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As long as they're ring pull cans or you have an old style can opener. I'd also recommend good ventilation if you're getting stuck into a lot of beans. Also, gonna need a lot of candles to heat them up. That's a thought. I have our camping hot plate thingy. It's gas.
 
Fortunately our central heating is oil, we have bottled gas for the living room fire and hob, a wood burner for another room, so it's only the fridges and router we need worry about. I have high capacity batteries for portable radio operating that could get us over a hump for a few hours, but I am thinking about a genny short term and a Tesla PowerWall (or cheaper equivalent) for the long term, as we get a lot of short cuts in this windy part of Northern Ireland.
 
luthy said:
Does it not have an electric circulating pump?
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It appears to have a battery-backup to keep that going. for a while, but that's when the log-burner will be lit.
 
Mrs WW feels the cold a lot more than me but we do have a gas heater for camping. We'll manage but the elderly? If this happens I really do think that people need to be held to account but of course no one will be.

I might buy a wind up radio or just a couple of boxes of batteries for my existing radio.

Can anyone recommend a wind up radio? The one I bought off Amazon was garbage. This was it. I wouldn't recommend it.

 
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Radio 2 (specifically Vine!) winds us up!
 
Have I missed something, I know winter is coming but is there an especially higher risk this winter
 
I can see that. Imagining him as an angry MAMIL doesn't help.
 
nog said:
Have I missed something, I know winter is coming but is there an especially higher risk this winter
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The possibility of rolling cuts has been mentioned recently if not on mainstream media then certainly on online platforms. Apparently there is a real chance it'll happen.
 
"Daily Mail Radio"!
 
woof woof said:
The possibility of rolling cuts has been mentioned recently if not on mainstream media then certainly on online platforms. Apparently there is a real chance it'll happen.
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Ah. "online platforms"

Of course there's a real chance it'll happen. What actually matters is what that chance is.
 
Apparently the risk of winter blackouts is lowest in four years.
 
Pound Coin said:
Ah. "online platforms"

Of course there's a real chance it'll happen. What actually matters is what that chance is.
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It's being widely talked of. Maybe not on legacy media but there are certainly credible articles on line quoting credible people or do you only believe what comes out of Labour party central office?

Eucris said:
Apparently the risk of winter blackouts is lowest in four years.
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Lets hope so. Apparently a blackout warning was issued last month. I think if what can happen happens including low renewable generation (at 9% today?) and perhaps higher demand in Europe and less energy for them to sell to us, it could happen.
 
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I've just googled my block letter and it is A. For those who haven't heard of this it's part of the rota load disconnections plan which could see blackouts of three hours. If this happens we'll be able to look up when we'll be affected.

Fingers crossed it's all just an on line far right conspiracy theory.
 
woof woof said:
It's being widely talked of. Maybe not on legacy media but there are certainly credible articles on line quoting credible people or do you only believe what comes out of Labour party central office?
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I've been looking at a number of media outlets and cannot find anything about power cuts.

Could you give some links to these online articles?
 
Pound Coin said:
I've been looking at a number of media outlets and cannot find anything about power cuts.

Could you give some links to these online articles?
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Sorry. No.

You can google your own and this gives you the advantage of using sources you trust and you wont have to waste time post that mine are all far right conspiracy spreaders.

Really, it's not hard to find and there are multiple credible sources where you can read all this.

I hope it doesn't happen but if the stars do align it could. I just wondered if people are making plans, just in case. We have our camping kit including a gas heater, gas ring and various torches and lights but will not have access to the internet and there's the fridge freezers to worry about. We're vegi so we have no meat and I think everything we have could thaw and be safely refrozen and I suppose the milk in the fridge would be ok for a few hours. I do worry about the elderly if this does happen.

I think last months blackout warning was the first for a couple of years.
 
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woof woof said:
Sorry. No.

You can google your own and this gives you the advantage of using sources you trust and you wont have to waste time post that mine are all far right conspiracy spreaders.

Really, it's not hard to find and there are multiple credible sources where you can read all this.

I hope it doesn't happen but if the stars do align it could. I just wondered if people are making plans, just in case. We have our camping kit including a gas heater, gas ring and various torches and lights but will not have access to the internet and there's the fridge freezers to worry about. We're vegi so we have no meat and I think everything we have could thaw and be safely refrozen and I suppose the milk in the fridge would be ok for a few hours. I do worry about the elderly if his does happen.
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I did search, found nothing, hence asking for links.

