Talk of power cuts?

[HydrocarbonPrimate]

On the radio the news was saying gov / energy companies are discussing incentivising smart meter owners to lower usage at peak time during winter 17:00-20:00.

If I was OP I'd be getting that staionary engine dusted off and coupled up whilst theres electric to run the lathe.

 

[R Kraft]

Smart meters in this part of the world, can shut off your power, so that the power company can prioritize users.
I personally find the concept troubling.

 

[julianf]

Google hits for "Faraday cage" will go right up if that starts happening.

 

[mike os]

just another reason to avoid a 'smart meter'

 

[slim_boy_fat]

seems like only yesterday.

Like most things, then

 

[reb78]

There not all the same.

The smaller, cheaper ones seem to pass through the AC until there is an outage, and then switch to the inverter, whilst others run the inverter constantly.

I forget the key words that you need to look at in the description, but I knew them at some point.


Somthing you may want to look at, and I'm unsure if this works, but someone with more knowledge than me may be able to confirm -

I'm under the impression that a transformer with the same windings on either side will also clean up a waveform, as the field adds a dampening effect. As I say, I may well be wrong on this though.

The inverter / ups thing I'm much more sure about as I've seen it done.

Having had a read, it seems there are three UPS types:

Online double conversion, line interactive and offline?

It sounds like the first always converts AC to DC and then DC to AC. The article I was reading suggests the inverter is always part of the circuit for the second and I am not sure about the third.

So I guess the online double conversion is the one to look out for to smooth a generator supply? Line interactive might do?

I have asked mum to dig out these UPS - knowing dad they wouldnt have been cheap. I think they were HP or Belkin. Biught about 25 years ago though. He was obsessed with losing data in the event of a powercut. His data would fit on about three 3.5" floppy discs... other than that, he may have been concerned a powercut would prevent him from finishing a late night session of Solitaire!

 

[Greeves246]

I’m of an age that worked during the three day week and power cuts last time, so not running round like a headless chicken. Coupled a car battery to a couple of lights, had the thermos filled for a cuppa and so on.
Now I’ve got a suitcase generator if needed so could move into the campervan, and an iPad ,although there will be no power to the router. Will be interesting if the mobile phone masts stop working , that would panic the woke generation.

 

[Blobber]

I’m of an age that worked during the three day week and power cuts last time, so not running round like a headless chicken. Coupled a car battery to a couple of lights, had the thermos filled for a cuppa and so on.
Now I’ve got a suitcase generator if needed so could move into the campervan, and an iPad ,although there will be no power to the router. Will be interesting if the mobile phone masts stop working , that would panic the woke generation.

Same as that, I wasnt working in the 70s but certainly remember all the goings on, we get frequent power cuts here so always have the generator ready to go, that will power most low power stuff like LED lights, freezers, computers, heating/hot water which is oil fired and we also have the woodburner, extra bonus with the oil and woodburner there is no standing charge applied by the rip-off energy companies!

 

[Greeves246]

Just received this email, I know it’s a scam but might catch the unwary.

Dear xxxxxxxxx xxx. you are eligible to receive a bill rebate

​ Dear xxxxxxxxxx xx Starting today the Government has announced an energy bill rebate scheme This includes: A £200 discount on their energy bill this Autumn for domestic electricity customers. A £500 non-repayable Council Tax Rebate payment for all households that are liable for Council Tax. How do I apply for energy bill rebate? You can get your rebate via Ofgem portal by clicking the button below:

 

[MetalMonkey]

Having had a read, it seems there are three UPS types:

Online double conversion, line interactive and offline?

It sounds like the first always converts AC to DC and then DC to AC. The article I was reading suggests the inverter is always part of the circuit for the second and I am not sure about the third.

So I guess the online double conversion is the one to look out for to smooth a generator supply? Line interactive might do?

I have asked mum to dig out these UPS - knowing dad they wouldnt have been cheap. I think they were HP or Belkin. Biught about 25 years ago though. He was obsessed with losing data in the event of a powercut. His data would fit on about three 3.5" floppy discs... other than that, he may have been concerned a powercut would prevent him from finishing a late night session of Solitaire!

In a nutshell, if my memory serves:

Offline = you are on utility power, until it goes out of specification, and then it will switch to battery - this is a common type used for all the cheap domestic/small office ones.

Line interactive = as above but it is monitored and compensation circuits tweak for over/undervoltage. Most are not pure sinewave so you only get an "approximation" of a waveform, which can cause issues with some equipment.

