We (as in our neighbours too) have recently been suffering from power cuts almost daily. I contacted the supplier, and they said they could see there had been some, all brief, and it could be anything from trees touching cables to some other things I can't remember, but they would look into it.
All was well for a couple of weeks but has now started again.
Now then, Mrs keeps her insulin in the fridge. She worries it might get too warm, so has asked me to work out how long the cuts are lasting for. If the cut happened as we walked out the door, the fridge got too warm, triggered its pretty light to tell you that, then the power came back and the fridge cooled down again, then the light would go out and we'd never know if all was well, or indeed that night's chicken liver pate was a deathtrap. And why do I always have to write such long sentences that nobody will get through, other than an over-exposure to nineteenth century texts and nothing by any modern author, who would of course write "Power cuts. How long do they last?"? Ah well, γνῶθι σεαυτὸν, as they say.
At the moment, the only way we know there's been a cut during the day is the oven clock flashing. If it says, for example, 2:00 on it, all I know is the power came back two hours ago.
How can I rig up something that will work this one out? It must be completely obvious but I can't get my head round it.
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Don't worry about it. A fridge holds its temperature for quite a long time if the power is turned off, especially if you don't open the door too much. Things don't go off just because uncooled for a few hours.
Insulin is fine - it doesn't have to be in a fridge constantly. My wife took insulin on holiday to Turkey and so obviously it was out of a fridge for perhaps 12 hours.
If you get prolonged power cuts regularly you could keep those blocks of camping freezing stuff in the freezer and pop one in the fridge if there's a power cut.
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Thanks - on occasion we have come home and the fridge warning light is on, which I take to mean "too warm", and certainly everything inside is wet and barely cool.
As to the insulin, I take your point, but I think the concern is that the accompanying leaflet makes specific mention of not letting it get warm then cool, warm then cool, hence the (slight) concern.
Good idea about the little blue freezer blocks - didn't think of that and have two in the freezer. Might just rig something up so they help, although of course insulin mustn't be actually frozen either.
Still be interested to know the duration though, even if only to arm myself with info to put to the supplier again. I'm sure the answer is going to start "well, duh.."
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...traditional, self-starting, mains electric clock (without any battery backup)? . Will stop when power is cut, and start again when it is restored. Down-time will then be obvious.
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>> ...traditional, self-starting, mains electric clock (without any battery backup)? . Will stop when power is
>> cut, and start again when it is restored. Down-time will then be obvious.
>>
I knew it would be obvious. Thank you. I don't possess such a thing or ever seen one, so didn't cross my mind they even existed. Time for an ebay.
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...eBay is where I would look.
It obviously needs to be self-starting, and is probably going to be a 12-hour version, so only any good for checking at periods less than that.
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Yes, and now I've seen them, they're like the things you get in B&Bs, aren't they. Red lights that keep you awake all night, then just after you've stuffed the blasted thing under the bed because the mains plug is hidden behind the Corby trouser press, and you've dropped off, some clever dickie has preset the radio to come on at 3am with Steve Davis's Techno channel on Phoenix FM.
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...it occurs to me that a (mechanical) plug-in electrical timer socket (which effectively has a mains clock built in), might well provide the same information, albeit the dial might be more difficult to read.
Somewhat cheaper, and possibly easier to obtain. (and 24-hour).
Example:
www.amazon.co.uk/MAINS-SOCKET-PROGRAMMABLE-OVERRIDE-SWITCH/dp/B005L36T9W
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Man's a genius. I have one of those lurking somewhere, and had entirely forgotten about its existence until now. I shall have a rootle tonight and see if it will do the job.
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... but you won't know if was off for 2 hours or four x 30 minutes... (if that matters)
Another place you could look, if you have the right equipment, is your internet modem/router. I have a Virgin one and it does log stuff, and it would be easy to see restart times (but maybe not so easy to see when the power went off. though you may be able to infer). Would depend what modem you have.
Or a TV recording device that is permanently on may have logs which show power drop and restarts.
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 09:31
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Just got a Virgin superhub whatever thingy update from the last superhub, reluctantly, but not yet bothered to do anything other than plug it in and connect to it, so no idea what logs it keeps. It's a thought though, and again wouldn't have occurred to me. (Next thing I'm being forced into is a Tivo, annoyingly)
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Your internet router is likely to be the same as mine then. Just type the IP address in your browser.
Log in and go to Advanced Settings.
In Device Status you can see System Up Time. So you can work out what time the latest power cut ended.
I've just been playing about with the Superhub (including emailing the logs to myself, which seems to intermittently not work anyway) and it's not easy (maybe not possible) to get the time it went down, so other than the time it resumed that doesn't seem to be much use after all.
I've had a TiVo since long before Virgin got their mitts on them and locked them down, but I don't know whether I'd bother with a telly if I didn't have it. it's a fantastic bit of kit. Maybe other stuff does the job just as well but time-shift recording is a must these days, with so much dross on the telly at prime time.
