Black outs

We've got a landline and prefer to mobiles at home, but all our phones are cordless.

having a landline is most likely the best thing to have, as mobile phones can go out during power cuts . Old fashioned landlines are great

I have some portable work lights from Screwfix, rechargeable from a usb port. They can supply 3000 lumens with no heat, so quite safe. One charge lasts for 7 hours of light. I keep a couple of power packs that can recharge a phone and the light units. Because of our village having no mains gas, we have always had a hob that runs from propane bottles, one bottle lasts nearly a year. In the event of a power cut, we have a source of heating and cooking. Autism gives the gift of thinking outside the box.

Wow, that sounds scary. I really ought to get a non cordless phone just in case.

Where I live there are sudden unplanned power cuts numerous times every winter. In fact there was one yesterday. The power went off without warning around 2pm. I started to get more and more concerned when it hadn't come back on after a couple of hours and I was trying to work out what alternatives to cooked food I could find. Thankfully it came back on after around 4 hours.

My elderly mum is on the priority services register but in reality it doesn't mean much. Those households are not protected from the power cuts but they are supposed to be prioritised for any support on offer. In all the time she has been on that register she has never once been contacted with any offers of assistance during a power cut. During storm Arwen (in November 2021) the power was off for a couple of days and repeated attempts to contact the helpline during that time proved unsuccessful. Some villages were much worse off than we were and didn't get their power restored for a week or more.

When the power cut is widespread then the mobile network usually goes off as well. That means mobile phones become useless other than as a torch if charged. After storm Arwen the mobile signal in my village wasn't restored for several weeks. The only means of emergency contact is an old fashioned landline phone, not the cordless type as they rely on electricity.

I suppose it is better to have some warning, but I still think that's an odd time to pick and seriously hope it doesn't happen. I remember having to have candles in case of power cuts as a kid.

I'm old enough to vaguely remember the blackouts that resulted from the Winter of Discontent. People had no option other than to adapt as best they could. For example, having a cold buffet-style evening meal as opposed to a hot meal. When the blackouts happened, I don't think anybody knew how long the power would be off for, or at what point during the day they would occur. 

Whilst I too hope we don't end up having blackouts, if the intention is for there to be a timetable, it does at least mean people can try to adapt their routines in advance to work around them.

That's a horrible time to pick! I hope it doesn't happen. That's when surely most people want to cook their dinner? Also one of my online lessons would be affected. I honestly don't see how it would help, people would just put even more demand on the system when the blackout ended.

It's my understanding that if we do end up having blackouts, they will only occur as a last resort between the hours of 4pm and 7pm on a weekday (not at weekends). In that scenario, the internet and wi-fi will obviously be affected.

I read an article (not recent) stating that in the event of a blackout, the BBC will offer a reduced service and provide news bulletins on its radio stations, which people will be able to access if they have a battery-powered radio. 

Don't quote me on this, but if there are medical reasons why a person/household cannot be without power, and they are on the Priority Services Register (PSR), it's possible that they may not be affected. As I say, don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% certain and am just hazarding a guess.

Smart Cities strike again. 

Ugh, that would be bad! Our phone lines were scuppered in early Jan 2020 by some idiot driving into the phone wiring box for the whole village, took them ages to fix it. No phone or internet and I was in the middle of trying to sort my stupid PIP assessment! Not fun at all.

Bottled water if you live in a flat. I found out on Christmas day a few years ago that my flat has no running water during a powercut as the pump that gets it up here is electric.

It could go like that: router on network goes off with no power, power returns but IT technician who was supposed to reset it because he still has no power at home, so everyone connecting to internet through that router ends up without internet for a while

A taste of things to come; once Sir Kier becomes our Overlord.

That would be horrible! I would have thought battery devices like phones and laptops could still access it? It would be massively not OK if a deliberate blackout was when I had a zoom lesson or similar!

one thing worries me - NO INTERNET

Sounds worrying; for me.

Fun fact.

Do you know what people do during blackouts?

There used to be blacouts everyyear around christmas time in Poland at the end of communism, around 1980, resulting in a population boom

Yes, I found it odd too. Shame we are not more of a bidet culture, better for the environment anyway! I try to build up stocks gradually, but my husband doesn't seem to like the cupboards being too full! I keep telling him shortages are coming, but he still moans.

Mind you, just as well we have some stocks as I made a huge error on the food order today. I had done a half order to secure a slot, but then tried to move it to tomorrow so we could cycle in today's dry weather, but didn't realise you have to recheck out even if the order has not changed so it didn't take! So we now have to deal with half an order this afternoon instead of cycling. I am so annoyed with myself. At least I did put in most of the basics. But I should have added to the order anyway and then it would have worked. Ho hum, guess it will just have to be a learning experience, but I was so angry with myself earlier when i realised.

No I never did, and I only keep about 2 months of tins in and I rotate them, I only built it up slowly so I did not buy anything out. As for loo roll, you can actually buy sheets that are material and you wash them and reuse (same as you can do for nappies for babies). so that is good to have in stock just in case. saves you stockpiling loo roll. They were all more interested in loo roll than food it was all very odd.