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 😪

*Listen TO Barbara

@Fourcandlesx Thank you for your information about F codes, I have now found the full document.
Interesting. I live very rurally, in a farming (food producing) area, we are so sparsely populated that several villages share the same postcode (not many dwellings) and mostly farms, I guess that's where the F 'food' code comes into play.
Looks like the torch won't be used regularly after all....

You're sort of right, but then there will people like me who have flexibility and can make sure they lessen the demand n the grid at peak times.

Rather than a whinge fest, (and I know it's not easy for everybody) but it would be far more more productive if we all pulled together and tried to reduce demand in peak periods eg 4pm till 7 pm. This would help avoid the need for power cuts in the first place.

The National Grid is a delicate thing that needs to be kept in balance. Big swings in demand don't help it if resources are scarce.

The National Grid is a delicate thing that needs to be kept in balance.

While I absolutely get what you are saying there, this sentence reminds me of the emotionality around NHS with the language. I do wonder if we will soon have people doing "you use electric table? Can't you think of the grid fgs😭" and "save the grid".

Not an attack btw. Just musing because I always found the ♥️save national healthcare service weird and put in place on purpose to prevent criticism and calls for change

"save the grid".

This made me laugh

Why haven't we got months of gas storage?

Because we decommissioned it. Mainly to build houses on after the decontamination phase, because shonky, boxy new builds are where the money is these days, not heat and light for existing houses.

Maybe 'delicate' isn't the most appropriate word, but the load does have to be finely balanced, that's the laws of physics and the realities of engineering.

One issue with gas storage is that the government didn't want to subsidise repairs to the Rough gas storage facility which was the UK's biggest store and held about nine day's supply.

It's been partly reopened now: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_(facility)

The Conservatives were warned at the time that closing it was a risk and they decided to proceed, so they can't say they weren't told.

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/20/uk-gas-storage-prices-rough-british-gas-centrica

Trying to spread the load is literally where things currently are in terms of dealing with a potential problem.

The rolling blackouts are the step if our peaks are too high, so everything is about spreading load.

We are at cost incentives with that.

Children coming home from school and colleges at that time. In a blackout ?

I’m only part way through the thread. But wanted to suggest (if it hasn’t been already!) that you can get emergency bulbs that charge up. You put them in normal sockets. Google emergency bulbs. A few in key places should help

Schools may close early if they have no electricity.

The actual areas covered seem quite small. So there’s every chance the school will be in a different zone to home.
my guess is schools will shut for their 3 hours, but that’s a complete guess.

Could get interesting. Especially as using a gas camping stove indoors breaches tenancy agreements

I’m wondering what supermarkets and shops will do. Back in the day they could stay open as long as there was enough light as the tills used cash and prices could be entered manually.
It’s all electronic scanning and payment now.

My nursery plans in staying open. They have bought lots of chargeable lights in and do sandwiches for tea anyway.

I am going away in January. Not sure what the hotel will do.

There’s going to be a bunch of people killing themselves with carbon monoxide or burning down their houses having fires in badly maintained chimneys isn’t there?

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.

The hell you say, i bet i can guess

Just checked eon letter We are area B

I am TEALLY sorry but why. Why is there going to be a bunch of people killing themselves with carbon monoxide in 3 hour blackdown.
Are people really that incapable to hold on for few hours?

You all realise that arguments like yhis just make uk population look like bunch og darwin award wannabes? It's fucking insulting. And if it's not overexaggeration than you bave bigger issues here than just fee short blackouts

Soz for typos. Make me sound like idiot🤦

A power cut fucked our pre payment meter once and it had to be replaced. The more power cuts the more chances there are of this happening.

Because the person I quoted said that it would be in breach of tenancy agreements to use a camping stove inside 🤯 whereas actually it would be a breach of common sense

Which kind of proves your Darwin Award point

Just been to an event in the city (london). So many offices with lights on.

Thousands.

No need. Crazy waste even in normal times