Yesterday, I awoke at 5 am (as usual) but, unusually, there was no electricty.

Fortunately, I had torches & candles handy; and my mobile was charged.
I phoned the Emergency Number and I was advised that the failure had
occurred at 4.30 am and that they expected to have it fixed by 7.30 am
(This was gleaned from a recorded message but no complaint about
that.)

After I returned from walking Daisy (about 5.30) the power was back on.

It made me ponder the potential effects from a prolonged power failure
and I thought that I would (again) explore the options, for domestic
backup facilities.

Please remember that I live in the UK and that I am just a poor student.

Many thanks!

---

Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 26 Apr 2004 23:37 PDT

Well, as there have been several great Comments ... 

I guess that I should again say Many Thanks to all!

And Au Revoir!

Hi probonopublico,

With a wood fire, you can at least cook and keep yourself warm in the UK winter.

Therefore, I recommend you locate a good local pub that has an open fire.

Regards,
eiffel-ga

Hi probonopublico...

Here in Ontario Canada,we experienced a HUGE power failure last
August. Lasted for over two days. The whole east coast of US and
Canada went down. What I learned from this is:
1)always have at least a half tank of gas in your car at all times
2 have flashlights with working batteries at various strategic places in your home
3)make sure you have a battery operated radio at all times, 
and finally...
4) make sure you have a good stockpile of beer and liquors cause
*da_n* it sure gets boring with no puter, TV, etc :(....

Oops I almost forgot...

Good luck with your studies.... ;)

I know there to be emergency diesel power generators available. These
can be installed in homes as far as I know. They cost around a few
thousand, I think.

Here's an example of one, a Lister Petter model:
http://www.bowerspower.com/lister_petter.html

Regards
Adrian

Many thanks, Adrian et al.

Some interesting suggestions.

Bryan

Or Here
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/search/searchresultsmain.jsp?fresh=1&searchType=advanced&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&attribute14=0&attribute15=0&attribute16=0&RS=1&keyword=generator

My home has an emergency lantern in the hallway; the lantern is wired
into the house current, and if the electrical power fails, the lantern
automatically turns itself on. It recharges its own batteries when
power is restored.

I highly recommend a device of this sort. It averts the stumbling and
fumbling that usually occurs during a nighttime power outage. Since I
have several pets who like to position themselves near my feet, the
stumbling-in-the-dark syndrome can be quite a problem in my household.

We also have a gasoline-powered generator for prolonged outages (which
are not uncommon in the wintertime in my area). If not for the
generator, we would have had several massive instances of food
spoilage; keeping the refrigerator and chest freezer running can save
quite a lot of money.

probonopublico-ga:

You might want to take a look at:

http://www.hondaenergy.co.uk/

(click on Generators) 

to see if there might be a unit that is justifiable on a poor
student's budget. A small generator can be useful even when camping,
or if you need electricity for a garden tool and you cannot find an
extension cord that is long enough. By burning petrol, it also gets
you into the habit of keeping some fuel around in a canister, which
can come in handy if you aren't living that close to a reliable
fueling station.

An alternative that we here in the colonies can acquire (only in
Canada, you say? pity... sorry, a silly catch-phrase from some tea ads
a long time ago) is this:

http://gateway.canadiantire.ca/driver.php?fileid=2534374303515779_1408474395348027_845524443248126_

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

Very Many Thanks, Pink & aht ...

An Emergency Light & a Standby Generator are obviously the way forward.

I will pivk up on those.

Warmest regards

Bryan