More local Power Cuts and dimmings

[Dizzy]

Anyone else having power cuts lately or dimming of the lights for an hour or so

 

In the past few weeks there have been 3 power cuts affecting different houses round here... latest one tonight was in Stockton Heath village (not long after the xmas lights were turned on apparently... cheap imported substandard fairy lights maybe )

 

And last week the lights in some houses all went to half output for about 2 hours then all suddenly came back to full power and brightness later.... I thought we had ghostly goings on until others said they had had it too.. PHEW.

 

All very odd.... so any other areas being affected or anyone know what's causing it ?

[Bill]

Nope and I've just got back from my beer night in Stickton Heath and I never saw anything. Maybe the beer goggles affected my judgment.

 

 

 

 

Bill

[Peter T]

No probs this side, although it dipped for a second a couple of nights ago.

[Robbo]

Read somewhere that if the Power supply dips by more than 10% and as a result it messes your PC up, you can claim compensation.

[Evil Sid]

so it nothing to do with the council then as i first thought

 

not had any power dips for a while round here. my mother had a bad one several years back that killed the timers on her cooker. she got a new cooker and hob by way of compensation.

 

would assume that the same would apply for any electrical appliance. PROVIDING you can prove that was the cause.

[Dizzy]

Bill.........The one in Stockton Heath affected the shops etc up near Domino's Pizza... lucky you were in the old Red Lion pub eh.. they still have gas lamps and candles in there don't they

 

As for compensation on the dips and cuts we've had... damn... nothing seems to have been damaged although on one of them my sons lcd tv went off and wouldn't come back on again for a good 20 minutes even though everything else came straight back on.

 

Anyway I will remember the compensation bit for future reference.... but how would we know if it dips down by more than 10% or do we have to take their word for it

[Bill]

Diz

 

If you actually see the lights dip then it?s gone down a lot more than 10% but a drop in voltage doesn?t tend to break electrical goods. The problems only really start when it goes over plus 10% that but that?s very rare so don?t start banking on your compo claim just yet.

 

And my Friday night drinks are generally in the London Bridge by the way!

 

Bill

[Dizzy]

Well just read it.....

 

There was a power cut in Stockton Heath on the Friday... you must have gone to the pub after it was sorted Bill.

 

It affected over 100 residents and businesses in SH and happened at 6.55pm and was sorted by 8pm.

 

The cause (according to the Scottish Power spokesman) was

 

A socket in one of the companies substations in Stockton Heath faulted nearby to Walton Road..... but denied that the Xmas lights switch on in the village was connected to the problem

 

Wonder if he or the reporter had read my comment about cheap imported fairy lights

[Evil Sid]

nowt wrong with cheap imported lights provided you follow the safety instructions.

 

1) DO NOT use lights externally.

2) Do Not expose lights to electrical outlets.

3) DO NOT use lights internally.

[Dizzy]

I had to think about that one Evils

[observer]

There was a power cut in Poplars last night - noticed a lot of these trashy Xmas displays on houses in the area - is that just a coincidence?

[Dizzy]

dimmings of lights again round here the other night but only affecting a few houses on the road (not mine this time ).

 

Apparently one house seemed to get dimmer as more people came home and put their lights on.. weird.

[Peter T]

Could be a house where cannabis is growing.

[Dizzy]

Do you recon Must admit our elderly neighbour is rather lively at the moment

 

Just a thought......

 

I wondered if the 'dimmings' were somehow affecting those with the old sttyle light bulbs as the lights which dimmed more noticably in ours were both in the bedrooms and both are normal lightbulbs.

 

Not sure about downstairs energy saving ones as obviously I was upstairs Cant remember noticing the energy saving landing light being that much different though but that's a horrid dull yellowy light anyway.

 

The neighbour who has been getting it the most frequent dimmings has NO energy saving light bulbs.. they are all old style bulbs.

 

Would that be possible as obviouly they all work of a 240v supply but the old ones have a filament the new sort don't and the wattage is significantly lower on energy saving bulbs.

 

I dont understand electricity so it's probably not possible.... sure someone on here will correct me and give me a well needed lesson

[wolfie]

Diz, you are correct

filament bulbs are very sensitive to supply voltage variation.

[observer]

Basically it's a case of supply and demand; if demand exceeds supply, we have a problem.

[Dizzy]

Diz, you are correct

filament bulbs are very sensitive to supply voltage variation.

 

Blummin heck... now there's a first Me actually 'thinking' all by myself and being correct.... and I didnt even google it

 

Sooooo... wonder if they making these these dips happen on purpose (could they do that? ) and when people ring up to report or question it they 'advise' them to switch to the naff energy saving bulbs to resolve the problem.

 

Never used to happen until recently

[Dizzy]

Basically it's a case of supply and demand; if demand exceeds supply, we have a problem.

 

But that doesn't explain why only some people get the problem Obs... you'd think if demand exceded supply then everyone in the close area would be affected. Ah but we may have already resolved why that is on the previous posts

 

I see your point though and god help us all at Christmas if there is a problem with supply as suspected.

 

With more people at home with all their new gadgets and tv's plugged in, lights on, heating and boilers on 24/7 not to mention twinkly festive glows... we could all be plunged into darkness.

 

Perhaps a complete ban on all childrens/adults games consoles and tv's should be brought in with immediate effect.... that would be NICE

 

Of course radios and cd players should still be allowed providing they are only used for a certain type of music and also the charging of mobile phones should remain... that's me sorted (and all I need) cos my new camera takes normal batteries

[Peter T]

Perhaps I shouldn't put the lights up this year?

[observer]

Only to take them down again in a couple of weeks time!

[Bill]

Normal variations in demand would not cause the lights to dim. For this to happen in one location, there has to be a massif and I mean massif drain on the local supply but this is unlikely because fuses would blow long before it gets to the point where it can pull down the mains supply.

 

Could be that someone?s tampered with the mains i.e. a cannabis farm but more likely it's just a loose connection somewhere that?s causing the voltage to drop under load. Either way this should be reported.

 

Bill

[Dizzy]

Blummin' lights were driving me mad earlier and giving me eye strain so I went out and spent ?60 on news better quality and higher wattage energy saving light bulbs and different lamp shades.

 

Got home to find we had been plunged into darkenss... ANOTHER POWER CUT (which lasted over and hour)

 

Oooooh I think the lights must have just been getting dimmer in the run up to the cut and I wasted all that money

 

We changed them all anyway as I hated the yeuchy dull yellow glow of the others but now I've got a 100 watt bright yeuchy white(ish) non-descript, uncosy glow on and masses of reflection on my computer monitor which is making my eyes water

 

I HATE ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS !!!!!

 

I think I much preferred the power cut and candles

[Peter T]

Now you can see the walls and paintwork, you'll be decorating next.

[Dizzy]

Your not wrong there Peter... and the carpet definately needs changing now we can really see it

 

Bloody awful light and even my other half commented when he came in.

 

I want the old type of bulbs back... the soft ones with a 'hint of cosyness' ... the ones that used to make me feel happy and didn't give me eye strain or headaches

 

One possitive though... I may not be on here or on my pc as much at night cos I'm really squinting now and starting to hallucinate... there are little flickers running around everymere and I'm sure the bulbs are moving

[Bill]

I sympathise with you Diz I know exactly what you mean. We went out for a meal on Saturday in what should have been a nice traditional oldie worldly pub but the atmosphere and character of the place had been completely ruined by the light from these awful things.

 

I think there are some big differences in how people see this light and I think that you and me are probably at the far end of the hate em scale. My son say?s he actually prefers it but then again he would because he?s my son and anything that dad says has to be disagreed with.

 

Bill