Are you all prepping for power cuts?

[User112]

BBC reported the other day about possible power cuts this winter due to gas shortage. Other than having a few torch light and candles, are you all prepping with anything else?

No.

I guess just go to bed early and have an early night.

It is highly unlikely to affect domestic supply. Commercial use would be limited in the first instance. (Which obviously would impact us domestically but not directly).

We may be asked more clearly to use as little as possible at certain times. To spread the supply out.

I very much doubt it will come to this, but if it did it would be rolling cuts, no one will be out of gas for long periods.

obviously doesn't hurt to be prepared in case of emergencies, but I very much doubt there will domestic supply issues.

Not deliberately but we have a log burner, a kettle that goes on top of it, I've always got candles and blankets, DH has a head torch and we have a few battery powered night lights. If they happen I think they'll be notified and relatively short. Book, blanket and a cup of tea in front of the fire doesn't sound terrible

I have six camping led lights I bought in a sale last year but on true form couldn't find them in a recent power cut! I was going to get a headtorch for each if us but not got around to it.

I'm also presuming black or brown outs would be short on a rota so not worried about the freezer.

Lots of candles but if the lights go out the best option is going to bed. A fully charged phone is little use when the WiFi is out

We have torches and tend to keep a few powerbanks charged. And we have a camping stove if needs be (for outside use only ofc). I don’t like candles.

I’m not too worried about power cuts though tbh. I live in the city so we don’t get them from bad weather and I think the government would prioritise household supply over business/industry in a shortage scenario (can’t remember where I read this).

Buying a big power bank for my phone was the best thing I did after last year's power cuts. I had a lot of storm damage and had to wait two hours on the phone to the insurers, I was terrified my battery would run out.

We have a campervan, so in theory we are all set. The fridge in there runs off the battery, which is charged by driving or solar, it has a diesel heater and lights and usb sockets etc. However it is a T6 - it fits in a regular parking space. I would not like to be confined to it with a tween and a pair of lunatic beagles for any length of time! Especially as it only has a 120cm wide ‘double’ bed. For just me, I’d cheerfully move in!

We have solar and battery lights galore, headtorches (I must look those out) a portable single burner camp stove (and an equivalent that runs off twigs) a CO detector, the aforementioned fridge and usb chargers (and battery packs in the house) and lots of spare blankets and duvets. The only real issue is what the tween is going to do without internet (I have a solar radio, books and my knitting. I’m happy) although we do have a portable DVD player around somewhere and some board games.

I have been waiting to have a woodburner fitted for years. It’s the first thing I’m doing when the old house sells. That would mean we had heat, and a little hot water, too. I’ve lived for a whole year with only a woodburner, and it was doable, and I’ve lived without electric too. Although not both at the same time. I also want a big power bank, that can run the freezer and microwave, for the van anyway, so I’m not ‘prepping’ irrationally. It would run the router and coffee machine for a day or two on top, no problem. And as I routinely batch cook anyway, that would be all we’d even want. The van also has a water filtration system, although I don’t expect it will be even remotely necessary.

I’m planning to treat us to fleece bottom sheets, those looong hot water bottles and maybe a set of merino thermals each for Christmas. A small gas heater would be nice for the kitchen, or bathroom if we didn’t have heating, but when we just had woodburner, we got dressed by the fire. We had electric hot water though. We don’t have that here. I assume this is not going to a long term thing. Just every other day or similar, so showering shouldn’t be an issue. If we could just get the darn woodburner in, I’d be confident we could just carry on more or less as usual, so long as we could shower a couple of times a week one way or another.

I should probably get everything together in one place, and make sure the electric candles have batteries, the lighters have fuel in and we have a few back up candles. A spare gas bottle wouldn’t be a bad idea, I suppose. They’ve been a like gold dust for years, though.

I have more candles than I can count in the house and a gas shower. That did annoy me when I first moved in but I may well need it now.

We have a log burner for heating. Our cooker uses LPG for the hob so we have extra 19kg canisters. We have a stove top kettle for the hob and an old one for the log burner. For lighting we use the 9 Hour candle lanterns and paraffin lamps. We have just invested in an Ecoflow portable power station to run the fridge freezer.

Power cuts are likely to be timetabled rather than sprung on us unexpectedly. I do believe they will happen.

I've bought extra gas canisters for the camping stove and am building a small stock of quick cook foods in the store cupboard, stuff that isn't refrigerated. Best not to open the fridge and freezer if poss.

No not prepping. If it happens, will deal with it then. Tend not to worry in advance, no point.

