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3hr power cut thanks to some trees
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3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:02:56 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote:
I had to feed the boys by candlelight, and luckily we only need the gas hob. Good practice for the future if the predicted power shortages occur, most youngsters would enjoy the novelty. A whole 3 hours ... Of course these days many people don't know how to make their own entertainment without some electronic gismo. I bet there is many a household without any board games, books, packs of cards etc. That's how long each of the rolling blackouts were in the 1970's (miner's strike). As a child at the time, I found them quite fascinating. Aye, taught me that a power cut is no great problem provided you have thought about it and have some back up. Lights go out here and there is no great panic just an resigned "lets get the lanterns out". The kids don't panic because we have never paniced, just get on with what needs to be done. The biggest issue is getting to torches that are kept in known locations in the absolute pitch black (or slight glow from LEDs on UPS backed up kit). -- Cheers Dave. |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On 18/10/2012 22:02, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article , writes: ..... Good practice for the future if the predicted power shortages occur, most youngsters would enjoy the novelty. A whole 3 hours ,you do sound a bit precious. That's how long each of the rolling blackouts were in the 1970's (miner's strike).... I was working for an Electricity Board at the time. Three hours was chosen because emergency lights should be capable of working for four hours on batteries and they should have had enough time between cuts to recharge. Colin Bignell |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On 19/10/2012 09:15, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:02:56 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote: I had to feed the boys by candlelight, and luckily we only need the gas hob. Good practice for the future if the predicted power shortages occur, most youngsters would enjoy the novelty. A whole 3 hours ... Of course these days many people don't know how to make their own entertainment without some electronic gismo. I bet there is many a household without any board games, books, packs of cards etc. It's more a question of whether the households with said board games, books, etc have also got some candles to see them by! Talking of candles, I've got this stupid rechargeable lantern, supposedly 1 million candles, or something. I rarely use it, but I charged it up last week or so. It's rubbish, and it's the second one I've had - the first one developed a fault, a broken wire inside, and had to be returned. This one doesn't keep a decent charge in the battery at all. We put four candles on the table to eat dinner by, and I rested the lantern on its base so that it could shine up and reflect off the ceiling to give some distributed light. After about five minutes the lantern was not contributing at all. It made no difference in the presence of four real candles. Absolute piece of junk. If you can't leave it in a cupboard, supposedly fully charged, and make good use it in a power cut, what's the point? Michael |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:18:51 +0100, Michael Kilpatrick wrote:
It's more a question of whether the households with said board games, books, etc have also got some candles to see them by! Nasty dangerous things candles unless you are talking tea lights and even then you need to be careful. As for anything battery forget it if you want it to actually work when needed or provide a decent amount of light for more than a few minutes. We do have a small lantern with two 6" or so flourescent tubes that isn't bad as far as light level and runtime is concerned, not sure it's still on the market though. Best is a gas lantern, they will run for many hours chucking out as much light as a 80W tungsten bulb. Lasts even longer if you turn it down. Gas cannisters don't go flat in storeage. Some lanterns come with piezo ignition so you don't even need matches. -- Cheers Dave. |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:57:30 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote: On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:18:51 +0100, Michael Kilpatrick wrote: It's more a question of whether the households with said board games, books, etc have also got some candles to see them by! Nasty dangerous things candles unless you are talking tea lights and even then you need to be careful. But with lakeland for example knocking em out at 2.99 for 50 a cheap way of getting some light if used sensibly. Best is a gas lantern, they will run for many hours chucking out as much light as a 80W tungsten bulb. Lasts even longer if you turn it down. Gas cannisters don't go flat in storeage. Not everybody has suitable storage for paraffin but we still have the oil lamps the family used on the farm before they got a dynamo 75 years ago*,a 240 ac set 55 years ago and mains 48 years ago. They have justified there retention several times despite the successive types of electric power. The light from an oil lamp with a proper mantle is actually quite pleasant and bright. *did the final clear out of deceased dads shed/workshop the other day,found a roll of lead covered 2 core cable left from that first installation done by grandfather. It was 50Volt DC I was once told. G.Harman |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On 19/10/2012 09:15, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:02:56 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote: I had to feed the boys by candlelight, and luckily we only need the gas hob. Good practice for the future if the predicted power shortages occur, most youngsters would enjoy the novelty. A whole 3 hours ... Of course these days many people don't know how to make their own entertainment without some electronic gismo. I bet there is many a household without any board games, books, packs of cards etc. That's how long each of the rolling blackouts were in the 1970's (miner's strike). As a child at the time, I found them quite fascinating. Aye, taught me that a power cut is no great problem provided you have thought about it and have some back up. Lights go out here and there is no great panic just an resigned "lets get the lanterns out". The kids don't panic because we have never paniced, just get on with what needs to be done. The biggest issue is getting to torches that are kept in known locations in the absolute pitch black (or slight glow from LEDs on UPS backed up kit). Very simple solution is get a cheap LED based torch and bridge the switch with a 1M resistor. The battery still lasts out it's nominal shelf life, but the torch can then be found in pitch darkness. You may have to wait a few minutes to be able to see obstacles though. We have powercuts fairly often during big winter storms. I have a great picture of the last tree to fall across our powerlines which amazingly thanks to the new aluminium 3 phase cable with a steel hawser inside did not actually fail. It did bend all the poles like bananas though. We have a pair of emergency lights on permanent standby kitchen and dining room and one portable (ex Woolworths closing down sale). All of them will easily last a couple of hours. The woodburning stove can run and provide light heat and boiling water if needed. We do have candles and know where and how to use them. Much safer than oil lamps which I also have as antiques. I really would not want to risk lighting them - that would be asking for *big* trouble. My first reaction when the mains drops out is to look across to see if the village hall emergency lights are on. If they are then I know it is a real powercut on all 3 phases and not a local trip on my fuse box. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On 19/10/2012 11:57, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:18:51 +0100, Michael Kilpatrick wrote: It's more a question of whether the households with said board games, books, etc have also got some candles to see them by! Nasty dangerous things candles unless you are talking tea lights and even then you need to be careful. As for anything battery forget it if you want it to actually work when needed or provide a decent amount of light for more than a few minutes. I have fixed emergency lights over my stairs and near the distribution board. They will provide light for the four hours they are supposed to and are very useful for making the house look occupied during a power cut. The batteries do need to be replaced every few years though. Colin Bignell |
3hr power cut thanks to some trees
On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:18:51 +0100, Michael Kilpatrick
wrote: Talking of candles, I've got this stupid rechargeable lantern, supposedly 1 million candles, or something. I rarely use it, but I charged it up last week or so. It's rubbish, They're all rubbish. The only way to make them any good is attach a decent lithium battery pack and remember to do a maintenance charge on that every so often. |
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