Really quite concerned about energy blackouts.

[User63683783736363]

Anyone else? If they actually happen. Hopefully it's just the media scaring us, I try and stay away from the news.

before anyone tells me in being hysterical, please hear me out. I know that all of us are in the same boat but..

I have two dc, both with sen. No power would be hell on Earth if it's the evenings. We had a power cut last night due to bad weather, it was stressful. They need routine. DS is petrified of the dark. We have torches and candles but it's still not ideal.

as well as this I'm concerned about how cut off we will be. Live in the middle of nowhere, don't get phone signal indoors at home so we rely heavily on the internet, wi-fi calling and even now our landline is plugged into our router after having a letter from BT to tell us to do so, so it's not like we can even use an old wired landline.

would mobile phone masts go out in a blackout? Sorry if I sound clueless , we don't get indoor signal but do get outdoor - but I can't sit outside for hours just in case someone needs to contact us.

I have two vulnerable relatives and worried they won't be able to get through for whatever reason!

again, sorry if sound ott. I wasn't too worried but after our power cut last evening for several hours, it got me worried.

We live rurally and depend on food deliveries and a full freezer, if the electric goes off for 7 days the food will defrost, I don't know what we will do then, plus the cost of refilling.

Some people will cope well with this, others won't. Preparation will help to a degree but its still worrying. We live in a very remote area. When our power goes off we lose the internet, landline (VOIP or whatever its called) and mobiles/4g. Our mast mustn't have battery back up. So we have no way of contacting anyone, or being contacted. We manage but for some people that would be very worrying.

Today is NOT like the 1970s.

We rely on electricity so much more today.

A few things that I can think of are:

Shops rely on electricity and I don't see how they would be open in a 1970s coins and candles method

Today many GCH systems rely on electricity to function whereas in the 1970s they didn't.

Water is pumped into distribution using electricity and although you would probably be OK during a brief power cut, I am not sure what would happen if there was a longer power cut.

The modern world has been built around electricity in a way that was unimaginable in the 1970s.

Ooh, we're a V. I think we'll get the in laws round a lot.

We would all stink after a week of cold washes.

I should NOT have looked at this and continued scrolling down the page past the first couple of scenarios.

The increasing blackness was terrifying.

I honestly dont think it will get to the 7 day blackouts i think the first stage is likely with each block having 3 blackouts a week but i doubt it will be worse than that

This isn't a new document it's from 2019.

It’s an ongoing document that gets updated periodically. It’s the emergency plan for power outages

I don’t think we are anticipating getting beyond about level 3

Is it both gas & electricity that is cut off?

No, he can’t be disconnected easily since then every property has to be checked when it comes back on. But if we literally have none then yes it would go off since it would all be diverted to the power stations

gas. can’t be disconnected easily

Why don't you have a few minutes of every evening where you do a practice run to prepare your kids for if it does happen I think you can get battery powered lamps and try and make a bit of a game of it I understand you kids have special needs but I'm the old days people would have had to cope so I'm sure we can for a while. Try not to worry it probably won't even happen

Thanks era, at least the gas hob should still work.

How long does it take a freezer to defrost? Any food hygiene experts in tonight?

@JammyGeorge If we get power cuts you can bet they will be when the weather is coldest. So you might be hanging bags of food out of upstairs windows to keep it cool and the predators at bay! Check your home insurance for freezer restocking costs.

Oh yeah, I don’t think (hope?) it will actually get that bad.

I think it was more the sense of impending doom kind of feeling - scrolling and seeing the inevitable increase in blackness until all light was gone. It felt quite surreal looking at the progression, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop scrolling down.

Without electricity, lots of peoples gas boilers won't work.
You can light a gas hob with matches though, rather than the electric ignition.

@caringcarer

Do you have a link for the bulbs. Looking on Amazon and just see hanging bulbs which take 3 batteries each

Can you share the link please 🙏

Here are some. Not sure how good they are though, you need to charge them in a lamp (E27 fitting) then when the power is out, you need to unscrew them and put the supplied cap on them to make them work.

www.amazon.co.uk/Rechargeable-Emergency-Light-Bulb-Failure-1200mAh-Equivalent-Operated/dp/B08315GVXX

Looks like I will be spending a lot of time upstairs, I have to use a stairlift & the only toilet is upstairs.

I use an electric car. My commute is so long that I need to charge every day.
I am a nurse in the NHS so completely required to be on site.
Genuinely concerned about the logistics of getting to work and not being about to charge the car overnight.

@Nat6999 are you able to set up like a "bedsit" upstairs, so kettle on your room, snacks, toaster / mini fridge.

I've had to do this in the past, I had microwave, kettle, toaster, fridge on top of my chest of drawers. It saved me on many occasions until I moved to accessible house.

Hi, will the traffic lights be out in the areas Shere the blackouts are happening? So if you have to travel between or through areas it could be really dangerous.