Are we powerless

APRIL FOOLS DAY POWER SURGE DAMAGES VILLAGERS' EQUIPMENT

In the late afternoon of April 1st a number of power surges affected some parts of the village. This caused damage to a number of village computers in particular (to us) the main machine that we use to edit this web site! Our computer has a failed motherboard which will require replacement so we have put in a claim with EDF Energy.

Should you have found any damaged equipment in your home (on this occasion it seems that only small appliances suffered) then we would ask that you too claim as soon as possible as the more people who claim the easier it will be for EDF's insurers to verify the incident.

Please note that to be damaged your equipment may have just been on standby but it must have been connected to the mains supply at the time of the incident.

The telephone number for the EDF Energy Customer Service team is 0800 028 4587 - Option 4.

Remember that whoever you pay for your electricity you are still ENTITLED to make a claim from the people who "own the wires" - that's EDF Energy. If you do make a claim it will help other villagers who find themselves in the same position.

ARE WE POWERLESS?

Horsted Keynes gets its electricity supply from two directions roughly split across the line of the green. Those of us to the South have had 12 power cuts in the last year, the shortest lasting 30 minutes, the longest lasting 8 hours. On Boxing Day we were without power for three and a half hours and then on December 30th many of us had low or no voltage again, this time for much of the afternoon. Things fared a little better until the 19th September last year when many villagers had to throw their Sunday lunch into the bin when the power went off for 4 hours.

The situation in the Northern half of the village is for some reason slightly better but even so the old peoples housing Westall House have given in and installed a huge standby generator in their garden!

Obviously as we live in the country our power has to come across the fields on wires fixed to poles rather than under the ground, but we are sure that our record of power cuts is way above average. If you, like us, are fed up with the service that EDF Energy (the new name for Seeboard but really standing for the new owners who are - Electricity De France) give please get in touch.

We are surprised that EDF Energy have not arranged to feed the whole village from EITHER supply line. As both power supply directions are seldom cut off at the same time this would solve our problems at a stroke. If you have kept an accurate record of power cuts in the village we would be pleased to publish it here.

Please get in touch at webmaster-at-horstedkeynes.com . Perhaps a "class action" could be arranged; is there a lawyer in the village?

ps. Seems that we are not alone. Well known song writer and Sussex resident Richard Stilgoe bemoaned the service that he was getting from EDF Energy on a recent edition of Countdown on Channel 4. Surely in the Twenty First Century something can be done. Back-up generators at centres of population perhaps? Nah, thought not ;-)

You can find more electricity information including emergency telephone numbers on our information page.

VERY POWERFUL RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES SOMETIMES FOR SALE AT RIDICULOUS PRICES

These large powerful batteries hold up to twice as much power as a car battery, are leak proof and can be recharged many times without fear of spillage or smell. We use them with 230 volt inverters to power lights, televisions, DVD's, etc during our frequent power cuts. Can easily power a small central heating pump for more than 24 hours so at least you don't have to freeze during the winter! Take a look at our batteries page for full details.
We are not able to supply these batteries all the time as supplies are very limited, however if you need one please contact the webmasters and we will try to point you in the right direction.