When the power fails

sir – Due to the effects of Storm Arwen we lost power to our house last Friday evening, and it was only restored on Monday morning. During those 60 hours we were also without mobile phone signal or landline (as our phone was recently upgraded to a digital line).

Our only link to the outside world was a longwave radio. All this coincided with the coldest weather of the winter so far, with temperatures of -5C and snowfall on Sunday.

Throughout the power outage we were able to keep warm with our wood burner, and fed thanks to our gas hob. Several neighbours have houses in which every appliance runs off electricity and they had a horrible time. One neighbour’s air-source heat pump was rendered useless by the lack of electricity.

Had I owned an electric car I would have been confined to the house all weekend as I would not have been able to recharge it after using it on Friday.

The Government may believe that the future lies in all-electric devices powered by renewables, but I will not be giving up my wood burner under any circumstances.

Phil Mobbs

Kendal, Cumbria