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Preppers

Three power cuts so far this week.

26 replies

Boonducks · 04/12/2015 19:21

Perhaps I should be on here?
Sunday's high winds knocked it out for a couple of hours. Then at 6pm it went off again until 3am. Today it went of again for a few hours.
We used to get power cuts week in week out when I first moved here nearly 30 years ago. Things have been better in recent years but there is always at least one every winter.

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zombiesarecoming · 04/12/2015 19:45

Welcome, maybe time to think about a UPS for any computers or sensitive electrical equipment, stash of batteries and decent torches and lanterns of possibly a back up generator and changeover switch to connect it to the house

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howtorebuild · 04/12/2015 20:36

I understand to cut costs many trees have not been trimmed as they would normally be.

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zombiesarecoming · 04/12/2015 20:50

Was talking about the lack of tree trimming to my BIL last week and he mentioned they had been having power cuts over the last couple of weeks more often than usual

Doesn't take a genius to work out the lack of line clearance and the winds are going to result in branches brushing live wires and causing power outs, think he may be starting to see the sense in prepping for things now

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Stratter5 · 04/12/2015 21:35

Yep, we had power out day before yesterday. Drove up the hill today, and a bloody great tree had obviously come down across the road as bits of it were piled up either side. The road runs through a wood, and the trees are usuall checked yearly, but they've not been done this year, or last year (they close the road whilst they're working)

Am expecting more outages. Have put generator on Christmas list. Am not expecting to get it :(

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Boonducks · 04/12/2015 22:24

I have a "power cut kit" in the garage because we are used to it. An old fashioned telephone is useful - we live in a mobile blackspot at the best of times. Also wind up torches, lamps, candles, a battery radio and batteries. Unfortunately DC had raided the stash of batteries and they had gone.
We have a multi fuel stove with back boiler and I have a one ring camping gas thing. Didn't realise I shouldn't use it indoors though until now.
Have now stocked up on batteries and bought some new wind up torches as the old ones are very old.

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cozietoesie · 04/12/2015 23:15

We now have a decent personal supply of Dynamo lanterns. The light is a bit cold for my entire satisfaction but they're certainly efficient - and I like that the ones we have can be fully charged by mains electricity when we have it so they can always be ready to go.

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Boonducks · 05/12/2015 10:43

cozietoesie Are the lanterns charged by mains? Where were they from? All the ones I can find are wind up. We have one of those and it lasts about 30 seconds.

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cozietoesie · 05/12/2015 11:06

I just bought from Amazon - they weren't too badly priced at all. All the ones I have have Dynamo, mains (through some method - direct or USB) and solar powered options. Although that last is a joke in the current weather here and I haven't tested their capabilities on that yet.

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cozietoesie · 05/12/2015 11:08

PS - I'll put them through their paces properly this weekend and report back.

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cozietoesie · 05/12/2015 13:30

Well I'm trying to run down one of each of the two main types and not doing very well so far. (Prior to timing a recharge.) Pshaw to your 30 seconds, I'm afraid.

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cozietoesie · 05/12/2015 15:12

They're both still going - what with a couple of shut offs for a cup of tea and making lunch, that's coming up to 3.5 hours. I know they're fairly new and rechargeable batteries tend to be real Kick Ass at the beginning but still........

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Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 16:03

A Ups is fab, we can watch TV by candlelight in a power cut.

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Boonducks · 05/12/2015 16:33

I think maybe all our stuff is pretty old. We used to get more power cuts than we do now and bought all our rechargeable torches etc when they first came on the market. Time to replace them I think.
Never heard of UPS, but then I'm here under false pretences as I'm not a prepper, just subject to power cuts and being cut off by snow and flood.

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zombiesarecoming · 05/12/2015 18:14

A UPS is an Uninterruptible Power Supply, originally designed (I think) for computers to give you time to finish work and shut them down properly in a power cut

Depending upon the size of UPS they can give a short time or a long time once the power goes, it depends upon the size of battery inside them and there rating

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Stratter5 · 05/12/2015 20:32

Cooo where do I get a UPS?

