Dont Panic If the Lights Go Off
Imagine this - You have food on and in the cooker, and you are catching up on the ironing watching the small TV. The kids are upstairs one has just shouted she has finished in the bathroom, the other child is locked away behind a door with stickers stating "KEEP OUT" venturing out occasionally for food, water and to meet mates. Your Hubby shouts he is jumping in the shower before Tea and you shout "You got 10 minutes before I dish up!"
You hear the shower start, let the dog up the garden and there is a click and everything in plunged into darkness!
WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PLAN OF ACTION?
You freeze for a moment! A pregnant pause that everyone else in the house experiences at the same time. Then you hear one child shouting, because the game hasnt saved and they were on ... what ever level it was...No one is really listening at this moment....Another stands on the top of the stairs shouting for you.....You shout back "Nobody Panic, everyone just stay where you are!" Then the Hubby mumbling under his breath about cold water and the poxy bathroom door frame that he stubbed his toe against trying to get to the stairs.
Your attempts of re-assuring words reach apon deaf ears, as you fumble to the window to check if any of the neighbours still have their lights on; whilst Hubby hobbles to the fuse box which is under the stairs with his fishing kit!
"The neighbours lights are on" you shout! More heavy mumbling occurs as Hubby says you have to help, so he can get under the stairs.....
The kids come down stairs by the lights of their mobiles, a little excitable, then Hubby reaches over and the trip is pushed back up into the right position and normality is restored.
But you should also ask yourself What made it trip. Was it something that had just been plugged in. Its a good idea to check your appliances to be safe.
How to Check Your Trip Switch!
Try to switch the trip back on, by pushing it back to the upright position. If it stays on but the electric is still off, you need to check that the main switch on the fuse box is on.
If the trip switch trips immediately, then you have a fault with your wiring, an appliance or the fuse box.
Check the appliances, it maybe just the hairdryer that was switched on to dry your childs hair that caused it. If when you turn the item on again and the electric goes off again; then its time to buy a new hairdryer.
If you have a separate Fuse Box and Trip Switch, you will need to turn the Fuse Box off and then turn the Trip Switch back on. The Trip should stay up; however if the Trip Switches back to the off position again, then you may have a fault with either the Fuse Box or the Trip Switch itself. Now is the time to call a Qualified Electrician.
Do Not try the DIY approach - Electrocution hurts ...ALOT!
But what happens if you look out of the window and everything in your street or road was in Darkness?
We resume our story ....... "The neighbours lights are off too"
you shout! More heavy mumbling occurs as Hubby limps to your side..... The kids come down stairs by the lights of their mobiles, a little excitable and still moaning about wet hair and unsaved games.
Whilst staring out the window you ask one of the kids to get the candles from under the sink and the other to go with Hubby to find the camping lights; Your excuse is they have the mobile torches on. It would appear now is the only time that it is acceptable to spy on your neighbours; the chances are they are spying now on you for the same reason.
As you sit in illumination of candle light, including all you lovely smelly ones, because the camping lights batteries are dead; you have ensured that appliances that need to be turned off are. You could if lucky, dish up the food and eat together by candlelight.
You get the Hubby to hobble next door to check on your elderly neighbours, if you have them. Many elderly will probably be more well equipped with dealing with an outage than you... they after all went through the 70's; but it is the neighbourly thing to do in an emergency. If you cook by gas, boil some water, make a flask even the simple act of lending a blanket or helping them up the stairs in the dark could make a lot of difference to them............
Remember, It’s much safer to use torches than it is to burn candles or paraffin lamps, but if you must use these items then make sure you use them safely:
Most powercuts dont last that long, some last an hour or so, some longer. So when you have eaten, played a game of monopoly and the lights still aren't on; you realize the cold of the night will take a while to set in, so its better to all stay in one room, hunker in with your duvets and keep warm. With small kids you can have a camping night indoors.
Dont panic about your freezer, providing you dont keep opening the door, the food inside will remain ok for several hours before the temperature starts to change.
Dont panic about your tropical fish; they have a good 3 hours or so before you need to apply some simple tricks to keep them swimming.
If you are able to warm up water, fill up a small plastic bottle and place inside the tank to help keep the temperature up, you can even wrap a blanket around the tank to insulate it. Gentle swirl the water to re-oxygenate.
During a powercut you suddenly realise how much you rely on the powergrid. All the gadgets you have dont work and become obsolete. You, Hubby and the kids slowly become a family again; telling stories, playing games, watching the stars... even sharing a glass of home brew with the Goodlife couple from next door.
However, there is an alternate path that this story could of taken and that was right back at the point when you froze for a moment! The same pregnant pause that everyone else in the house experienced at the same time.
The reason is because that pause was long enough for you to hear another clunk and the lights came back on, because you have a Complete Backup Power system in your house.
The Automatic Transfer Switch registered that the mains supply was cut and started your generator, restoring power back to your home.
Your food on the cooker and in the freezer was saved, no one stubbed their toe, just got alittle cold. No searching for lamps and candle, your fish swim on to see another day....
You still boiled the kettle because you could, you filled a flask and popped around to the elderly couple next door because its the right thing to do. One of the kids still probably moaned because the game wasnt saved and when you stand outside and see your other neighbours, tell them to come around with the home brew. Impress the Goodlife people next door with your backup system.
With regards to the family time, telling stories and playing games..... thats down to you. You shouldnt have to wait for a powercut to have fun with loved ones.
If you would like to invest in a complete backup system for you Home, Business or for an Emergency,
Blades Power Generation Ltd
Blades Power Generation - #AllYourGeneratorNeeds
