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Many people never think about electricity. It is just something that is there when we turn the lights on or want to turn up the heating, and we never give it any further consideration.

Nonetheless, according to a report on January 6th, the UK market is “showing signs of strain”. It stated that for the fourth time this winter just past, National Grid warned that the buffer needed to keep the lights on and ensure continuity of supply was too small. The report continued that, as on Wednesday that week, when the wind didn’t blow and cold weather boosted demand at the same time that several nuclear plants were offline, the grid operator was scrambling to avoid blackouts.

Furthermore, things are only likely to get worse. The government is planning to quadruple the amount of offshore wind capacity in the next nine years. And when the winds don’t blow, those turbines will produce nothing. Certainly, there are backup systems in place, but National Grid needs to get better at balancing the system when the renewables are not functioning.

According to Weijie Mak, project leader at Aurora Energy Research Ltd, “As the U.K. continues to rely on intermittent renewables, you need to have more and more backup capacities in place. You get into this issue where it’s harder and harder to manage the system.”

This all seems to indicate that power outages are going to become more common rather than less. Sure, if the power goes down for an hour or two while you are watching Corrie, it can be frustrating, but it is hardly life-changing. You can always catch up with it later.

However, if you run a business and the power goes down in the middle of a manufacturing process it can at the least cost you lost hours of work, and at the worst may cost thousands if the product you are creating is not able to be finished and you have to start all over with a fresh set of materials.

The answer is to have a standby generator or two and if you want to buy new generators in the UK you need to talk to Blades Power Generation. As specialists in the sale and supply of generators, we have a full range of generators that will do everything from keeping Corrie running to keeping a full factory running – many with ATS (Automatic Transfer switch) so that you will be back to full power within seconds of the utility going down. Talk to us if you want to buy new generators in the UK.

Not everyone will remember the Great Storm of October 15th/16th 1987, but this writer remembers it only too well. At the time I had a flourishing business that operated nationally and managed to achieve what is many people’s dream – the big house in the country.

I lived in a small village (pop. 2,000) in Kent in a large Victorian house built in 1882 surrounded by fields and woodland. In the summer the fields were full of young bullocks and in the winter full of sheep. I remember the Great Storm vividly because trees were felled all over the village and we couldn’t get out to drive to work. My wife and son were away in our seaside apartment.

The bad news was that all our power went down. There were not enough electricians to carry out all the repairs, so after three or four days, many were shipped over from Northern Ireland to help out. The freezer was full of food, but that all had to be thrown away very quickly. But never mind, we were promised that power would be restored soon.

Gradually, homes from the outside of the village on my road running into the village centre got power back on. So did homes running from the village centre down towards mine. But there were about ten of us still with no power.

And so it was for thirteen days! The nights were drawing in and we were sitting in the dark. No TV. No washing machine. No electric cooker (fortunately we had an Aga as well).

If I had only known about – or even thought about – getting an emergency power source in the UK. But it never occurred to me. Certainly, we did get occasional power outages from time to time, but only for a few hours, so nothing too serious. But thirteen days!

It turned out that the electricians working from the village centre towards the other lot working from outside the village had somehow between them missed out our ten houses in the middle!

Speaking from experience, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to be without an emergency power source in the UK. At Blades Power Generation you can find a generator that will kick in automatically when your power goes down, and there are also other models that need to be started manually. But don’t find yourself stuck out in the sticks with no power for nearly two weeks!

Generators have many uses, not the least of which is being able to produce electrical power in the case of a power outage. While we all tend to think that if we want light, we only have to press a switch, there can be times when we operate a switch and for one reason or another the light doesn’t come on.

For instance, on January 1st 1974 the three day week came into being. Electricity was largely produced from burning coal in those days, and the miners’ strike meant that electricity had to be rationed in order to conserve coal stocks. Businesses were only allowed to open for three days a week to reduce energy consumption. Those that needed to continue to use electricity – whether open or not - had to rely on generators in order to operate.

Many manufacturing companies, and others, rely on electrical power and cannot afford to risk power outages which could cost them a lot in lost orders, and so they will have a generator or two that kicks in if the power goes down.

