I am guessing most of the people around in the 70's have.
I have never really experienced this apart from three years back when I had just come home with a new toy, a Nokia N81.
My dad was doing some DIY and my mum kept asking where the tool that detects wires was. As I was playing with my new smartphone I was not interested in what my dad was doing.
He was drilling into a door frame, which underneath happened to be where all the wires came out to go upstairs from the consumer unit. My cut through a cable which supplied the fan in the bathroom and some how blew the main fuse just after the step down transformer from the grid.
At first I thought he had blown the entire street but it was just our main fuse. So we were without electricity for a few hours in the cold. The only fire in the house is electric and the central heating dosn't work without electricity for obvious reasons. The electricity board turned up and replaced the fuse, I disconnected the faulty wire and that was the end of it.
It was bad for a few hours but if it lasted a day I really don't know how I would have coped.
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Last time I remember having a power cut as a youngster, I said about an hour before it was going to happen. I don't know why I thought it and said it but it happened. A bit spooky. I think my mum was going to be watching Coronation Street or something so wishful thinking :-)
And as most will know with no electric you have no central heating if you have gas (the heating pump). So a coldish night in front of the gas fire with candles. Not that long mind.
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At least you had the gas fire :). I don't know what we would have done if it was off all night. I think we would have needed to move out for the night. The problem is when the was built there were coal fires in each room as the electricity was strictly lighting only and the house didn't have piped gas. The fires were all ripped out in the 1950s and I assume they must had then used electric heating in the bedrooms until my parents put central heating in back in 1984.
I think for me though I wasn't too concerned about being cold for the night, I was more worried about how I would cope with no internet!.
We don't even have candles in the house because power cuts just don't happen but it is probably a good idea - ideal as a heat source too although we do have a gas cooker which would at least work without electricity - assume we had matches in to act as an ignition!
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>> I was more worried about how I would cope with no internet!.
So keep your new phone charged. Should last a few hours with constant surfing. Upgrade to Android 2.2 and it will be a little more efficient in terms of battery use. And it can be used as a mobile wifi hotspot for your laptop too. Stop panicking.
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I know I can do that now, but back in 2007 I had no data plan on my N81 and it was very expensive to surf. It was a brand new phone too and it had no charge as I was charging it when my dad drilled into that cable.
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>> >> I was more worried about how I would cope with no internet!.
>>
>> So keep your new phone charged. Should last a few hours with constant surfing. Upgrade
>> to Android 2.2 and it will be a little more efficient in terms of battery
>> use. And it can be used as a mobile wifi hotspot for your laptop too.
>> Stop panicking.
>>
Dont mobile phone transmitters use electricity?
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It would depend where the outage was. If it was just the local substation then my local transmitter is connected to a different station. If the outage was at cable level to the local area then yes I would not have a mobile phone signal.
I do however have an old USB ADSL modem which might just work.
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>> It would depend where the outage was.>>
A real power cut takes out several counties, or a region, (hospitals on their backup generators etc.), not a little local problem. Like the USA and Canada had a few winters ago, weeks without power due to grid damage. We have a cmping stove, candles, LED torches, and a spare car battery always charged for lighting.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 17:40
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Old enough to remember rota cuts and the three day week. But the rota was published and there was usually a warning flicker beforehand. Gas fire, torches and lamps powered off the lead/acid battery from the lawnmower kept us going.
Here in a village that's one of Northampton's detached suburbs we occasionally loose supply for a few minutes. Often at night and the only clue is the cooker clock flashing. Don't think it's ever been off for more than an hour or so though.
If we had a longer cut I suspect hot water would be first essential to go. Gas boiler nbg without electric pump to circulate!! Freezers OK for at least 12hrs if you don't keep opening them to see if they're defrosting.
But like R&S I'd miss u lot immediately as the router is mains powered!!
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>> Old enough to remember rota cuts and the three day week.
Yep. Ted Heath's finest hour!
3 day week, share the bathwater, shops operating with candles and torches, queues outside garages, no sugar/milk/bread as everyone hoarded...
