I've been reading up about potential blackouts if the UK grid can't support the energy demand in the future - supposedly 2015-2016. Is there anyway to prepare for these eventualities, if there are rolling blackouts can we train ourselves to cope better? If anyone can offer any advice how best to prepare I would be interested.

Or, is there anyway to predict when these might occur? There were blackouts in New York in the 1970s and more recently in California... is there anyway to put a sensor on the mains line to sense when a blackout is about to happen?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

I honestly don't know of any way to tell that a blackout is coming. It is smart to be prepared just in case, however.

Since this is a distinct possibility anywhere, I have myself ready for it to happen. I have a small generator that will keep the heat on, run my fridge and freezer, and I can run a few lights as well. It does pretty good on gas also.

I have 4 vehicles here at the house that I keep the tanks pretty much full all the time, plus a couple of 5 gallon gas cans that are kept full. I took an old style electric fuel pump and some fuel hose and made a pump to get the gas out of the vehicles if I need to. I figure I have at least 100 gallons of gas available at all times. I also know where I could scrounge more gas if I needed to, and I would say that would be at least 100 gallons as well. I figured up one time that if I ran the generator enough to keep the house warm and the food cold and didn't use it more than necessary to charge batteries for lights, run radio, TV, computer and such for news, that I could go for more than 45 days on the fuel I have on hand.

I highly recommend that you find and purchase a generator that would suit your needs. You don't have to keep everything running at once. What I would recommend is having batteries charging when it is running, run the heat until the house has fully warmed, run the fridge until it has caught up, do the same for the freezer, and then run the furnace again until it quits on its own. Then turn the generator off for a couple of hours to save fuel. Of course, when it is warm out, you wouldn't have to mess with the heat.

I also have a solar battery charger in my BOB that I use to charge flashlight and radio batteries when I am in the woods. This can be used to keep these items running at home as well.

If you use electric for cooking, you will have to come up with another means to cook, or buy a larger generator. I have a gas grill with 6 tanks of fuel along with a fire pit in my back yard I use for evening fires along with a ton of wood. I also have a gas camp stove that I can hook to my grill tanks. I have no problems being able to cook my food.

Planning for a blackout isn't that hard if you are already prepped for other scenarios. You will just have to adjust you life style to be able to use your gear while at home.

_________________
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Handgun and Personal protection in the Home.
V.F.W. Life Member
NRA Member
U.S. Army Veteran

This sort of thing is just a symptom of larger problems. Stock your pantry and just be ready for it.

I've been known to turn my lights off and just use my oil lanterns now and then because I like to atmosphere. Truthfully, I'd welcome a blackout.