We had a power cut - how could I have been better prepared?

[Dryandirriatble]

It was for approx 9 hours starting at 6am, so mostly during daylight and I was out for a good part of it, somewhere they did have power. It was also during a fairly mild spell so it wasn't so bad.

However, I could literally do nothing! If it had gone to say, 24 hours and been colder, I think we'd have been really struggling.

I have gas central heating that won't run without electricity and electricity for cooking.

I have in a reasonable supply of food that can be eaten without cooking and I have torches and spare batteries in strategic places around the house. I'm at a loss to think what else I can do.

I felt at the time I should pop in on elderly neighbours and I would have if the power had still been out when I got home, but I don't know what I could have actually done for them?

After having no electricity for 48 hours than day time only for 4 days in December due to a storm a few years back the one thing we bought was a gas camping stove.
Only little but no hot drinks it bloody cold and miserable.

We had candles.

We played a lot of board games and went to bed early.

Camping stove/oven.
Jar candles
Mobile gas heater (calor gas)
Power bank to charge mobile phones/tablets

Rechargeable battery packs, the kind of ones you can use for things like phones. Make sure to have a couple and keep them charged. My family were without power for about 6 days during the bad storms last year. Handy to still have access to the outside world without needing to use the car to charge a phone.

Also agree on camping stove

Don't let your car fuel tank get low, if there is a major power outage the fuel pumps at the garages don't work, neither do tills, shops don't open either.

I don’t think there’s much else you can do. It’s a pretty infrequent occurrence for most people and you’d have food, presumably water, light and blankets etc. We fortunately have a gas hob for cooking and a supply of matches, and have a couple of big battery packs that can charge phones etc that we keep charged but otherwise if the power goes off we will just be bored for a bit or read/play board games by torchlight! If it went on too long/got too cold I’d shut off the water and drive to friends/relatives until it was resolved. In my 40 odd years I’ve never had a power cut longer than a couple of hours and none at all in the last decade, so it’s not something I worry much about.

I never let.my car get less than half full, which for some reason drives my dad bonkers 😆

Agree on the camping stove, and perhaps find out public transport options in case it turns out to be lengthy.

Phone charged up in case you can get a signal.

Most camping stoves that use gas aren't meant to be used indoors, and will say outdoor use only. The risk is carbon monoxide poisoning. You can get ones that are meant for indoor use but they are not as common.

Powerbanks are great, as long as you remember keep them charged.

You can also get stoves that use tealights, they won't get really boiling hot but can get food to a reasonable temp.

We get them sporadically and I have a torch in every bed side table and a head torch downstairs. I bought them after waking in the night and everything was out, so I couldn’t see anything at all. Daytime not an issue.

Other than that we have a woodburner with a flat top for making coffee, boiling eggs or sticking a casserole on.

We had no power for 4 days after Storm Arwen in November 2021.

We are fortunate to have a gas hob we could still cook on but as we go camping every year we also have 2 camping stoves (which we lent to our all electric neighbours) and lots of camping lanterns which stand up on their own, so better than torches. Head torches are also quite useful. We also have numerous power packs to charge mobiles from.

We have a log burner now too - it was an open fire last year.

Power bank to keep phone charged. I have one with four full charges.

I have rechargeable (USB) camping lamps that also charge with a handle and via solar.

Candles, matches. Keep at least two boxes of drinking water in - town near me on the south coast was without water for days recently as they rely on a pumping station to get mains water to them and electricity failed on that.

I've got a little camping stove and a kettle. Means you can heat simple food as well as have hot drinks and hot water bottles. I've also got a couple of disposable bbqs because I think it'd be fun/somewhat distracting to have a torchlight midwinter bbq!

Because it costs you more money. You are paying for the additional fuel the car is using to cart the extra weight of fuel around with you all the time.

My dad said the same.

OMG please never do this. They produce high concentrations of Carbon monoxide and should never be used indoors!!

Ah maybe you mean outdoors! Just had a mild panic reading that. Still not sure it's the best plan with limited light but not so bad if you mean wrapped up outside in the garden!

Mine was off for 6 days over the winter a few years ago and I have no gas in the house. It was awful. There's not much you can do apart from torches, lots of warm clothes and blankets. A radio with batteries is a good idea.

My useful items are those small sets of LED fairy lights that run on regular batteries. They last for days on one set. Safer than candles too. I need to get some water to stash away though. I always thought it was OTT but then a town near us had the water go for a couple of days recently.

Cooking:
Do you have a BBQ? If so this is one way of cooking. You could use camping pans to heat stuff up on the BBQ or do jacket spuds wrapped in foil)

If you have a shed for storage then camping gas stove and gas to use outdoors.

Have a small supply of add water foods:mug shots, cup a soup, cous cous. Instant mash, instant custard.

Also a supply of heat up quick foods. (Baked beans, rice pudding, custard tins, curry tins, tinned veg to go with the curry)

Have a flask for any hot water you heat up. Wrap it up in an old coat to keep it hotter longer. (Save going out more than once.)

Also have a food flask.

Lights:head torch, solar lanterns, (one per person) battery fairy lights if you have them already.

Mobile phone: power banks. One per device. Keep charged up. Enough data on your phone for emergencies .

Warmth.
Reusable hand warmers.
Blankets, duvets.
Hat, scarf, snood, wrist warmers, thermal base layers, thermal/wool socks.

If it's fucking freezing and you have no heating you can all gather in one room or even camp indoors.

General house prep:
Well insulated attic. (At least a double layer of insulation)

Lined curtains. Make a massive difference.

Carbon monoxide detector. (You might get neighbours cooking indoors and leaking through to you. )
Smoke alarms.

What on earth made you think I was using them indoors??

Yes, outside - and using the eyes in my head to judge visibility

Wind up solar radio.

Treat food (chocolate or sweets or biscuits)

Something to entertain you in low light (card games)

The number of National Grid to report a fault.

Hard copy of important phone numbers.

camping stove if you can safely use one.

our gas cooker doesn't work without electricity, check the manual if your's does.

powerbanks proved very valuable in the past. good idea to have a couple charged up.

candles, great if safe (beware of small children and pets). we have plenty of 8h tea lights and tea glasses with handle so we can safely use them as lanterns.

We have a couple of bistro camping stoves & a kettle (amongst other camp pots & pans) so we can always make something hot to drink/eat. We have a UPS on DH’s pc (his main work machine & server) so we can initiate a safe save & shut down, but that’s specific to our needs. It gives around 20 mins of back up power to safely shut the machines down, it’s not a substitute for mains power.

Batteries for torches & radios, candles only if they can be used safely/in safe holders out of reach of children/pets (battery tea lights are good), we also always have charcoal
& firelighters for the bbq (and a fire pit) - obviously for use outside only.

Blankets & hot water bottles to keep
warm are good (see camping stove).

Just a warning, make sure you use your camping gaz stove (or heater) in a well ventilated area/with a battery operated CO monitor nearby if you are using it indoors. Our main monitors are mains powered (with a limited battery back up) and would not be 100% reliable if there was a long power outage. Using it outside or near an external, open door is safer.

We also have power packs for charging phones/small devices (a couple have small solar panels on them).

We’re experienced campers so much of this stuff is our usual camp gear, it’s just the UPS & maybe the power packs that we’ve added for our personal/business needs in case of emergency.

Power banks
candles

all i need. I have LPG, gas hob, wood burner and always bread in the house and meat/cheese in the fridge. Could always make beans on toast or go out.

and i have a gas BBQ

Gone are the days of contacting the NG. They know about powercuts. No need to call them

back in the day I remember mum saying “call manweb”!