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 😪

I'm going to have to be stranded upstairs as I have to use a stairlift & only have a toilet upstairs. I'm planning on having a pump thermos flask upstairs so I can make hot drinks & cup a soups plus loads of snacks like crisps, breadsticks, cereal bars etc.

@babynoname22

www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

Scroll down to the “find your network operator” bit - you can search for both gas and electric on this page.

Your water company will be the same one that bills you :)

Solar lights barely work in December. You're better off with something battery operated and plenty of fully chsrged rechargeables.

I work from home. I’ll be fucked with no Wi-Fi. All electric cooker. So won’t be able to
cook or heat water or anything. Both my
kids have SEN, one has complex needs. They both hate the dark.

Things are tight enough and now I have to fork out on a camping stove and gas, decent torches and enough batteries for them etc.

Great.

Wow well that’s more legit. Well if your J your laughing.

I’m beyond sick of living like this. It’s just one crisis after another, and just doom and gloom. I look back to pre covid and appreciate how bloody lucky we were. It just feels like life is never going to return to how it was. I look at children being born now and feel scared for what the future holds.

Why does load block A only get disconnected in the middle of the night? And B gets morning and evening every Monday?

@StatisticallyChallenged Oh that's what my HV told me to do when out and about, she said it was fine from a sealed bottle, but she did retire when DD1 was about 4 months old. I was making up formula all wrong for DD1 then. Thank God DH made up the at-home bottles.

It's not the end of the world if it happens, most of us will get through 3 hours. I do feel concerned for the vulnerable out there though. They're not going to be 'prepped', they're going to be anxious/lonely/confused. I hope the blackouts don't happen for them really. I'm not overly fussed, it's doable for me, but maybe not some of my neighbours in their 80s and 90s.

How will people commute home via train or tube? Or does transport use off grid generators? How can people drive home if no traffic lights? In the 70’s often blackouts but I was a child so never considered commute issues.

A gets Monday night , Wednesday midnight and Sunday night

b gets Monday morning and evening and Wednesday night

Food in the freezer is fine up to 24hrs as long as you keep the door shut. The fridge will be fine too for 3hrs

Yeah, dh and I will be fine. Both boys have asc. Ds1 will be rattled. Ds2 will be beside himself.

@PickAChew really? Mine have always been fine, even when we lived in the north of Ireland. We have quite a collection now and they're all working into November.

A planned 3 hour period without power is more manageable than an unplanned one.

Can still cook with a gas hob, but will have to light it with a lighter/matches. Or have dinner in the slow cooker in the morning, so it's ready probably as the power goes out. Or worst case, having a picnic style tea with sandwiches.

Flasks for hot water, or more likely...taking the opportunity to make proper hot chocolate in the milk pan "because the kettle is off"

Work wise, I'm fairly fortunate I realise, but I could go to the office if it falls in a different block - its 30/40 mins away. If its at the start/end of my work day - making up hours at the end/start. Or just making sure I have an offline document or two till the powers back.
The more reassuring thing would be to speak to your company about your own situation.

Having some power packs charged for phones.

Torches or some press on/off led light things

Blankets and jumpers and hot water bottle.

Changing the heating timer to warm up a little earlier or later if It's on a schedule, or bringing it up a little warmer so it doesn't get as cold.

Setting reminders not to put the washing on/dishwasher etc 30 mins before the power goes...

Getting milk out so I don't have to open the fridge.

Earplugs so I don't beat the house alarm off the wall as it reminds us CONSTANTLY its on its battery.

I'm not sure how big the blocks are or if multiple areas across the country form a block - but working out where the closest block is with power - and if you have somewhere within that area you can visit if you need.

I'm in NE England and mine and our neighbour's extensive collection (they have a lot!) are already a bit weedy and barely turn on at all by midwinter.

And do you realise that a lot of people wfh? I wfh for an American company so I’m needed a lot in the evenings due to time zone differences. This would absolutely fuck my job.

What about schools?

if we reduce electricity consumption now can we stave off blackouts (looking at you lodger who wants a fan heater all night!)

Looking at the rota, what are the numbers 1-18 across the top for?

isnt your company flexible ? I’m pretty sure in events like this you would be able to make up the time another day

If you are worried about baby formula, or making hot drinks, etc

If you are forewarned about a blackout, you can use a travel kettle. You can get them to work using a USB which you can run off a charged power bank, or plugged into a charged laptop. Or, you can get travel kettles you can plug into the car, I have one of these. If you have a car, you could sit in it and have a cup of tea, or make a baby bottle no problem. Blackout or no blackout that’s useful.

How will commuters get home on trains? Stations can’t open with no lights or electric rails!

We are going back to the 1970s where we had power cuts 3-5 hours a night on alternate day in my area.

Some things I remember my family doing back then

• fill thermoses with boiling water for hot drinks, making food such as pasta or cous cous that can be soaked in hot water
• food thermoses were good
• we also had a basic 70s slow cooker that adter cooking stews, curries and pasta sauce etc would keep food hot for a couple of hours after the power went
• stock up on batteries, torches, camping lanterns, candles etc
• have blankets handy
• don't open fridges or freezers too much once the power is off
• If you have a hot water tank you can have a candle lit bath
• we had an old portable tv that we hooked up to the car battery - my Nan liked Crossroads

Not from the 70s but I have lived in some parts of Scandinavia prone to power cuts - 6 hours in minus 25C is not fun

Same here.

You mean like the plans they had in place to cope with a viral pandemic? Something about the last 3 years doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.