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I never realised the were so rare down south. They happen every few years here, normally last up to a day. Not that often, but enough that I store the camping stove, kettle and battery lantern in a downstairs cupboard :-)
It's often around this time of year, high winds take out a transmission line, or in the new year the snow will sometimes cause problems with the local lines.
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In the city though there is a lot less chance of it happening. Even the power lines to my local sub station have a backup route. Really the only I will ever get a power cut is if the fuse blows again, a failure in the consumer unit or somebody tries to damage the sub station for scrap metal.
The only thing we do keep is spare fuse wire near the consumer unit and I have had to use that twice in ten years but I won't go into the reasons for that!.
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Like you skoda, we get them frequently in the Fen. They range from little blips that turn off the alarm when you're asleep to 2/3 hours.
Torch kept both upstairs and downstairs, candles always handy and camping gaz stove and light for the longer ones.
Big sweaters and coats solve the problem of the cold Rattle!
Pat
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>>>t was bad for a few hours but if it lasted a day I really don't know how I would have coped.
Amazed Rattle could get to late 20s (?) without a proper power cut. Like Pat the Fen grid system keeps us on our toes with at least one of several hours every few years. We get the very short blips most months too... just enough to turn the PC/cooker clock off.
Wood burning stove in the sitting room, gas lamp at the ready in the pantry..... and a genny in the garage to back feed the house wiring means we're ready.
There's an inflatable boat and outboard in the shed too for the day the floods come... nothing if not prepared here.
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>>......... we get them frequently .......... They range from little blips
>> that turn off the alarm when you're asleep to 2/3 hours.
Us too.
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Happened quite frequently in my area in the 80's and 90's. Anything from a few minutes to a couple of days.
Pretty rare now; not usually lasting more than a few seconds.
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I forgot to add that it gives me a chance to enjoy Camion Stew for dinner again when the power is off!
Pat
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I didn't know what camion stew was Pat and a post of yours came up when I googled it. Your recipe... I tin of Irish Stew I tin of new potatoes 1 small tin of peas took me back to childhood boating when Dad would make similar meals where anything savoury in a tin was fair game for the pan.
The most interesting was a load of tins long term stored where damp from the bilges had caused the paper labels to come off. Every meal was a surprise until they were finished.
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You learn to look before you pour...Rice pudding doesn't mix well with stew.
Pat
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>> Like you skoda, we get them frequently in the Fen.
Really not surprised, nearly every power pole in the Fens is leaning over at some crazy angle, and slipping into the nearest drain, ditch or dyke. Or the crazy locals knock them over speeding down the local drove.
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>> The only thing we do keep is spare fuse wire ............
I thought fuse wire went out with high button boots, and was superseded by MCBs, RCDs, and RCBOs.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 08:05
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Try living in rural west Wales. Power cuts are routine, either a few seconds duration just enough to upset bedside clocks, or lasting up to an hour.
Just keep a fully-charged torch handy, and some filled hurricane lamps and matches.
Power companies don't like calling them "cuts", I think because that implies they are their fault. The word of the moment is "outage".
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>> Power companies don't like calling them "cuts", I think because that implies they are their
>> fault. The word of the moment is "outage".
>>
"Load shedding"... last year somebody dropped a bolt into the machinery at the local nuclear plant, and as a result the grid was on and off all day.
Eventually they'd tell you WHEN your power would be off, via the newspapers, so you could plan accordingly.
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>> Power companies don't like calling them "cuts", I think because that implies they are their
>> fault. The word of the moment is "outage".
>>
On our Npower bill it refers to powercuts (one word), but they get out of it by giving the telephone number of the electricity distribution company.
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What you describe is not a power cut.
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1987 was the last time I experienced power cuts, intermittent power.
When the power did come back on the lights were flickering now and then as the national grid was reconnecting whole areas of the country back.
Funny enough when I was in Thailand there were planned power cuts every day at 3pm till 5pm.
Apparently this is routine and happens 365 days a year over there.
The air-conditioning would go off and within five minutes I was sitting in a bucket of sweat.
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Like others we still get the occasional blip that upsets the clocks.