As one might imagine, building sites are often in a situation where they have no power available, and therefore have to rely on generators in order to power table saws, drills, grinders, and other power tools that are necessary in order to carry out the work. Generators are often used in farming where it is necessary to run irrigation systems in fields far from an electric power cable, along with other things such as barn heaters to keep cattle from freezing, and chicken barn heaters to keep the production of eggs flowing.

Other situations where generators are used routinely are fairgrounds in the summer, which may run in a field or park for just a weekend, but nonetheless require electrical power for music, lights, ice cream stalls, rides, bouncy castles, and more.

If you are looking for generators, at Blades Power Generation we supply them new, but you can also buy used generators in the UK through us as well. We always have used generators in stock which we buy in and refurbish, and which have the obvious benefit of being less expensive than brand new. Indeed, if you want a generator simply for backup for your home or business, you would do well to buy used generators in the UK as opposed to investing in a new one.

Much as our electricity suppliers do their best to keep power available on a continuous basis, there are, nonetheless, occasions when the power fails. This can be for one of many different reasons, but when it happens to you it can be anything from a bit of a nuisance to an outright disaster. It rather depends upon your situation.

For instance, if you were watching a programme on TV, it may be annoying, but it is hardly going to be life-changing. However, if you were a surgeon in the middle of a tricky operation when that same power outage occurred and all the lights went out, that can be extremely dangerous for the patient.

Furthermore, power outages can occur for a few minutes or may continue for many days. For example, after the Great Storm of 1987 many people were without power for up to two weeks as engineers worked to get power lines back up and working again. This is why some sort of backup is vital in many situations, and for many people, the answer is a generator. At Blades Power Generation, we supply both new and used generators.

Since one doesn’t want to have run outside to the generator in order to start it up, the answer is what is known as an automatic transfer switch, or ATS as it is known. Power backup is often by a generator but can also be a second mains supply. In the latter case, the primary power supply into a building is backed up by a secondary supply and the ATS changes over to that instead of a generator.

If using a generator for the secondary supply, it is essential to check it and give it a test run on a regular basis so that one can be confident that it will perform as required if there is an outage.

Of course, there are many situations where power is required other than simply inside a home or other building. For instance, if there is an outage in an area, all of the streetlights and traffic lights would go out. This means that traffic slows to a crawl at crossroads, car accidents increase, and emergency services cannot get to where they need to be. An automatic transfer switch overcomes these issues.

Of course, there is another issue, and that is that the power can be restored at any moment. When this happens, it can be dangerous, as there would be a power overload and this can cause wiring and appliances to burn. However, the ATS works both ways, so that as soon as power is restored it switches back again and allows the generator, if one is being used, to rest.

Hello Mark

This is a belated thank you for your invaluable help to my electrician, this afternoon, which has helped to make my generator work properly and safely.   Can you please e-mail me back your details for future reference.

Kind regards,

Andrew 

The change over switch landed in sierra leone on tuesday onboard Brussels Air via currier. It has been delivered to. Component received in good order, well threaded with plastic. dimension and weight perfect. It is to be install any time, will definitely mail you upon installation. Thanks for you patient and prompt response that was given  us during this event. We hope and pray for more business in the not distance future.

INVERTER CHANGEOVER PANEL

Blades Power Generation Ltd

www.bladespowergeneration.co.uk

Inverter Changeover Panel

http://www.bladespowergeneration.co.uk/inverters

The Blades Power Inverter Changeover Panel -  With this Panel we would use a set of 20 Amp 3 Pole Changeover Contactors and a d/c Inverter.  This can be altered to your requirements.

We have the option for a BATTERY CHARGER - By plugging into the Mains, this will allow the  panel to trickle charge your Batterys back to Full Power.

This product can be used for any 12Volt d/c requirement.

Please contact as here at Blades Power, we are able to manufacture  this product in Different sizes based on your requirement.

http://www.bladespowergeneration.co.uk/inverters

Contact +44 (0)1453 799655

Our Friendly team is waiting to take your call.  We can aid you through the process of which panel is suitable for you

sales@bladespowergeneration.co.uk

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