3 Hour Blackouts

[pyjamafashionista]

If they happen, they are saying they'll be planned between 4-7pm. Surely this is the most ridiculous time, when most people will still be at work/ travelling home/making tea etc.
Any genius thoughts to get through a 3 hour blackout besides blankets and 🕯
I feel really sad for vulnerable people on their own if it happens 😪

In reality if everyone is conservative on their power use (which most will be due to cost increases), and if we get a mild winter again then power use will be less than normal..

We got some usb motion sensor lights for indoors off amazon when DS was small, when he couldn't reach light switches but wanted to go to the toilet in the night. (There's two in a pack).

They are motion sensored and rechargable. So you can walk around and they come on. They last for more than 3 hours and are useful even if there aren't blackouts.

Exactly. We’re being warned it’s a possibility so that we have time to make our own plans. Do we have torches, power banks, chemical heating packs for the elderly? Do we have a thermos? Food that can be prepared uncooked? Any specific requirements such as animal incubators?

The alternative is saying nothing. In which case we really will be whistling in the dark.

in reality if everyone is conservative on their power use (which most will be due to cost increases), and if we get a mild winter again then power use will be less than normal.

If the rest of Europe get a mild winter then you are right. But if there's a big continental depression bring cold weather to, say, Germany and Poland, then the demand will go up and that will stress the whole gas supply.

It doesn't appear fair though.

Some letters get cut off a lot over over the weekend, and in the evening, other get only cut off in the middle of the night.

So they want to cut usage at peak times 4-7?

surely people will use more just before and after though and demand will soar is it really going to help that much?

If you can get an inverter generator , it was Alice saver during last year storms . Connected a small heater the tv and modem , enough to safe our mental health a bit

It doesn't matter if demand goes up when there is enough to meet demand

They will be expecting behaviours change in response to a planned cut and they really hope they get their estimations right or you end up with unplanned cuts

They will cut off at any time when demand goes too high

That is most like between 4 and 7 but could be all day ( in different places ) if needs be

Agree it seems odd :

I have a few motion sensor lights dotted round the house at strategic points. Also battery-run light bulbs on cords you can hang anywhere and pull to turn on. I do think tripping/falling is a danger during blackouts if they happen after dark. Too easy to trip over the dog/cat! Or that pile of stuff on the floor. Or miss a stair step.

I need to get a couple of thermos flasks, I remember throwing out my old ones as they weren't working any more, and I seem to have forgotten to buy replacements!

Haven’t read the full thread yet (up to page 5) but something I have noticed is that when we have had powercuts in the past our house alarm makes a loud beep every minute or so. I am presuming this means it doesn’t have a back up battery maybe? I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this and if there is anything I can do? Would be useful to sort regardless of whether these blackouts happen as if we have a power cut in the night it stops us from sleeping

New phrases for us again.

Load Shedding and Load Zones ...

I remember reading about furlough for the first time and wondering what the hell it was. Social Distancing. Self Isolating. Lockdown. Level Zones (remember them!) Google Classroom. Key Worker. Flattening the Curve. All horribly familiar now.

What weird times we live in.

@Grigorisangel mine does the same. Incredibly annoying. It doesn’t do it overnight though, so I guess it has a timer on it.

@MrKlaw Thanks! We have one of those USB lanterns already which he always keeps in his bedroom. I’ll definitely be getting some more this winter.

Unfortunately it’s very hard to calm him down in blackouts, even with some lighting on. It’s a fear he developed when we lived in rural Southern Europe where the electricity wasn’t very reliable! I’m really hoping that it won’t happen.

It's not so much that people are snowflakes. It's more that this is yet another crisis that the party currently in government has been too busy pratting about to see coming and plan for properly, and a lot of people have had enough.

This energy crisis has been building for years, long before all this business in Ukraine started, but because it is boring, difficult and involves spending money to sort out, they don't want to know. And what did we hear on the radio this morning about which infrastructure projects are likely to be postponed? Nuclear power stations. Well done everyone.

Exactly. Cold pizza cooked the night before isn't going to hack it after a days work.

Oh ok, so I might not have blackouts because of that? I feel a bit guilty now!

The plan runs over an 8 day cycle that includes changes to the time of day, so if it went over a few weeks, everyone would have had an equal amount of weekdays, weekends, mornings, afternoons, evenings and overnights, ie completely fair.

Have a hot meal at lunchtime and then a salad or sandwich when you’re home and the power is off? It’s unlikely to affect your area at the same time every day.

Thanks @BarbaraofSeville

I've got and inverter and leisure batteries for the snake tank. They're worth having in. I'm loathe to start fucking around with hot water bottles.

Still a bit grim if you're commuting home in cold weather to a cold house.

How about one of those old-fashioned slow cookers with hot bricks and straw? Should keep a meal warm - or a thermos flask is probably more realistic...

www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/pwrtgs-wtd/index-en.aspx

We’re in Canada and when we get the winter storms and freezing rain, power outages are not uncommon and last much longer than an occasional three hours. Unless you have specific disabilities, three hours is just an inconvenience- you have to wrap up warm, delay your meal and have showers at different times.

We have a middle of the night, 9.30-12.30 so make a flask before it starts and have lunch after, then a 6.30-9.30 pm so I'll use the slow cooker, even if we don't eat till 8 it'll still be hot but it will need to be a complete meal, something like lancashire hotpot. Or I could have dinner ready before the power goes off. We have plenty of candles around, mostly decorative but they are usable. Hot water bottles and blankets to keep warm for the evening one can be sorted before the power goes off.

Like a few others power cuts aren't a major issue because we get them anyway.

Few years ago due to an explosion in the area we were without electricity or gas, took a week before we got the gas back, house was very cold and we had rolling power cuts at a much higher level than this for several days, didn't lose any food in the freezer or fridge (helped by the very cold weather). Plans were being put in place to support and feed people as this was the run up to Christmas and no guarantee that people would be back on for Christmas, as it was gas every house had to be turned back on individually and appliances checked once the gas pipes were repaired. Mine was turned back on on Christmas eve. People come together in this sort of situation and help each other out. Look out for your neighbours, if you know someone is vulnerable invite them over

And that's exactly how its planned this time as well - a rolling (8 day?) programme so you get cuts at different times and not every day.