Storm Arwen and Storm Barra

Parts of the country have still not recovered from Storm Arwen a couple of weeks ago and we now have another storm barrelling towards us called Storm Barra. With wind warnings across most of the UK and snow and wet weather across a large swathe of the country we are wondering if the infrastructure will cope with a second storm in as many weeks when parts are still without electric. This image below shows Storm Barra approaching!

Have our members been working to restore power in places hit by Storm Arwen?

High winds are predicted for the next few days with snow on high levels due to Storm Barra, have you got any contingency plans in place in case you lose power?

 

[Had8Lives]

If we get a power cut I have the benefit of running the lights and a few kitchen sockets off batteries and an inverter. I've been using solar panels to charge the batteries and have a couple of automatic transfer switches setup.

 

[James]

I am in a rural location
9kw diesel standby generator with auto start and changeover
been quite useful at times over the last 4 years I have had it.

 

[Sparkgap]

I've a couple of gennys: 650W & 4.5 kW so could hook either up to the house depending on what needs to be run, however in the last 20 years we've never had prolonged outages except once when pole mounted connection point blew up and another when HV connection to the transformer blew. In both cases Western Power got temp supplies/connections sorted within a couple hours so was hardly worth starting the genny!

 

[buzzlightyear]

I have bought some candles just in case i need to go out side in the dark

 

[James]

It is not so much of a problem being without power for lights, candles will work just fine.
gas central heating is just a cold white box without electricity, after being without it for 10 days in a cold winter due to a boiler fault a few years ago, I installed the generator so i would not have to deal with that issue ever again!!

 

[pc1966]

I have bought some candles just in case i need to go out side in the dark

Or you have some nuns over for a party...

 

[littlespark]

I have bought some candles just in case i need to go out side in the dark

How many candles? Four, you say?

We're never short of candles in this house... wife likes her yankee smelly candles.
As for powercuts... the newer estate i live in doesnt seem to get affected.. a few dimming lights.... but the rest of the village could be off for hours.
I have a customer who was off for 6 days. Everytime he phoned up, it was "Oh, yes. itll be back on by 10pm tonight."
Never happened. If they said, we dont know when youll be back on... then the family can make other plans. By saying itll be back on tonight... they just stay where they are and wait.

 

[Rockingit]

It is not so much of a problem being without power for lights, candles will work just fine.
gas central heating is just a cold white box without electricity, after being without it for 10 days in a cold winter due to a boiler fault a few years ago, I installed the generator so i would not have to deal with that issue ever again!!

Being on oil we've fundamentally the same problem, no pump etc , but the ace in the deck for us is that we've an oil-fired rayburn in the kitchen which is entirely gravity fed, four 1ml drops of oil into a set of evaporater burner rings a minute on lowest setting. Has no back boiler or anything, it's literally just one massive lump of cast iron that keeps the farmhouse style kitchen nice and toasty and we use it over the winter when it's on (we'd melt in the summer!!!) for the majority of our cooking anyway as it's a permanent 24/7 heatsource and whilst you need some old style cast iron cookware to do it, a six hour pot roast/stew is sublime!

I am, however, also toying with getting a small genny and AMF panel.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Next time you think where the elec comes from ist not a Xmas tree neither.

 

[littlespark]

And today we get storm Malik I believe they call it??

Lights are flickering, there’s wheelie bins racing down the street and I’m nervous that a roof tile lands on my new car.

 

[pirate]

Storm Malik is here, in Glasgow, but not as fierce winds as elsewhere...however the shenanigans at Glasgow airport were fascinating this morning with several flights circling numerous times waiting for a "slot" to land.

 

[nicebutdim]

Is it just me or does the news tend to be more dramatic about stormy weather, than it was in the days before names were given to weather systems?

Then again, even the most mundane news seems to be overly dramatic these days.

 

[pc1966]

At our site we saw a slightly higher wind speed than in 2021 storms.

Have lost primary internet (microwave links) as one of our ISP's towers was blown over

 

[nicebutdim]

Blustery here last night and this morning. Seen a few trees down, but nothing that warrants a fancy name.

 

[DPG]

The lids on my wheels bins have blown open. Hasn't made it to the main stream news yet though.

 

[pc1966]

The lids on my wheels bins have blown open. Hasn't made it to the main stream news yet though.

When they start patrolling the road like Daleks it will..

 

[buzzlightyear]

It's nice to see they put a name on the storms, how ever just think about those poor barstools in hurricane ally.
@ stomzey ak littlespark move your car
Or stick it under a umbrella.wait until
You go to local bobslay trolly dash at the supermarket.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Been without power since Friday, have a 75-90v Ghost supply, just enough to have LED's lights on at a reduced Lux level, and surprisingly the TV, but no heating, the worse thing is the burglar alarms chirping to say the powers off, as if I did not know, will not climb a ladder in this wind, all the internal Aico alarms still show the Green LED power connected, the laptop still charges off the 90v and our LED torch's also charge.

