Roz, you may be surprised that I am concerned for your welfare, but I wouldn't recommend cooking on a camping stove indoors. I presume your hob is electric?

Thanks - I was thinking of using it outside in a sheltered spot, not indoors. Better than nothing! Yes our hob is electric, I wish it wasnt.
We're thinking also of getting a calor gas heater, I hate them but they're fairly safe and should do in the short term.

More on this as EDF phoned just now to say that they have only provided a temporary solution to the problem and that further outtages will be likely. They think they have isolated the problem and reduced the number of houses affected. Investigations are onging. They are coming back to me to set up an urgent meeting with some of us who have been affected and to discuss arrangements for the next time especially if the weather turns really cold.

So far there are 15 of us, if the other 100 or so are out there, please get in touch. This problem has been ongoing since August 07 and there is still no end in sight.

Jim Dowds office has been made aware.

I've been cooking on an indoor camping stove since the end of september and am still here to tell the tale - we're doing the house up and still no kitchen....

The South London Press are proposing to run a story on this next week and we are insisting on a meeting with EDF senior management asap.

We've discovered some elderly people who have suffered with even more disruptions than we have and who are not on the EDF ' vulnerable' list. They are extremely concerned about the next few days which are predicted to be very cold,as EDF have blatantly advised that they cannot guarantee a continuous power supply. We are trying to get them some extra help.

If anyone has any other ideas on how to handle this it would be appreciated.

Bell- can you recommend a make of stove that could be safely used inside a house? Thanks.

Lack of adequate ventilation = incomplete combustion = carbon monoxide = poisoning.

Symptoms of CO poisoning are headaches, nausea, and fatigue. Prolonged exposure can lead to brain damage and even death.

If you are using one of these indoors make sure there is plenty of ventilation and get a carbon monoxide detector.

See http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/.

Thanks BarCar for the info.

Roz - I can't remember the exact make but the link below looks pretty much exactly like what we have.

http://www.firebox.com/product/1770?src_...=lifestyle

Todays South London Press has a story about power cuts in Honor Oak Road. A further test has been arranged for February 14 when power will be cut to 16 homes from 8.30am to 4pm.

As that is Valentine's Day the residents can have a romantic day with candlelight!

Thankfully the power went off shortly after breakfast and came back on just in time for lunch. Hopefully that will be the end of that problem.

Start a new thread if you want Mr Webmaster.

BD wasn't that bothered about power cuts - there are tens of thousands each year, however most of these are in country areas, particularly isolated areas, eg due to storms, or vulnerable connections.

However.... he is still extremely grumpy after the events of last night. An alarm went off in the early hours - yes it happens in the wind, and the selfish person over the road who sets it off when he goes out at 5am (both car alarms). But this time it was too loud for a car alarm, and then doubled in number. In my slumber I thought someone is being broken into, perhaps I should do something. After a while with all the racket I thought that any crook would be long gone. Half an hour later peace. Then off it goes again. It dawned on me in the morning when I saw the clock on the cooker had gone off there had been a power cut. And some gets in the posh estate haven't maintained their house alarms so that the battery back ups cut in, in a power cut. If I had been bothered to get up , there would now be two requests for noise abatement orders (yes they are issued for alarms that aren't maintained).

Selfish so and so's. Maybe I'll get an apology..... Probably not

(BD is too sleepy to put his normal signiture)

Actually burglar alarms cut out when the power supply is interrupted. The back-up battery is there to power the alarm in case someone cuts the wires. The machine cannot tell the difference between a power cut and someone cutting the wires.

Did anyone else find driving during the power outage very easy and calming without traffic lights?

I drove along the south circular towards brixton from HOP and the first lights that worked were in West Dulwich. Until that time, I thought traffic moved quite smoothly at intersections, with drivers paying attention, driving more slowly and also giving way and also giving each section their turn to go.

Was smooth traffic until I hit the 'stop and start ' at the traffic light at W. Dulwich.

Yup very much so.
Seems to always be the way, that when lights are out, people are a little more cautious, a little more polite, and traffic just flows.

It was not calming at the crossing outside the station as car horns were going beserk.

It didn't seem particularly calm when I walked through the Horniman and out onto the South Circ at about 4.30. The lights were off at the pedestrian crossing and where traffic was coming down from Sydenham and it was chaos as people tried to get out and then aout of the bus lane. Lots of road rage going on there!!

Nope, not calming anywhere I saw. The motorists I observed seem to think "no traffic lights. Hmmm, that means I can go round this bend at 50! Excellent!"

Without traffic lights cars do not need to stop for pedestrians!

oh!
well, I was driving at about 10am - maybe it got worse later on!!!

The railway side of Dartmouth Road experienced a power cut earlier this afternoon, from the station at least as far down as Boots, possibly further. I was working at home today so I've had to come into the office instead. Not everywhere was affected, but a number of businesses were closed and some flats were off completely, while others had flickering supply.

If you might be affected, and value the contents of your freezer, you might want to rush home. As I write this (1645), I can't find any further news, and KFH are still shut.

That explains why there were men with lanterns at FH Station. I thought I'd missed a rehearsal of Oliver!