Our biggest power cut was a result of the October 1987 storm. The power went off overnight on the Thursday/Friday. It came back on the Sunday afternoon a week later – getting on for ten days.
It's amazing what you can cook over an open fire in the lounge plus a camping stove. The takeaways in town did a roaring trade.
No electricity also means no power to drive the oil-fired boiler. Our neighbour had a couple of old generators that would only keep running for a few hours at a time before needing repair. We managed to keep the freezer going for a few days before giving up. We concentrated on powering the boiler for an hour a day so we at least had hot water.
Never did roast potatoes taste so good as on that Sunday afternoon when the power came back.
Last edited by: Arctophile on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 09:12
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We have at least one power cut a year, despite being within 3km of West London grid switch.
One was just to our house. The meter box caught fire and melted the fuse. being the only house in the street without power makes you feel third world.
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Live in a rural area and cuts are frequent. The irony is that the village had it's own hydro-electric plant, but this is now feed into the national grid. The increased number of wind turbines can't be helping, as their variable output must lead to more load-switching and consequent chances of cuts
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>> We have at least one power cut a year, despite being within 3km of West London grid switch.
>>
I am not in a rural area but we get lots of blips enought to cause the PC to go down.
We have also had several power outages that lasted several hours dut to local problems.
It was a little confusing as houses behind us had power as did our immediate neighbour.
It seems our house is on a different phase from them.
Not had to resort to migrating the freezer contents but having a gas cooker we can all huddle round the oven but wary of the risks.
We have loads of torches, mostlly LED types so no problems there.
Not a candle in the house but we do have matches.
Feeling cold - pull up the hoodie and get under the duvet ?
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We get them frequently, though it's not as bad as it was. Microwave clock now gets left to it's devices. :-)
John
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Just the odd short cut normally, sometimes not even enough to reset the clocks...
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We have power cuts every winter. Lasting from 15 minutes to 18 hours.
And because Midlands Electricity (as it was), used a joblot of poor quality mains cable 30 years ago, we get occasional voltage surges (last one last year was 280V which blew out a few bits and pieces- replaced FOC ).
So I use a large UPS on the PC and have done for 10 years: prevents data lost which has not been backed up - my system backs up daily and every 10 minutes.
We have 3 large rechargeable torches, lots of candles , gas fires and a calor gas portable heater.. As we cook by gas and the gas cooker does NOT depend upon electricity (battery ignition), we cope.
Loads of rugs to wrap up warm with... and a supply of ready cooked and non microwavable food..
If really bad, exit for the day to a heated shopping mall...
Last edited by: madf on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 09:53
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We get a couple of blips a week which used to drive me crazy till we fitted UPS batteries on all the computers and the tellies.
They occasionally last an hour, one lasted a day a couple of months ago and resulted in the hoover being left on for a week while we were away. That was because a mini pylon on the street blew down though.
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Here in not-particularly-rural Leicestershire we've had at least 10 power cuts in the 3 years I've lived here. We had a "planned outage" one afternoon a couple of months ago, to allow the electricity board to upgrade the cables somewhere and hopefully reduce the number of power cuts. One thing mentioned in the leaflet was that consumers were not to connect their own generators without first isolating their property from the mains feed, lest they electrocute the power workers!
Back in the 80s my grandparents lived in an isolated village near the Cambs/Herts border, and when we visited them on a Sunday (especially in inclement weather) their power was off more than it was on. Thank goodness for real fires :)
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 09:44
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I was living on a farm during the three-day week.
Power cuts were only a mild inconvenience, we had a solid fuel Rayburn for heat in the kitchen, cooking and hot water.
Light was provided by freestanding paraffin lamps which had a mantle - I recall they were as bright as a 40W bulb.
More heat from open fires around the farmhouse, including upstairs.
We didn't have anything like the electric gadgets we have today, or mother still had the previous non-electric versions.
For example, flat irons which were heated on the Rayburn for clothes ironing, a washing 'machine' which was really no more than a large bucket with a hand-cranked agitator - it had a hand-operated wringer bolted on the back.
No fitted carpets, so even though we had an electric vacuum cleaner, floors could be swept and rugs picked up and beaten outside.