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zombiesarecoming · 05/12/2015 20:46

Ebay is where 2 of mine came from, ebuyer also does them

You will need to look at what you want to power and how much it needs and get one big enough to both run it in power output and run it for however long you want in battery capacity

Prices range from £50 for basic upto thousands for a high spec system

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cozietoesie · 05/12/2015 20:46

I think you may be right, Boonducks - the technology has probably advanced a lot if you bought some while back. I've given up on the experiment, I fear - the lantern was still going strong when I stopped but I found a box for one and it said that it went for 12 hours on full brightness (20 on half brightness) so I thought Blow This for a Lark. I believe them.

This is the main one I'm using and you'll see that there's a video demonstrating it in the user review that's listed. The review is American and I can tell you that I received a UK plugged charging adapter with the lantern.

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PigletJohn · 05/12/2015 21:24

you can get a UPS for your computer, to keep it running for a while. They generally have the facility to send a "safe shut down" command to the machine so it will not crash and lose or damage your work. I'd recommend a trusted local supplier with a good returns policy. For example here

In the UK it is unusual to have a power cut that lasts as long as a day, and the operators ship in engineers from all over the country, and beyond, when a major problem occurs.

For lighting, the LED camping lanterns last much longer, and/or are much brighter, than old ones with torch bulbs. They are a few pounds in Aldi or supermarts in the camping/festival season. If you have urchins who may run down the batteries, get the wind-up ones.

I would avoid candles because they start fires, especially when you might be carrying them about and have no lantern.

You also need a battery radio, and a simple corded phone. Telephone exchanges have back-up power for this very reason.

Cordless phones will not work at all, and mobile phones will probably lose signal quickly.

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Boonducks · 05/12/2015 22:36

Ha ha yes I have a corded phone in my power cut box, very retro. It doesn't store all my numbers of course. It was about £6 from Argos. Will order that lamp cozie. Amazed the power still on here, listening to the wind.....

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cozietoesie · 06/12/2015 01:21

We have a temporary respite here. The quiet is almost unnerving.

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cozietoesie · 06/12/2015 01:32

I think that a thing to remember is that forms of artificial light such as candles, lamps, lanterns etc etc are very much a sort of 'keeping some things going' item. You're not really going to be able to sit down comfortably and read a book with them I reckon. ( And our forebears largely didn't - they usually went to bed at sunset if they weren't wealthy enough to afford lots of candles. Or at any rate, only did those things which were strictly necessary.) Radios are going to be a lifeline for many, I suspect.

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Boonducks · 06/12/2015 09:55

DS2 (17) was not impressed with the battery radio last Sunday when the power was out all afternoon and evening. Fortunately his phone, laptop, and tablets were all charged, albeit with no wifi or 4G, plus we have several of these ankers. Those are great little gifts for a teenager by the way. Hold loads of charge, don't leak it and can charge phones etc. as well as having a torch facility. DS used his on a 24 hour coach journey and charged his friends' phones as well.

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PigletJohn · 06/12/2015 17:52

he might prefer the wide range of stations available on a DAB radio, though the sound quality is nowhere near as good as FM.

I used to travel a lot, and have multiband small portable radios with FM, LW, MW and 4 x SW bands. As you progress through that lot, you can pick up stations that are further and further away. For example in most parts of the world you can pick up BBC World Service, various other countries' broadcasts, in a wide variety of languages. From here I can pick up French and Dutch LW stations. Digital presets make tuning in easy.

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Dowser · 07/12/2015 14:58

I have the bayliss wind up radio...and I'm not parting with it either.

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cozietoesie · 08/12/2015 12:37

Just some thoughts. If any of you buy rechargeable lanterns, test them regularly and keep them Ready To Go in an easily accessible place. (No point in leaving them in a box under stuff at the back of a cupboard so that you have to try to find them in the dark without having your bearings.)

If any lanterns have solar recharge capability, it might also be a good idea to actually keep them out so that the battery can be trickle fed by ambient light. I keep a lamp close to my bed at all times (used to be candles - and they're not too far away either) and it's surprising how little light is enough to register some battery-feeding. It's not much but Hey - why not get it without effort while it's going? It could be 10 or 20 minutes of light at some stage.