We have some rechargeable USB lights, plenty of blankets and I'll keep my kindle well charged. I can drag the BBQ closer to the house to cook if need be.

we were preppers years ago so were good. We could live off the land if we had to. As far as power, we would just move into a tent in the house, easier to light and heat. Id just be worried about my fish!

Awoke to this article in the local paper this morning. I find the use of the word "shortage" very interesting.

Just realised my gas won't work without electricity Doh! I've bought a camping stove. I cant cope without coffee. I dont mind a cold shower for a few days as long as its below the waist.
It's pretty much how I lived in the 60s on my grandparents arable farm.
We only had an outside loo so had to go out in the middle of the night to go to the loo.
It just seemed normal then. I'm not that bothered.
I'm at work all day and it's warm there.

Other than how to manage at home, challenges will be working from home with no Wi-Fi, if schools are affected and pupils sent home (again no Wi-Fi = no remote learning).

If there are to be domestic cuts, they will almost certainly be electricity cuts.

Around half our electricity is generated by gas turbines. Gas to domestic consumers cannot be paused for a short time and then easily restarted. When we locally had our gas turned off for gas mains repairs in the street, we had to be given notice, the gas people then came door to door to turn it off, then afterwards came back door to door to turn it on.

Gas would be limited to large scale industry instead and that could include that of electricity generation. Of course if you have a gas cooker that requires electric ignition, you may not be able to use that. Your gas boiler will probably also not work for the same reason.

I grew up rurally in the 1970/80's so power cuts were not unusual for me. We had a cooker that ran on gas bottles in the utility room "just in case" (as we were on a different power line to the local village, I remember 1 Christmas where we cooked 3 turkeys - 1 gas cooker and 1 electric cooker for local neighbours other side of the village and later our own).

So I have always had a torch with spare batteries and candles available, and some spare blankets once I got my own house.

Nowadays, partly due to how we live, being a camper and having a preparedness mindset, I could do better but am relatively sorted. We work hard and have to travel so we have a bunch of powerbanks we keep charged for recharging phones/iPads, and we use a gas rather than charcoal bbq. I have lots of torches and camping lanterns, some need batteries but some are recharged by usb (so can be done with powerbanks). I have a 3 panel solar panel to recharge lanterns and powerbanks while away. I have a couple of flasks and a 1 ring gas stove, a Kelly kettle and a single ring induction plate (our hob is gas so if that goes but we have electricity I can still cook). Loads of candles and nightlights, and the holders to light them safely. Wood burning stove (replaced the open fire a few years ago) could heat the downstairs if necessary. A radio powered by batteries.

Plenty of spare batteries, candles, and foods that cook easily/need minimal or no cooking. I have a reasonable amount of wood to start the season. And a few gas canisters for the stove. We refilled bbq bottle mid-summer so it's fine for a while yet.

Also, I have a bunch of camping ice blocks for my coolbox that I plan to use as my main "fridge" if it looked like prolonged power outages - so things we use lots like milk, butter, sandwich fillings etc in there would reduce door openings on fridge and loosing all the cold so fridge things would stay cold longer. I have made space to freeze those next week just in case.

While most of my camping gear is out away in storage for winter, I have always kept the stove and it's pots/kettle at home just in case. And the lanterns/torches.

This is really helpful for those without access to these resources

How ,if the electric is off?

yes 2 children with complex needs reliant on medical equipment so v concerning for us if the power goes down. We have just bought a generator to be connected to the mains to take over in the event of a power cut.
Expensive but worth it for peace of mind.

I think I am going to just focus on keeping things charged and having alternative lighting. I always have stocks of some things that can be eaten cold anyway.

I think the effort I would need to make to sort out alternative heating and cooking would be disproportionate to the risks/issues I would experience if it happens.

I am pretty annoyed the government won't plan for it though! Denial at national level is unhelpful.

Yes. All prepared. We had a kind of test run last winter when bad weather took the electricity out for a couple of days- I live in Greater Manchester suburb.
My old "friend" the head torch around and turned in on an old 2 litre milk bottle filled with water to diffuse the light.
We have a wood stove and got kiln dried wood in over the year while still cheap.
We have wool filled duvets - factory seconds from Baavet - these were brilliant last winter and the one before.
Gas was still on then so we had the job. But if that goes as well we have a camping hob to cook outside (weather permitting!)
I have a wonderbag to slow cook a meal ones it's brought to the boil first on the hob.
Cheapo solar lamps from Aldi garden range.
I really missed the power and I really don't want it again. But I'm ready.

Here's the lamp

I also can easily get the pack of cards and board games if people don't want to just read and chat once the work of feeding the family and cleaning up after is done.