 

[DPG]

Been without power since Friday, have a 75-90v Ghost supply, just enough to have LED's lights on at a reduced Lux level, and surprisingly the TV, but no heating, the worse thing is the burglar alarms chirping to say the powers off, as if I did not know, will not climb a ladder in this wind, all the internal Aico alarms still show the Green LED power connected, the laptop still charges off the 90v and our LED torch's also charge.

Good thing that most appliances now have switch mode power supplies eh. It's amazing the input voltage range some of them will operate at.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Down to 55-60v now laptop will not charge at that voltage, but TV still works and most of the LED lights, oh what fun living rurally is.

 

[DPG]

Down to 55-60v now laptop will not charge at that voltage, but TV still works and most of the LED lights, oh what fun living rurally is.

If it drops to 2 volts then you'll need to drop to red LEDs with no resistors!

 

[Mike Johnson]

Power just restored 2130hrs, putting the heating on all night.

 

[Rockingit]

Being on oil we've fundamentally the same problem, no pump etc , but the ace in the deck for us is that we've an oil-fired rayburn in the kitchen which is entirely gravity fed, four 1ml drops of oil into a set of evaporater burner rings a minute on lowest setting. Has no back boiler or anything, it's literally just one massive lump of cast iron that keeps the farmhouse style kitchen nice and toasty and we use it over the winter when it's on (we'd melt in the summer!!!) for the majority of our cooking anyway as it's a permanent 24/7 heatsource and whilst you need some old style cast iron cookware to do it, a six hour pot roast/stew is sublime!

I am, however, also toying with getting a small genny and AMF panel.

Well, I wasn't planning on having to put this to the test for 36hrs!! We survived Friday with just some fallen trees but an overhead fault on Sunday knocked us out until late last night. And yes, I was kicking myself - for a fundamentally power and generators guy it was the thing I didn't have to hand!! A 60-70kVA, some road ramp, various 32A outdoor distro and I could have happily powered both us and our nearest few neighbours. As it was, we were topping people up with flasks of hot water and brews. The biggest pain was when power did come back on the ADSL was out for a further 7-8 hours by which time most of the technology had given up entirely and it took me ages to reset and pair various bits of all the smart home stuff.

 

[telectrix]

makes me wonder how our parents and grandparents survived with no internet, mobile banking. plug in cars, smart home electrics et al. i remember mynan having an inside toilet fitted. she still went down the yard to the outside bog for a dump. said it was disgusting to sh!t in the house.

 

[PEG]

Yep,wind causing fun at our end....but not always in the way you think

Got a casual call from a pal's son,from his yard,saying his 3P machines were down...all else on...slid past as a favour,just 2 screwdrivers in me pocket + AVT from glovebox...

One phase down at workshop dist box,so went to incomer position,where they have been doing some building work.....SO glad i did what i almost always do...prod supply cabinet with tester BEFORE anything else - it's live,with most of visible earthed gear.

Wind moved timber sheets,sheets moved masonry,cabinet un-glanded from incomer PILS,edge of rotted cabinet blown Y phase apart,tiny original stranded cable from sweating on PILS looks like mummified worm.....

Cannot put hand on heart,and say i do the above on every occasion,but always when things are old or shady....and i'm still here,but yes,a nice result with a handy reminder of what is not probable,but always possible.

DNO now in attendance,in force,may have to do some burrowing while workforce giving me hard time, due to being sent home.....should have been a photographer,like me dad

 

[littlespark]

Y phase???? Ahhh you mean L2?

Sounds scary when something that shouldn’t be live, is.

 

[pc1966]

One phase down at workshop dist box,so went to incomer position,where they have been doing some building work.....SO glad i did what i almost always do...prod supply cabinet with tester BEFORE anything else - it's live,with most of visible earthed gear.

A jolly good use for a non-contact tester!

Not safe for proving dead, VERY useful for showing a high risk of being live!

 

[PEG]

A jolly good use for a non-contact tester!

Not safe for proving dead, VERY useful for showing a high risk of being live!

No no no.....AVT approved older Megger 320,i think.....would never use a fairy wand for such a check

It's the obsolete one,with a DC volt readout,and a couple of rubber buttons to force an RCD to act....i keep it in me glove box as i like it,and again this week,more than proved itself.

 

[Mike Johnson]

After having been without power for over 96hrs we though it was all over, not on your life, off again for six hours today, eat illuminated by my LED work light after heating some soup on a camping gas stove, can anyone explain why EDF say I must claim for the spoiled food in my freezer from my house insurance, as they are not paying for spoilt food?