Power Cuts? Load Shedding? What Are Our Plans?

As we head into winter, we must all be realistic about the costs of electricity, reducing our energy consumption and the possibility of energy power cuts, as warned by the government, coming in January or February next year.

Whilst this story is not about your money directly, it is about your wellbeing in the Winter and what we are doing to ensure that we still can work efficiently.

The government has an Electricity Supply Emergency Code that was published in 2019 and gives you a much greater idea of what sorts of power cuts to expect, when they would occur and for how long.  This will depend upon what sort of business you have or work in, where you live and the various load shedding levels.  See Electricity Supply Emergency Code.

What Are We Doing?

Personally, we have already installed energy efficient heating in our offices.  We have increased insulation in lofts and walls at home.  We are already CO2 emissions negative at work but that will not be enough to work if power cuts come.

Ensuring Work Continuity:  We are buying a ‘mid range’ Solar Generator that can be charged used 2 solar panels or a wind turbine over a few hours but can also be charged from mains (over night economy 7) or a car power output socket i.e., charge if we drive.  From full charge, it can power up to 100 smart phones or 8 laptops.  In short by using solar and wind energy, we should be able to run 5 telephones with ‘hotspots’ for online access and 5 laptops for 4-5 hours of cuts.

The bonus = free electricity from wind and solar during the cuts but also for a few years to come given a 500 days of charge battery life.