Online Double Conversion = basically takes the incoming utility, converts it into DC and then inverts it back into AC - which means it can keep the output frequency, voltage and waveform consistent and independent on how messy the input is and have zero switchover speed to battery. They are usually pure sinewave too - Needless to say these are a lot more expensive.

There is a lot more to it than that obviously, when you get into the capabilities and protection offered by each type and extra features such as bypass and monitoring.

 

[julianthegypsy]

How on earth did we used to live? We didnt have central heating for years. Just open fires. I dont recall dying each winter and our house was bloody cold! Ice on the inside of the crittals windows. Its all just the media stirring up worry yet again...!

Except modern houses don't have fireplaces! I wish they did, I hate having to use electricity when I fire would do and I could make toast on it too.

 

[R Kraft]

My heating,cooking and hot water is gas.
When they projected power cuts, I prepared a generator.
My small generator will run the furnace fan, refrigerator and lights, I built a multi stage PI filter for it.
It is powered off of the city natural gas supply, LPG or petrol.
I don't know what the future may be, but it makes me feel better, for when it gets -20F.

 

[reb78]

In a nutshell, if my memory serves:

Offline = you are on utility power, until it goes out of specification, and then it will switch to battery - this is a common type used for all the cheap domestic/small office ones.

Line interactive = as above but it is monitored and compensation circuits tweak for over/undervoltage. Most are not pure sinewave so you only get an "approximation" of a waveform, which can cause issues with some equipment.

Online Double Conversion = basically takes the incoming utility, converts it into DC and then inverts it back into AC - which means it can keep the output frequency, voltage and waveform consistent and independent on how messy the input is and have zero switchover speed to battery. They are usually pure sinewave too - Needless to say these are a lot more expensive.

There is a lot more to it than that obviously, when you get into the capabilities and protection offered by each type and extra features such as bypass and monitoring.

Thanks. Looking at the prices I suspect dads were the simplest type. I think they are Belkin F6H500 models. I cant find the specs to say what type they are.

 

[julianthegypsy]

We are in a small village high in the Cotswolds and frequently get short cuts, in fact we had one just this morning. It doesn't bother us, but if we were regularly going to get several hour cuts I'd be looking at some form of back up as there's no gas and we don't have a fireplace, so no heat at all without power and no way of cooking, unless I get a fire going in the garden, but I don't fancy cooking over a fire outside in January. Everything else we can cope with, it just means hours of extra mandolin practice, which is no bad thing. Work would stop, and that is another problem.

 

[Morrisman]

My heating,cooking and hot water is gas.
When they projected power cuts, I prepared a generator.
My small generator will run the furnace fan, refrigerator and lights, I built a multi stage PI filter for it.
It is powered off of the city natural gas supply, LPG or petrol.
I don't know what the future may be, but it makes me feel better, for when it gets -20F.

I have a bulk lpg tank, a gas fire and gas hob, so in the event of no electric I can survive for a good while.

Central heating needs electric, to run, but the gas fire in the front room will provide enough heat for me in a small bungalow.

Plus I have a large car battery and numerous 12 volt bulbs, wire, switches, and such forth. Bring it on, I say.

 

[reb78]

Except modern houses don't have fireplaces! I wish they did, I hate having to use electricity when I fire would do and I could make toast on it too.

We had Superser heaters in many rooms. The open fire was only in the lounge. The rest of the house was freezing!

 

[julianthegypsy]

I might get some storage heater bricks and rig something up...

 

[Morrisman]

We had Superser heaters in many rooms. The open fire was only in the lounge. The rest of the house was freezing!

I bought one of these first winter here, as nobody would fill my bulk lpg tank and winter was coming.....

Turns out I never used it. It's still sat in the shed with a full bottle of gas.

 

[dobbslc]

We have power cuts now and then, the last was for the best part of a day due to a massive tree falling on the overhead lines. They had the whole lane on a generator for 10 days while they sorted this out.




I had my small generator rigged up to the consumer unit within an hour so we had enough power to run the oil boiler/central heating a few lights and the shower pump. I really should get the changeover switch fitted ready for Armageddon this winter...

 

[julianthegypsy]

I bought one of these first winter here, as nobody would fill my bulk lpg tank and winter was coming.....

Turns out I never used it. It's still sat in the shed with a full bottle of gas.


View attachment 360885

I could do with one of those for my workshop, except that with no power there's no point even being there!