pro / con generator v Jackery ( or similar)

[Nurseandy]

British red, yes, sounds like a very different set up to us. We just have a typical domestic fridge freezer so no issue for three hungry teenagers to empty.

[GillyBee]

I think 3 hour shutdowns seem most likely from this article.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -scenarios
In the event of a longer outage in cold weather, my plan would be to salt down any meat we could not eat fast enough. I dont see this as a big problem for us. We do not have a large freezer and keep the meat in the bottom drawer as this will be the last part of it to warm up.

Renogy seem to have very good prices on their panels and the 100W one we ordered arrived quickly. I want to test if a car battery and an inverter could keep the fridge going. The power meter is currently plugged into the fridge so I can see how many watts it draws.
Heating will be the challenge for us as I can't see the council being very happy if we try to reinstate the fireplaces they have carefully removed.

[Yorkshire Andy]

I
Heating will be the challenge for us as I can't see the council being very happy if we try to reinstate the fireplaces they have carefully removed.

The erycc ripped out all gas fires ten years or so ago and stuffed fake electric fan heater fires in.. less servicing needed ...
.they also capped tye chimney stack.....

Our rental contract forbids lpg gas fires and parafin heaters ...

No mention on bio ethanol or diesel heaters

Shtf they can go to hell and the dehlongi 5kw 3 bar gas fires coming in so is the camping 2.5 kw gas heater

[GillyBee]

We just have gas central heating - which needs the leccie to work. Our power out plan is to heat the human. We wil use hot water bottles, lots of layers, duvets, quilts, sleeping bags etc and also have a couple of USB heat pads that will work from a powerpack and be tucked inside hoodies to warm up. We are all experienced campers and know how to cope in a tent when it is zero outside so we are not too worried.
T'other half has just commented that today's mylar in the windows may be useful this winter to keep the heat in too. Worth a thought anyway.

[Yorkshire Andy]

We just have gas central heating - which needs the leccie to work. Our power out plan is to heat the human. We wil use hot water bottles, lots of layers, duvets, quilts, sleeping bags etc and also have a couple of USB heat pads that will work from a powerpack and be tucked inside hoodies to warm up. We are all experienced campers and know how to cope in a tent when it is zero outside so we are not too worried.
T'other half has just commented that today's mylar in the windows may be useful this winter to keep the heat in too. Worth a thought anyway.

Mylar reflects radiant heat ..

My plan for winter is jansmans favourite foil backed blankets .. best of all worlds....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UTOOL-Emergenc ... 8820054181

Currently got a bit of washing line tied on the legacy net curtain hooks and a white wool blanket pegged up to keep the heat out

[Frnc]

I think 3 hour shutdowns seem most likely from this article.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -scenarios
In the event of a longer outage in cold weather, my plan would be to salt down any meat we could not eat fast enough. I dont see this as a big problem for us. We do not have a large freezer and keep the meat in the bottom drawer as this will be the last part of it to warm up.

Renogy seem to have very good prices on their panels and the 100W one we ordered arrived quickly. I want to test if a car battery and an inverter could keep the fridge going. The power meter is currently plugged into the fridge so I can see how many watts it draws.
Heating will be the challenge for us as I can't see the council being very happy if we try to reinstate the fireplaces they have carefully removed.

Keep your freezer drawers full. They retain their temperature much better this way. They will be fine if the outages are only 3 hours. You need to make sure the outage doesn't trip the RCD. I don't know if that's likely. In fact we should be testing our RCDs every 6 months.

[jansman]

My RCD works just fine. I was altering wiring to my workshop and forgot to isolate the power. I got a good kick,and the house went dead . That was a good enough test!

[Yorkshire Andy]

My RCD works just fine. I was altering wiring to my workshop and forgot to isolate the power. I got a good kick,and the house went dead . That was a good enough test!

Oops

[jansman]

My RCD works just fine. I was altering wiring to my workshop and forgot to isolate the power. I got a good kick,and the house went dead . That was a good enough test!

Oops

Tell me you’ve never done it.

[Yorkshire Andy]

My RCD works just fine. I was altering wiring to my workshop and forgot to isolate the power. I got a good kick,and the house went dead . That was a good enough test!

Oops

Tell me you’ve never done it.

I've avoided a actual belt but I've lost the tips of several sets of wire cutters

The 1000v vde insulated pliers / wire cutters / drivers are a good investment

Usual double check is to disconnect the earth first and touch it to the live terminal if it's not dead it will be after that...

I've also got a fluke volt stick and probes 99% of the time I always check if I dont the wire cutters get it