Electric blankets cost money to run, so it was hot water bottles for bed.
And as Pat says, if it got colder your first resort was to put on more clothes, not put on more heat.
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>>Like you skoda, we get them frequently in the Fen. They range from little blips that turn off the alarm when you're asleep to 2/3 hours.
Torch kept both upstairs and downstairs, candles always handy and camping gaz stove and light for the longer ones.
Likewise in rural France. Sometimes unexplained, sometimes immediate if we're near a lightning strike, sometimes up to a day after a big storm, with no warning or explanation. Also power surges, so all the computer, tv stuff etc is in protected sockets.
Back along we had a two-day cut and EDF very kindly brought our hamlet a big mobile generator set. Every time I walked past it I couldn't resist checking the fuel gauge...
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>>And as Pat says, if it got colder your first resort was to put on more clothes, not put on more heat<<
Ah! - The 'good' ole days ... I'm typing this in 13° due to the demise of my c/heating pump,
We never had heating in our council flat in the 50's, just open fires,
No double glazing or fitted carpets either, I remember ice on the *inside* of the bedroom windows,
We were tougher then ...
PS - Hope the heating engineer comes soon!
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...I remember ice on the *inside* of the bedroom windows...
So do I, not that I've ever thought there's anything clever or character building about being cold.
It's just miserable.
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>>It's just miserable<<
Affimative.
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>> I remember ice on the *inside* of the bedroom windows,
and the joy of bare feet on lino.......
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pah
splinters in feet from bare boards.
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I knew a family 'in our block' that were sooooooo poor, the Mother used to wear what looked like football boots come Winter,
I can remember how she used to come home with round wooden crates from the electrical cable Co. nearby which they would burn for a little heat,
I remember once (and I'm not joking) they removed a few internal doors and burnt those as well,
They never had a lock on the gas meter either, so that when they put in a bob, they could take it out again to buy 5 Woodbine.
These days - they'd probably be on £30k p/a (benefits)
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I am so surprised that it still seems to be a regular thing. We may have had the odd split second thing in the middle of the night but I can't even remember that but there is no reason I would really.
As for fuse wire well it is a 13th edition install but it is wired with PVC so no reason to change really despite the wiring being 30 years old. Ideally I would like to get the consumer unit changed though..
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>> As for fuse wire well it is a 13th edition install but it is wired
>> with PVC so no reason to change really despite the wiring being 30 years old.
>> Ideally I would like to get the consumer unit changed though..
>>
Ditto here..
Our fuse unit blew three weeks ago. The response was very good - within 3 hours (EON). Old solid fuse last made in 1980s. Guy repaired it with a used spare.. Promised to come back and change consumer unit.
Still waiting...
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I assume you would have to pay for the consumer unit though? A friend of a friend of mine said he would change ours for £250-£300 but advised to leave it in case the tests he carried out revealed any other faults in the circuit which would cost more to fix. We have low voltage downlights in the bathroom for example which I know are not for bathroom use so really I ought to change them too but part P means I cannot legaly touch them.
A joiner mate fitted them ten years ago as he was putting in a new bathroom in exchange for a website which I made.
Our fuse in the downstairs lighting circuit went when a bulb blew it took out the fuse with it, but the fuse wire was 30 years old so I didn't really think much of it just replaced it with new wire ensuring it was correct ampage.
Madf in your case I assume you're talking about the electricity supply fuse just before the meter and consumer unit rather than one in the consumer unit?
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>>>I assume you would have to pay for the consumer unit though? A friend of a friend of mine said he would change ours for £250-£300.
You friends friend obviously has expensive tastes to support if that's a mates rate! Swap it for some work on his PC and get your own back.
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>>As for fuse wire well it is a 13th edition install but it is wired with PVC so no reason to change really despite the wiring being 30 years old. Ideally I would like to get the consumer unit changed though..
If it is one of the very common Wylex units the the rewirable fuses can be swopped to MCB s by undoing a single screw each and either throwing away the fuse cover (as most seem to) or cutting out the lid along the obvious " knock out" lines.
www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=192206 shows a cover that has been cut out
A " Wylex Fuse Box" search in Google shows lots of images.