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If you have a spare android phone...
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.sjbcomputerconsultants.powercut.free&hl=en
I'm now annoyed that I threw one away a couple of months ago.
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Nice idea but it looks like it depends on SMS to inform you, that'd mean a SIM card at some cost. Maybe there is a similar app which just registers events.
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PAYG SIM cards are essentially free, but you'd need some credit.
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An interesting approach, Manatee, and again a new one on me. Thank you. I don't have the requisite phone. Maybe I could do something with a pi.
I'm glad there are lots of suggestions, incidentally, which makes me think the answer wasn't indeed completely obvious.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 10:50
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Another thing you could do perhaps is keep the fridge normally set to a somewhat lower temperature so that you would have more leeway when a cut occured.
There's a "normal" range, depending on the kind of things you keep in the fridge, so you could choose the lower end.
Also perhaps keep the insulin in a moderately insulated container inside the fridge. It would need management when you first put it in, but would cushion it a bit against a general drop in fridge temperature ?
But really I wouldn't worry. We get quite frequent cuts, and they never seem to have any effect on my wife's insulin. She interprets the "keep cool" instructions in a pretty liberal sort of way, and never worries about long days out etc away from a fridge.
Of course for ultimate security you could get a small gas fridge.
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.....the motorhome motorcaravan campervan fridge can't be left powered on on ferries. Obviously not much of an issue on a 90 minute channel crossing, but on the longer 12+ hour ones a little more concern.
We generally cool the fridge well down in advance, and freeze a couple of bottles of skimmed milk to put in the main compartment.
Even after a 12+ hour journey, these are normally almost fully frozen when we disembark. A well insulated fridge will keep its "coolth" for a good long time.
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is there not a clock on your C/H boiler, that you set the heating times on? however "slow" that shows from the correct time is the length of time the power was off.
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I think it must have battery backup, as it always shows the right time, devonite. No idea - but it's been there about 5 years which is probably the battery lifetime so it might fail soon I guess.
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My boiler has a remote, wireless, battery powered controller which is not dependent on the national grid. Pity the same cannot be said about the boiler. The way that the Scottish parliament has prioritised the wind generation of electricity and is demolishing power stations I hope they are going to produce enough hot air to keep the lights on when the wind stops.
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"How can I rig up something that will work this one out? It must be completely obvious but I can't get my head round it."
Crankcase, you don't need any hi tech, tech or even clockwork. Your concern is knowing whether or not a certain temperature has been exceeded.
What about an old fashioned minimum - maximum thermometer ?
www.amazon.co.uk/Brannan-12-403-3-MAX-MIN-THERMOMETER/dp/B000TAW54U
I keep something like this, bought cheaply in Wilko's, in a holiday house to help me know what's been going on when I've been away.
Edit, OK, I have re-read the question - this works but doesn't tell you how long it's been too warm.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate II on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 14:40
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Ta, DE. No, wouldn't tell me the time, but a bit of interesting arithmetic and some empirical experiments might yield it from that info.
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Crankcase, you could try a data logger. Here's one for under £20:
www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-Temperature-Datalogger-Recorder-Accuracy/dp/B00FPAJZLA
There seems a large selection to be had but I've no idea if they're any good.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate II on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 17:38
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>>The way that the Scottish parliament has prioritised the wind generation of electricity and >>is demolishing power stations I hope they are going to produce enough hot air to keep >>the lights on when the wind 2 Nuclear
The SNP havedowngraded the Electricity Production in Scotland to 2 Nuclear Stations & Windmills.
The SNP has a backup plan however - Importing power from England - I think self sufficiency is a better solution.
This coming winter we may regret the closure of Lonannet (2600MW) 50 years old & more reliable than the wind.
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"The SNP has a backup plan however - Importing power from England "
Good luck with that then - I visited the National Grid HQ some years back and my recollection was that England is a net importer of electricity, mainly from France but also Scotland.
tinyurl.com/zv3k8nc
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 15:15
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>> England is a net importer of electricity, mainly from France
>> but also Scotland.
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Don't count on Scotland if the wind stops.
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>> The SNP has a backup plan however - Importing power from England - I think
>> self sufficiency is a better solution.
>>
>> This coming winter we may regret the closure of Lonannet (2600MW) 50 years old &
>> more reliable than the wind.
>>
Not a good backup plan when you consider that we import the last bit of ours from France
Longannet was a flagship power station when it was built and had looked at various carbon capture & carbon reduction processes
Had an uncle who worked at Kincardine at the time
Last edited by: commerdriver on Wed 20 Jul 16 at 15:21
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I have often wondered why Alex Salmond was so keen on wind powered generation. Scotland has ideal areas for reliable tidal generation. Tidal generation would be unobtrusive, as opposed to the Salmonds follies littering the scenery.
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Power cuts - Cliff Pope