If you can't give them, just say. If you posted yours here and they aren't from conspiracy spreaders, then that's good for you, surely?
 
Pound Coin said:
I did search, found nothing, hence asking for links.

If you can't give them, just say. If you posted yours and they aren't from conspiracy spreaders, then that's good for you, surely?
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I've had enough experience on this site to realise that some, not necessarily you, will take any opportunity to shoot the messenger so I'd rather people make their own mind up. I haven't seen this on BBC et al as I don't watch BBC, ITV, C4/5 news any more.

Seriously. Googling should get you somewhere.

Just checked and apparently the last blackout warning other than last months was in November 2022.
 
Pound Coin said:
Ah. "online platforms"

Of course there's a real chance it'll happen. What actually matters is what that chance is.
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It will happen if we continue down the path we’re currently on. Maybe not this year or next.

Our governments are living in lala land when it comes to net zero.

I’m South African and have family over there who deal with daily black outs for hours, not because of net zero but because the government have failed to maintain existing power infrastructure or planning to building new ones to replace the old.

We have failed to replace old reactors and are actively shutting down gas and coal and expecting sun and wind to replace it. Mental!
 
4 pages of search results and all I can see is 2022 warnings in a number of different outlets, which I believe were related to the Ukraine war's effect on power.

You may be getting different results as some search engine results are tailored to present what the searcher usually

Having experienced lots of power cuts when growing up, including the 3 day week, I think we are incredibly privileged to live in a time when power cuts are almost unheard of. I don't think that is going to be the same in the future.
 
Jelster said:
www.eonnext.com

E.ON Next

E.ON Next Energy Limited
www.eonnext.com www.eonnext.com


idn't take much effort to find.
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That page was pretty much the same on January 11th, 2023, so almost certainly relating to the 2022 warnings.

If there are any recent links that can be put here, that would be good. :D
 
I remember when those warnings were given and were on the MSM at the time, but very much related to the Ukraine war and issues with the rollout of the Grid upgrade. Poundcoin was correct above on this. As he says, also, having lived through the 3-day week under Ted Heath, and before that having supplies regularly cut either by typhoons or the PRC (China) whilst living in Hong Kong in the 60's/70's, the only big deal is sorting out your food supplies and ensuring you have candles and a portable gas cooker with a supply of fuel. Fridges and Freezers will usually keep things ok for uptown 3-4 hours if you keep the door shut, and the rolling outage plan aligns with this.
 
woof woof said:
Sorry. No.

You can google your own and this gives you the advantage of using sources you trust and you wont have to waste time post that mine are all far right conspiracy spreaders.

Really, it's not hard to find and there are multiple credible sources where you can read all this.

I hope it doesn't happen but if the stars do align it could. I just wondered if people are making plans, just in case. We have our camping kit including a gas heater, gas ring and various torches and lights but will not have access to the internet and there's the fridge freezers to worry about. We're vegi so we have no meat and I think everything we have could thaw and be safely refrozen and I suppose the milk in the fridge would be ok for a few hours. I do worry about the elderly if this does happen.

I think last months blackout warning was the first for a couple of years.
Click to expand...

Wow!!! All that for just 3 hours without power... IF IT HAPPENS!!!!

Maybe I will not go out tomorrow in case I get hit by a bus?

Even IF it was to happen - have a lie down and a snooze while all that is going on. Drive to a local town with power and have a pint, food, see a film or something. Go for a walk. Talk of generators and tinned food just on the back conspiracy theories is weird!
 
We usually have a blackout when the EV's charging. We just sleep through it...
 
my car alternator packed up yesterday does that count?
 
Where I live in a very slightly rural area power cuts of a few minutes are not uncommon and something happening like a falling tree or heavy rainfall taking out a bit of infrastructure leading to a blackout of hours or even a day or two would be easy to imagine. Recently the local cell phone mast failed following heavy rain and that was out for a month or so. Not Power supply but an example of little things having knock on consequences. We have all seen, seemingly every winter, news reports of so many "thousands being left without power" for an extended time following some issue or another.

