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Post by WolfDen on Oct 9, 2019 18:46:07 GMT 10
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blueshoes
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Location: Regional Dan-istan
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Post by blueshoes on Oct 9, 2019 20:53:34 GMT 10
It won't let me read it because it's paywalled, but
A) cool that they're actually panicking BEFORE the power goes out, not after when the credit cards don't work
B) wouldn't cutting power because fire danger be counter productive because of the number of people using fire instead for cooking, heating water (washing) etc... or am I missing something?
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Post by WolfDen on Oct 9, 2019 22:12:29 GMT 10
edition.cnn.com/2019/10/08/us/pge-power-shutdown-california/index.htmlThe state's utilities developed "public safety power shutoff" plans as a "preventative measure of last resort" when they believe there's a real risk of power lines being downed in dry, windy conditions, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. PG&E has previously said it's "probable" that its equipment started the 2018 Camp Fire -- California's deadliest and most destructive blaze -- when a power line touched nearby trees.
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bug
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Post by bug on Oct 10, 2019 16:24:19 GMT 10
B) wouldn't cutting power because fire danger be counter productive because of the number of people using fire instead for cooking, heating water (washing) etc... or am I missing something? We do the same here. The utilities are careful about what they shut of and when. They generally only shut the absolute minimum off. |
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Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Oct 20, 2019 8:19:43 GMT 10
A number of very high capacity power lines go through here from the hydro plants to places like California where the mass consumption leaches, I mean consumers are.
It would make sense for the utility to shut down the line if threatened with damage, because if it were damaged by fire for instance the damage would be worse if it were under load at the time. What ever the capacity of these lines is, they were under full load way before predicted when they were designed and built.
It may be a stereo type on my part, but I have to believe a large percent of the population there is not the prepper type and more the sheeple type. So the few that do something proactive to any situation will likely be small.
My 5 cents of opinion.
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bug
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Post by bug on Oct 20, 2019 9:03:36 GMT 10
A number of very high capacity power lines go through here from the hydro plants to places like California where the mass consumption leaches, I mean consumers are. It would make sense for the utility to shut down the line if threatened with damage, because if it were damaged by fire for instance the damage would be worse if it were under load at the time. What ever the capacity of these lines is, they were under full load way before predicted when they were designed and built. It may be a stereo type on my part, but I have to believe a large percent of the population there is not the prepper type and more the sheeple type. So the few that do something proactive to any situation will likely be small. My 5 cents of opinion. A long time ago I worked at the call desk for a major electricity utility. You'd be amazed (actually, probably you wouldn't  ) by the sheer unpreparedness of so many people to even the most basic inconveniences. During a major storm event I was threatened with being personally sued if we didn't send someone out to fix one guy's power, I had a dairy farmer who didn't have a back up generator and couldn't milk his cows, an abbatoir who would lose several tonnes of meat (no backup generator) and an absolute swathe of people who couldn't get to grips with the fact that you will never, ever have electricity supply 100% of the time. It's one of the things that led me to prep and to keep it quiet. If even those in the food supply chain who you'd expect to be able to cover for this can't and much of the general populace has less than a day's supplies, we are in for a disaster if anything major comes. |
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Post by Joey on Oct 20, 2019 10:40:31 GMT 10
B) wouldn't cutting power because fire danger be counter productive because of the number of people using fire instead for cooking, heating water (washing) etc... or am I missing something? In California commiefornia they made wood fired stoves/BBQ's illegal so that's not really an option for them, but I'm sure a lot of people have built crude brick BBQs in the back yard in the last week.
You don't need to wait for an event like this to see what animals people become, you only have to watch all the "black Friday" sales in the US and watch people turn into beastly savages just to get a cheap TV, let alone food and water when disaster is imminent.
Where I am we get knocked around a couple times a year with cyclones so I have multiple backup power sources on standby that I can call upon and are easy to setup. Several large truck deep cycle batteries, portable solar panels, generator and 12-240v invertors. I'm holding off getting a sparky to install a crossover switch in the meter box (because its like $350 and this is a rental house) that would allow me to plug the generator directly into the mains of my house to keep the fridge and freezer running.
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bug
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Post by bug on Oct 20, 2019 11:45:59 GMT 10
Joey, avoid touching the meter box. This is far better done in the main switchboard. To be honest, landlords wouldn't have a clue about this being done, so don't stress about that.
I've done this via a separate time switch to run my hot water straight of the solar during the day instead of the mains night rate. Works well.
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Post by Joey on Oct 20, 2019 12:48:21 GMT 10
This would only be used in a protracted power outage such as when the cyclone brings down the power lines that I can switch off the mains and plug my generator into the meter board.
It's a legit thing to do and done by licensed sparky. Only thing me not doing it for now is the $350 it would cost lol
If it was like $100 or so I would of done it already lol
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bug
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Post by bug on Oct 20, 2019 18:10:54 GMT 10
This would only be used in a protracted power outage such as when the cyclone brings down the power lines that I can switch off the mains and plug my generator into the meter board. It's a legit thing to do and done by licensed sparky. Only thing me not doing it for now is the $350 it would cost lol If it was like $100 or so I would of done it already lol Haha, yeah. My father is an electrician, but the timeswitch still cost $240. Part of the reason I did it was to stick it up my energy retailer (origin) who were paying me 12c/kWh for solar feed in, but charging me 23c/kWh even for the night rate (when they often get electricity completely free from generators). There are dodgier ways to connect a generator into your home's 240V, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who didn't know what they are doing. $350 is pretty cheap compared to electrocuting yourself. |
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Post by SA Hunter on Oct 20, 2019 20:00:02 GMT 10
We rent. After the major blackout in SA a few years back, I bought a 10kva gen set.
Spoke to the owner of the house, whose son just happened to be a sparky, and he installed all we needed to plug in the gen set if needed.
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