The older MCBs had a push button and the newer ones have a normal type switch.
MCBs are available in many places includind Screwfix where I got mine at £18 a pair.
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When our pump went we still had heating downstairs but the upstairs radiators were very weak. Still the pump cost just £60 from Wickes so was quite a cheap repair. I hope you don't get stung Dog.
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...I hope you don't get stung Dog...
Shouldn't that be bitten? :)
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We haven't had power cuts in our area for many years - until the other day.
It only lasted about three or four seconds, but seemed to affect the whole town (problem in a sub-station).
But some of the panic stricken queries on the local website afterwards were quite amusing...
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>>I hope you don't get stung Dog<<
I'll let you know the damage (to my wallet) later,
I could buy a pump (Myson) on ebay for about £40, but the old one has been in situ for decades and I just know as soon as I touch it with some stilsons something will shear off,
Also, I have isolating valves/cocks each side of it, but see above!
Might be a drain down jobbie (or a lot of mess)
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>>>>I hope you don't get stung Dog<<
I'll let you know the damage (to my wallet) later ...
Its now later and he charged me £56 for a new pump and £40 to fit it, would have probably cost double that 'up country',
Still no heating though :) no water reaching the pump, which is why it burnt out in the first place :)
I've got to add some Fernox flux to the header tank, leave it for a few days then try the pump again, then he'll come back and flush the system through, add a filter, and stick some inhibitor in.
Amen.
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£40 seems very fair to change the pump. I know it is not a big job but they can be trickty places and as you say it is messy and can often be stuck on.
Sounds like you have found a decent heating engineer :). At least he hasn't tried to sell you a new boiler.
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>>At least he hasn't tried to sell you a new boiler.<<
Funny enough - I asked him about a new boiler as mine is well over 20 years old,
he reckons on over £2k as the water tank needs doing as well :(
Such as life!
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Ours is 26 years old, we have commented on it a few times to the gasmen that have been in but all they basicaly said as longs as we have a CO2 meter and it keeps working then it is not worth replacing.
In the 26 years all that has gone with it was the timer (which I replaced myself) and the pump which my uncle kindly did for us.
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>>In the 26 years all that has gone with it was the timer<<
Check your hot water tank, I noticed some green (copper) stains around mine, when I asked him about them he said they will eventually become pin hole leaks :(
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Power cuts; you've just pressed one of my buttons. We have power cuts every winter; the last one when a local farmer chopped the cable with a JCB.
Torches, candles, hurricane lamp, 3 Tilley lamps (whack out some heat and bright enough to do homework by), 2 open fires.
The Aga uses oil and does the hot water and the CH is gas. With a 1Kva genny and an official switch (no backfeeding here, Fenlander!), I can run the fridge, freezer, the CH and some LED mains lights. In theory there should be enough Va over to run a laptop and the router but I've never tried it.
It's probably time to fire up the genny and test the system again. What fun for a wannabe boy scout!
Yes, I remember the 3-day week in my draughty all-electric bedsit in Leeds. That's when I got the hurricane lamp some big socks and long-johns and a huge Navy greatcoat from the Army & Navy stores.
Last edited by: hawkeye on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 13:16
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Here in North Surrey I have experieced 3 "outages" in the past 8 years. And that's when we've been in. Heaven knows how many more, when out at work etc. Last between 2 and 3 hours on average.
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Three hour power cut only a fortnight ago.
Spent the time reading by candlelight and felt very Victorian. Was quite disappointed when the power came back, especially as the Virgin V+ box was then knackered.
Spent a week without TV (no bad thing actually) before an engineer came and swapped a new one in. Glad it didn't cost me anything.
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Mate is a mate of a mate, I don't know him very well.
It is standard 8 way Wylex unit, I am aware you can put MCBs in it but I have not been convinced it would be worth while. I have inspected the fuses and connections I can see without removing the cover to make sure there is no signs of over heating and it all looks fine.
I also check the sockets every few months to make sure nothing has been over heating too etc.
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Have you ever experienced a power cut? - rtj70
