Re: Millions without heat

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politic...-data-n1426208

Interesting.

Re: Millions without heat

I've been in ice related power losses for several days, once when the kids were little. It's all about perspective and problem solving. Power loss in ice storms is not unheard of.

It isn't fun, but for most it isn't tragic, it just require adapting. The first goal is to keep the heat in, so we closed off most of the rooms and lived in the living room which was on the south side of the house capturing the most sun, and slept there too. We ran the fireplace, but only in the day so as not to pull more heat out than we were bringing in. We insulated the windows and doors even further, by putting towels around the seams, keeping the draperies closed, and plastic trash bags over the patio doors that faced the north.

We dressed and slept in layers. A few times, we drove to a library or had a long meal in places that did have power - enjoying the heat of the car en route. We also set up a popup tent in the living room where the kids and dogs slept to keep in the heat. We went to bed early and got up late.

As we do in hurricanes, we ate everything out of the freezer and fridge knowing that it could spoil, and moved any food we were concerned about into the garage where it was well below freezing.

We cooked on a gas stove and fireplace and also boiled water to keep the humidity and therefore the "feels like" temperature higher. Those were in the days before we could afford to have a refrigerator.

I had the kids do activities to keep them moving and when we let the dogs out, or went out ourselves, we exited through a room we had sealed off, so as not to let the cold air into the living room.

We used candles and flashlights, played board games, did activities to keep the kids moving, and made the best of it.

The kids remember it as an extraordinarily good time.

Re: Millions without heat

Who remembers the three day week? During the miners strike electricity was limited and our factory was only allowed power for three days per week on a rotation basis. Although it wasn't in the winter.....

I recall a power outage down the eastern seaboard of the USA due to solar flares and sunspot activity, transformers were destroyed and can not easily be manufactured and installed.

As we are becoming more dependent on technology this is only the start of what is to come......Mother nature has a habit of throwing a curved ball every now and then....

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/fe..._darkness.html

Re: Millions without heat

I have friends in Dallas I wonder how they are getting on?

Not that it ever gets to freezing where I live but I do have a couple of generators for power cuts if only to keep my fridges and freezer going.

I remember the three day week very well, a triumph of that brain dead pedo Heath. I was watching Dumbo in a Streatham cinema when the power went out and we got our money back. Australia offered to land coal in the UK for a quarter/half of the price the UK could dig it out of the ground and Heath knocked it back. You could be living in a land of milk and honey now.

That was when you had a chance to vote "No" to the EU and knocked that back too.

Re: Millions without heat

How are you going to make a hot drink for the flasks if there’s a sudden power cut PK ?

Re: Millions without heat

That was not the problem. The problem is how do you start a power plant when you have no electricity? You need electricity to start the fans and the pumps to get the boiler going before you can feed steam to a turbine. You need power to run all the auxiliary equipment such as oil pumps, cooling pumps for that turbine before it is able to generate enough power to run itself and create surplus power.

A black start is a nightmare scenario hence the rolling blackouts to stop this happening.

Re: Millions without heat

You're like me by the sounds of it , having things to hand that you might never need . I bought a big snow shovel after a bad winter ,have forgotten what year it was but I’m sure someone will know, we couldn’t get out to go to our booked Scarborough hotel for Christmas
Incidentally do you know Travel Insurance doesn’t cover you for that?
Never had to use the shovel , still has the price tag on it .
Sorry Offtopic .
Should I go out and buy a camping stove d”you think ?

Re: Millions without heat

One thing I might add in all of this is that the Texas Repubican senator, Ted Cruz, was on his way on vacation to Mexico.

Needless to say, he has been called out by his constituents and has (humorously) been sharing photos all day of making his way back to Texas.

Re: Millions without heat

I have a couple of camping stoves with little gas canisters

Re: Millions without heat

Been there and done that.