Well, not so much of a tale right now, more the germ of an idea.
Apparently, energy reserves are the lowest they've been for a while and the grid is creaking a bit meaning the likelihood of power cuts this winter is higher than it has been for a while. Millions of Britons face winter power cuts | UK | News | Daily Express Whether the reported concerns are valid or not, winter power cuts are not unusual, especially in rural areas. Weather is a usual cause.
So, my thoughts turned to backup systems.
I can live without the lights and most of the appliances, at least for a few hours or so, but the heating goes off and that means temperatures can drop pretty sharpish. I reckon the average heating system represents an intermittent load of about 400W but the motors in the pumps (so I'm told) have relatively high start-up currents. This means that the cheap desktop UPS will probably not be able to cope. On the bright side, it's easy to seperate the heating system electrics from the rest of the house.
I have three basic options:
1 - buy a cheap UPS and see if it works (about £150)
2 - buy an inverter and battery (about £300)
3 - buy a petrol generator (Toolstation do one at about £110)
The generator option is probably the easiest even though I'd have to build a small enclosure to house it and the external electrics. On the other hand it runs for about 6 hours on just under 3 litres of petrol and could also power the broadband so I'd have heat and summat to do by candlelight!
Anyone ever tried something like this before?
Apparently, energy reserves are the lowest they've been for a while and the grid is creaking a bit meaning the likelihood of power cuts this winter is higher than it has been for a while. Millions of Britons face winter power cuts | UK | News | Daily Express Whether the reported concerns are valid or not, winter power cuts are not unusual, especially in rural areas. Weather is a usual cause.
So, my thoughts turned to backup systems.
I can live without the lights and most of the appliances, at least for a few hours or so, but the heating goes off and that means temperatures can drop pretty sharpish. I reckon the average heating system represents an intermittent load of about 400W but the motors in the pumps (so I'm told) have relatively high start-up currents. This means that the cheap desktop UPS will probably not be able to cope. On the bright side, it's easy to seperate the heating system electrics from the rest of the house.
I have three basic options:
1 - buy a cheap UPS and see if it works (about £150)
2 - buy an inverter and battery (about £300)
3 - buy a petrol generator (Toolstation do one at about £110)
The generator option is probably the easiest even though I'd have to build a small enclosure to house it and the external electrics. On the other hand it runs for about 6 hours on just under 3 litres of petrol and could also power the broadband so I'd have heat and summat to do by candlelight!
Anyone ever tried something like this before?