Having some kind of contingency seems prudent.

For non prepper reasons I have car battery on charge in my kitchen which I could use with my power inverter to power a fan heater for an hour or two, a TV for maybe a week or charge my phone almost indefinitely. I also have power banks on charge, torches, candles, matches and glow sticks in a cupboard. Add to that I have some camping gear including a gas camping stove plus I have a gas barbeque with a couple of stove top burners (more like or portable gas cooker than a barbeque tbh, I don't really like it!) and I should be OK. I also have an idea of what to do for emergency sanitation if pumping stations stop pumping. None of this cost a great deal of money as it's mostly stuff I have for other reasons that could bail me out if needs be.

I'm not a crazy survivalist by any means but some degree of self reliance can make life a lot easier.



One of the American departments developed a zombie survival protocol on the basis that if you are ready for that you are ready for anything, worth taking a few mins to look up some basic household prepper ideas.

Build A Kit | Ready.gov



I don’t think it’s any coincidence a lot of advertising is being made for energy efficacy and time shifting use, low temperature laundry and more insulation. Demand is rising especially with electric car use increasing. Rolling blackouts? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but soon?

The UK could be at risk of blackouts in 2028 - we need to act now!
 
We get occasional short cuts as we are in a rural area, like most of Ireland (north and south). I know that sometimes this is due to cows having a scratch: apparently the transformers on top of poles only reset their fuses a certain number of times before they need a distributor reset or man up a ladder to do a full reset. Cows like rubbing against something hard. It's not a big deal - sometimes a nuisance but it doesn't last long.
As to the waste system - septic tank, which thankfully has just been emptied, and our doesn't use a pump. And we're a long way from Lough Neagh and any other water course into which dirty water may eventually find its way.
 
I got a letter through the door in the last couple of days from... I forget who, maybe my supplier, which I've since lost but from what I remember it said that they're hoping to avoid cuts and we should all save etc...

I think I wont be surprised if we do get cuts but it will be politically embarrassing for the government if it happens so I expect they'll do everything they can to avoid them... unless this is all a part of getting us ready for the time when we have to live in caves.
 
cambsno said:
Wow!!! All that for just 3 hours without power... IF IT HAPPENS!!!!

Maybe I will not go out tomorrow in case I get hit by a bus?

Even IF it was to happen - have a lie down and a snooze while all that is going on. Drive to a local town with power and have a pint, food, see a film or something. Go for a walk. Talk of generators and tinned food just on the back conspiracy theories is weird!
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I seem to have piqued one or two of you. No surprise there. This isn't weird and it isn't a conspiracy but I'm not surprised you think it's either, nothing surprises me in the chat sections of forums.

If this happens I may be a bit annoyed if some of my food spoils or I'm in the middle of watching something on TV but other than that I'll survive. I've just bought some batteries to shove in my battery powered radios if needed and I have plenty to read, I'll be fine.

Other than that and on the subject of being bored and battery powered radios. Two people I know have fallen and suffered injury in the last week and that does highlight that there are vulnerable people about at the best of times so instead of thinking this is a weird conspiracy how about turning your brain on and doing just 5 minutes planning? If we do get cuts instead of nodding off or going to a pub which still has power you might want to think about checking to see if there are any vulnerable people near you who might need any help. Your local church or community group may have something you could get involved in. You could even buy a couple of cheap radios or search the draws and cupboards for them to hand out to any people stuck at home with no TV to watch.
 
Just taken a look at National Grid live which has generation at 35.2GW and demand at 37.3GW. On the positive side the wind is blowing and that's helping.

It's all ifs and buts. If the wind isn't blowing and if we can't generate enough electricity to meet demand and if we can't import electricity because the other counties need it and if there's high demand then there's a problem.

Anyone interested can take a look at different serous commentators / news outlets are saying, I'd always recommend not relying on one source these days.

I'm sort of quietly confident that we wont have cuts as it'll be embarrassing if we do but as above, I read that there is at least an outside chance and I wondered if people had made any plans apart from calling it all a weird conspiracy.
 
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I once tested the NG system for automatically firing up additional generation capacity if demand spiked, it worked very well. I don't know what extra capacity can be switched on, but I am pretty sure there are spare turbines and so on that can be fired up.
 
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