did you see the film drama "Blackout"-well here comes the real thing! read this and weep: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520633...ed-power-plants.html

Another good reason why utilities should be renationalised,by force if necessary.

You can't leave Infrastructure to a few individuals who's only interest is profit.

yeah but even if that were to happen-cant see it myself-that would take time, we have to deal with the HERE & NOW and these powercuts could be as soon as next winter, what are YOU going to do if this happens? do you see yourself making any preparations to tide you over the power down period, or are you-like other people- just going to sit in the cold and dark and complain?

Going to do a bit of star gazing,without the light pollution it should be great.

We had power cuts as kids,just got the candles out,just don't buy any frozen food of course.

what about heating and cooking? this is WINTER we are discussing after all.

Camping stoves for cooking, or build a rocket stove. Unless you have an open fire or log burner, then heating is more of a problem.

Do gas fire fires still work when the leccy is off?

most GAS central heating units the controls are operated using electric, so the answer is probably no.

lonewolf wrote:
Yeah, I know that, and thankyou, but what about a normal gas fire?

jhado wrote: I think you'll find that the spark that ignites most modern gas fires is electric too. but I suppose you could always use a match!!!

cobble together an outside oven if possible and barbecue if it's dry and bobs yer uncle.

make sure the smoke and cooking smells dosent carry or you'll find yourself feeding the entire street-whether you want to or not!

Most gas meters themselves are electric, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that in the event of a power cut that the valve auto-closes and even a manual spark fire won't work.

These are quite useful at times.

If the national grid dies i will...


Carry on as normal

lonewolf wrote: gas heaters and also cookers often spark by piezo electric...no batteries required

You're right hs. Them gas bottles.do come in handy. They make excellent wood.burners

At a pinch, the best thing to do is have lots of layers and blankets ready, as well as obvious things like candles. Another thing to remember is that your body is always generating heat, even more so when it's active. Regarding foodstuffs...I know it's not 'healthy' particularly, but grab some extra tins when you do your next shop and start to build up your larder for just such emergencies.

It really isn't the end of the world (yet) and we all used to get along quite merrily without central heating and electricity. I know this to be true, because we're all still here.





Don't panic!

knobmeup wrote: defeatist !!!

I did a 'practice run' with my son last/earlier this year sometime in the winter when we had that snow. I made him suffer by turning off the leccy and gas for the day and said "right smart arse...what we gonna do now?"......he was not impressed! Kids...they don't know they're born!

angelchemuel wrote: its not just the kids, some of the adults haven't got a clue either!