21 December 2010

Power Supply

| Rangi
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Hello

Out in Murrumbateman we lost power last night, for the 3rd time in about as many weeks, last night was only for about an hour, last week for a couple of hours in the morning, the week before was for nearly the whole day.

It’s getting to be a bit of a pain in the bum, with the whole not being able to shower (Mrs Rangi was cranky the other morning cause she had just put the shampoo in her hair), flush the toilet, not to mention having to reset all the clocks!

Does anyone else in the surrounds of Canberra have similar power supply outage problems every time there is a storm, and freqently when there isn’t one?

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niceplacetolive2:58 pm 21 Dec 10

Get used to it. We’ve lived in Murrumbateman for years. Nothing will change, although the power outages normally come in batches and then you don’t get them for a couple of months…
Just make sure you have an alternative to power for firefighting. The first thing to go is the electricity.

You’re right Lisa, it’s only really the water that is annoying (besides the clock re-setting which I am tending not to bother doing now) and it usually isn’t for long.

Of course the time it was out all night and most of the next day was the day I was working from home because the kids had a stomach upset, yay lots of toilet visits having to flush with a bucket! I have a small generator at work that I am going to borrow as a back up.

Rangi – we are in Murrumbateman (in Merryville Estate) and have had all of the blackouts you have described – and yes they are getting a bit annoying.

The one where it was out all night and most of the next day during the big storm, was when lightening hit somewhere on the otherside of the highway near Ambleside Estate (brother in law saw it, and saw them working on it the next day).

Last night was weird because there was no storm, we htought maybe there had been an accident on the highway taking out a power pole?

Not much to be done about it, you could think about getting a generator, but to be honest it isn’t usually out for more than a few hours so you can normally get by. It certainly makes you realise how much we rely on electricity though!

Revolting Peasant1:57 pm 21 Dec 10

yeah we’re in Braidwood and always cop the brunt of power cuts. A fabulous bonus when combined with frozen water pipes.

BTW – when did we all decide to adopt the Americanism of Power “Outage”?

troll-sniffer1:18 pm 21 Dec 10

Ah yes the old move out to the country lifestyle but need the city comforts mantra. Rural and semi-rural locations will always suffer more power outages than city slickers, the geography and infrastructure the prime reason and laso less flexibility in grid arrangements.

If you rely on power to maintain a city lifestyle in a country environment it will cost ya. Otherwise I guess you need to harden up and take the occasional blip in your smooth running lifestyle with a grain of kryptonite. An elevated water tank is the easiest option to ensure water is maintained during power outages… just about everything else isn’t going to matter on a farm or rural block, there are always ways around power problems that don’t involve any lecktrickery at all.

I get status alerts from the UPS at the Quarry Hill vineyard on the Barton Highway (near Capricorn Park) – the vineyard has its own transformer off the HV line that runs parallel to the highway (which may supply Murrumbateman, but I’m not sure). Apart from the odd momentary dip, the only power outages in the last few months were last Thursday from 7:18am until just after 10am and the Thursday before from 9:11pm until about 9:55pm. I’d suggest talking to Country Energy and see if you can get an explanation.

Also, almost all grid-connect solar systems are designed to shut down in the event of power failure – you need a specially-designed setup if you want power during blackouts (changeover switch, batteries etc.).

murrumbatemanpete12:31 pm 21 Dec 10

When it was out for the day, I noticed “they” installed a temporary transformer on the side of the road on merryville drive, which was there for the rest of the week.
The frequency of these outages seem to be increasing methinks.
Solar investigation here I come!

Funny you should mention that Postal, I actually have been talking about that with a guy at work that recently got a system installed.

About 3 years ago we had power outages and brownouts weekly or more often in Hackett, for months on end. We lost several DVD players etc. ACTEW blamed possums. I dont’ know what happened, but we dont’ get them now.

If I were you, I’d take advantage of all the rebates and green loans floating about, while they are still there, and set up a decent solar power system with maybe a UPS.

That’s if you own the place.

Bruce has had some brownouts and blackouts from time to time.
I understand that it has to do with the rigorous housing development being undertaken there.

Lyneham has experienced one or two power outages during the wee hours of the morning in the last two years, I believe.

All these are just my own experience. It may be different for other people.

Workmate out there has said he’s had all those power outages too.
Havn’t had any problems in the city here.

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