Blikk gathered what happens when the power supply stops

• The power failure stopped public transport, there was no internet, no phone, no ATMs could be used
• A power outage also causes a serious problem in households
• Emergency institutions have a power source used in case of emergency, but the capacity of the generators is finite

As if we were watching a movie end of the world, right? But these frames played in reality. And fortunately not with us in Hungary, but it could have been here. What if we put the phone on the charger in vain? If we can’t heat lunch in the microwave? If the fridge melts, the air conditioner turns off, no internet, Facebook, Netflix …? Is there just discomfort or much more trouble? At all: What happens to us when the power supply stops? We went after that.

What happens to us when the power supply stops?

Immediately, cooling and heating goes with electrical equipment (such as gas boiler or air conditioner) in cooled or heated properties, and district heating is also paralyzed; Circulation pumps and air conditioning stop. Lighting and television are eliminated, as the Internet leaves: wireless routers and signal transmissions do not work. In the case of household refrigerations, the clock starts ticking: normal refrigerators, provided they do not open the door to four hours without significant warming, depending on the type of freezers-and up to 24-48 hours. This duration also depends on how much frozen food is in the fride: the more, the longer the cold is preserved. Entering our home can be a problem, electrically operated doors and garage doors become unusable and remain closed. Alarm systems will only remain functional until the energy stored in their batteries is used.

Mobile phones and landline phones can be used for hours and hours for each power failure, though only as long as the service provider has uninterrupted systems. However, even if insured, it does not last forever: generators stop without fuel, and without the supply, uninterruptible batteries can be discharged, in this situation it is unpredictable whether we can connect with our family members and loved ones.

In the big cities, public transport stops, tram and metro lines are paralyzed, elevators stop in the bunk houses, and generally stop gas stations … We have seen this in recent events in Spain. Refueling, traveling on the train becomes impossible, but air traffic also stops, so people can’t get home. The public lighting is paralyzed, the streets are darkened. In supermarkets, at least where they cannot provide supply generators, cash registers stop, and the connection to electronic systems is eliminated, so credit cards become unusable. Public services – public offices, service providers – are forced to suspend their operation in the absence of relationships and functional customer spaces.

Emergency institutions, disaster management, fire brigades, police and hospitals have a power source used in case of emergency, but here it is true that the protection is only intermittent, as the capacity of generators and power generators is finite everywhere, and they require continuous fuel supply, which is further logistically challenges. In addition to a total power failure, the law enforcement forces are also peak, as maintaining order in the dark requires much more presence after the protection systems have been stopped. In Spain, for example, thirty thousand police officers were sent to the streets.

What can we do to get away with more trouble?

We cannot solve the problem of large networks individually, but in our own lives and households we can take defenses. We’ve collected some of these now.

Lighting

Even with a short power failure, fuse is a problem in the dark, if we can’t light it. Therefore, there should always be a flashlight, candle, match known to every family member.

Phone, internet

If mobile networks are still in operation, only with us and around us, it is key to prevent your phone from diving. Therefore, it is worth always keeping one or more uploaded external batteries at home. With the external axes, we can also keep our laptop for a while. How long a phone can withstand without charging is selected by your device, but there are general tips on how to get the most out of a charge. For example, never place the phone in a sunny location, as heat can reduce the battery life significantly. Also, use energy-saving settings: remove the backlight, turn off the background or unused applications, stop WiFi or Bluetooth if you do not use it and pay attention to GPS applications.

Cash

Cash can come in handy in the event of a power failure or other network failure when we can buy in surrounding stores, but we cannot use our credit card. It is worth keeping all cash at home for such cases so that we can buy the most necessary foods and daily articles. This can be enough for a few tens of thousands of forints.

Fuel

It is useful to follow the rule, regardless of power, so that the fuel spank will never be emptied, as it can happen at any time. However, a can of gasoline or diesel is easy to keep at home. This is enough in this situation 50-100 kilometers. In a gasoline, diesel car, you can charge your smaller power -intensive devices, such as your mobile.

Water, food, medicine

It is worth keeping a couple of cardboard drinking water at home. If we can, we can even keep more tap water in some storage, because if the water network stops, not only will we have no drinking water, but it is not possible to cook or clean. It is also worthwhile to constantly fill the stocks from foods that we can supply ourselves and our family even if our fridge is no longer working. The same is true for the most important drugs and infant forms. In this case, we also have to think that we may not be able to cook. If we can, a PB-bottle spare option can be good for this. It is also useful to reserve products that are needed for our daily comfort, such as toilet paper.

Cooler, freezer

In the case of a long -term power outage, we can’t do anything with a freezer of meat and other foods in the freezer, as they start melting immediately. One option in such a case is to start cooking them. In the event of a power failure, the refrigerator can hold the cold for up to 3-4 hours if the door is not opened.

Heating

If we do not have a conventional heating system at least as a supplement, we cannot counteract the power failure, as the gas boiler, the heat pump, the electric heating and the boiler do not go. If we can, even with such basic heating, it is worth keeping a traditional stove, fireplace, or at least the possibility of such heating, and enough fuel.

What could have caused?

The power outage, which paralyzed Spain and ringing from Portugal and France, reached Greenland: residents of most islands were left without satellite telephone and internet on Monday night. Fortunately, the problem was restored by Tuesday, but what could have caused the outstanding opinions.

Many people believe that the country’s power generation has recently become 100 percent renewable, which is an environmentally enormous result, but experts say the Spanish energy network was not prepared for this change, so it became instable.

“The more wind and solar energy on the network, the less stable the network, and the harder it is to handle errors. I can say there is a great chance that the large amount of solar energy in the system created the conditions for a wide -range power outage” Said Kathryn Porter, an independent energy consultant in Daily Mail. He added that electric structures do not like high frequency changes and turn off themselves.

The Spanish government and Ren, who operates the Portuguese network, rather support the theory that extreme temperature fluctuations have caused the shutdown. However, this is debatable because it was relatively mild, 22 degrees Celsius in the country during the power failure. Many people accuse the government of just trying to extend its own responsibility to develop the transition to green energy in a forced march.

Can the same happen to us?

The European power system is connected to such a level that problems with national networks can easily affect systems in other countries. István Vokony, head of the Department of Electricity at the University of Technology and Economics of Budapest, said that in the domestic electricity system, an abnormal fluctuation had been observed 30-50 minutes before the collapse of Iberian service on Monday. Problems similar to the Spanish and Portuguese are darkened by the experts of MAVIR, the Hungarian Electricity Transmission System Control Ltd.. During the 75 years of system management, there was no nationwide downtime at home, although there was a possibility of further slumping from the Balkans and the war in Ukraine.