I always joke with some friends who also participate.. its power surge time!!

Even if you didn't cause the blackout at least you're saving on energy costs - unless your savings are being spent on candles !

I had some old candles that I’m using up!!!   But, one of my visitors was running a remote training session and my Wi-Fi went down!!!   And, I had to rest the oven, which is always a pain!!!

     Rgds,

             Steve

Great stuff folks! I am curious to know how much energy the proliferation of Christmas lighting uses? My street is like Santa's grotto, ego driven residents trying to outdo neighbours with more and more elaborate house adornments which for the most part are switched on all day! Is there really a "cost of living or climate crisis" or has everybody given up and doesn't give a s**t anymore ?

I believe that most of the good people on this forum are members not only to save a few bob because they need to, but because they actually care about the future of their kids which is far removed from the senseless games of "keeping up with the Jones's"

Sorry for my rant!

I measured the consumption of my lights (they are all modern LEDs )

and it was insignificant. 

Martin Lewis said 100 led lights cost 1p for 12hrs.

Have you actually seen some of these properties? Tens of thousands of LEDs a lot of which are animated, driven by electric motors. As for Martin Lewis, he didn't get where he is by impartially. Didn't get his millions by blogging but, like politicians from lobbying.

You don't get a commercial TV slot for ethical reasons, just to make money. Don't believe everything you're told.

I will op in to tomorrows power event for an hour. l find that easier then cutting down trying to cut down on using less essentials. and power.

Happy to see all the Christmas lights on myself!

Nice bit of brightness and cheer in cold, dark December!!

Yes one hour is much easier than three; running up the CH for an hour, then it won’t need to come  on for another hour!!!  Similarly, turning down the fridge and freezer.

    Rgds,

            Steve

I also like to see Christmas lights on @alinbongo54 on these cold December nights, but my liking stops when it becomes a competition to use more energy than next door for the sake of personal status in the community. Personal gratification is killing the planet and unfortunately, idiots are in the majority.

If you have any kind of energy emergency or power cut, you can head to our website to find out what to do in these scenarios. 

Sorry, but that won’t work for me, cos my Smartphone only runs on wi-fi!!!  (Also, power cuts are liable to bring down the local mobile network).

     Rgds,

            Steve

PS  I’m not very impressed with BT going over to internet phone lines!!!.   Currently, if the electricity goes down, I can currently get my old GPO phone out, and plug it in to the phone line!!!!

Attention of Emmanuelle at OVO. Have to agree with @MGSteve . Your advice of heading to your website during a power cut is rather pointless. This assumes my laptop/phone/tablet works on fresh air or are always fully charged. Moreover, what advice can you actually give that we don't already know about? Like how to see in the dark or what genus of sticks are best to rub together to create fire! WOW! We're in real trouble!

Hey @IanFerguson and @MGSteve, 

My assumption was that if you were viewing this Forum topic, you’d have access to the internet. It was intended for customers who may be experiencing a power cut and searching for answers on this Forum. 

Electrical power cut

If it’s area-wide, call 105 to report the power cut to your network distributor

Before you call, check if there’s a power cut in your area by looking at the streetlights outside, or your neighbours’ home. 

You should also:

• Switch off all your electric appliances – especially the ones that shouldn’t be left unattended like heaters. This will also protect your appliances from electrical surges.

• Leave one light switch turned “on” to show when the power comes back.

If only your home has lost power 

Check your fuse box to see if a switch has been tripped. If not:

1. Switch everything off at the plug.

2. Leave one light switch turned on so you can see if the power comes back on.

3. Turn off the main switch in the fuse box. 

4. Follow up by turning off all the individual switches, one by one. 

5. Turn the main switch back on. 

6. Flip each of the smaller switches back on, again one by one. If any of the switches flips itself back “off”, it has “tripped”. That means that there’s a fault. 

You can tell where the fault is by seeing which switch flips. You could have a faulty appliance plugged in. Try unplugging the appliance, and going back to step one to try again.

Don’t attempt to do any electrical work yourself. If there seems to be a fault but you don’t know what it is, it’s time to call an electrician.

That’s much better!!!    I think I can identify electrical faults in my own house quite easily anyway!!!   I have done so on a couple of occasions over the years, and had them fixed by an electrician, if appropriate.   

Some time ago, I was getting very rare and very short power interruptions.  Initially I thought everyone was getting them.  But, when they started getting more frequent, I asked my neighbours about them; I discovered they weren’t getting them!!!   The board electrician, who I finally called, found that the main feed from the main fuse to the meter was in bad condition, and replaced it.  He said it was a very rare fault.     Intermittent faults are always difficult for anyone to diagnose.  Especially, if they are before the fuse board!!! 

We are always getting short power outages  that mostly last a minute or two but sometimes longer. So now I have some small APC uninteruptable power supplies  which also save me from brown outs. One keeps my router, bedside light and alarm clock running for a while, another, my PC, and another my CCTV system, external NAS box and meshed network extender. If the cut looks like it will last a while, I have a 5KW generator and a load of extension leads and petrol in a jerry can.

I know, it's overkill, and I'm daft but I hate sitting in the dark in silence.

@TonyC this is impressive. Do you know something we don’t re the grid? :)