Emergency lights..... Discuss

[Robin]

I consider the risks involved in surgery for cataracts good reason to delay if cataracts are not having a significant effect. The NHS say "There is a very small risk – around 1 in 1,000 – of permanent sight loss in the treated eye as a direct result of the operation."[1] The risk may well be smaller with private treatment but it ain't going to be nil.

I was advised of evidence of cataracts 4 years ago. My acuity is not what it was but at 6/6 is good enough for me to drive and to carry out the other activities I wish to continue. I do not yet have trouble in low light - except for reading and close work - or when driving at night. So that's 4 years of binocular vision I might have lost if I'd opted for surgery straight away.

There's also the fact that the NHS will treat only if cataracts affect quality of life. So cost can be a reason to wait.

[1]

[Colin Bignell]

Which could be difficult to find in darkness with vision problems.

[Colin Bignell]

I have very early cataracts and my optician tells me that I should wait until they get worse before having them operated on. Meanwhile, keep sunlight away from them as much as possible, so I now wear a wide brim hat when I go outside.

[charles]

Over 10 years ago, my optician told me I had a cataract and suggested I consult a certain private surgeon. Instead I managed to get an NHS appointment. The upshot was that the NHS surgeon said it wasn't worth the risk since the cataract was very small.

Now, the cataract has suddenly grown - co-incidental with my getting Covid

- and I have an NHS appointment at a private eye hospital in 10 days time. This was only arranged during last week. I'm told that there will only be a

4 -6 week wait for an operation.

I'm going for it

Charles

[charles]

I've had photochromic lenses in my glasses for many years

[Tim Streater]

Both mine were done on the NHS contracted out to a local private hospital, with no issues. This was just before covid. There was no quality of life question asked or answered, but the rules may have changed recently.

Well you make your own risk calculation - all life is risky.

[Colin Bignell]

Me too, since I first became aware of them in the early 1970s. The hat is an additional precaution.

[Colin Bignell]

I'm not sure that the risk will be any different. My late partner had her first cataract operation done privately. A few years later, when the NHS waiting times were more reasonable, she had the second done on the NHS. Both were done by the same surgeon.

[SH]

already tried that....

too early to treat, and is is very slow progression, we are talking a decade before the lens becomes opaque enough to justify medical intervention.

What makes it worse is my contrast insensitivity... if someone stands in front of a window (in dalight or in front of a light, their face and body looks almost black.

I need light to be shining on the front of the person to even identify them!

[SH]

the cost of the UPS and extra batteries is more shocking than my electricity bill!!!! :-D

mind you its been ages since I bought an UPS, the last one was a 750VA unit for around £100.

someone mentioned the other day that if you have solar PV and a power wall fitted, you can have backup power if there is an external power interruption and the house then becomes islanded? Is this true? If aom what is the typical kVA and typical runtime of the battery if sized for a 5kWp array?

[charles]

SWMBO had both eyes done (3 weeks apart) last November. - privately. The surgeon was also the NHS Consultant who she'd been seeing on the NHS, but the waiting time for private was only weeks not months or years on the NHS.

[alan_m]

Just look at the specifications for many of these lights - they take 24 hours to charge from the discharge state.

The ones I have don't have any

The majority still use nicad.

[alan_m]

Small down-lighters by any chance? You would probably improve the illumination greatly by using LED panel lighting. I don't necessarily mean ceiling tile type as used in offices but more of the designer type more fitted to a domestic environment, and not at a great cost.

Why bother changing these if you haven't converted to the loft. How often do you use the loft and would you need to go up there in an emergency requiring emergency lighting.

[alan_m]

I had one eye done earlier this year under the NHS in a private hospital. My appointment time was 8:30 but turned up at 8:15. In the theatre at 9:00 for 10 minutes of mild discomfort and I was back home by

9:45. However, I was first on the list - there were 7 others having the pre-treatment (multiple lots of eye drops) at the same times as me so they will have been in the hospital a bit longer.

Slightly blurry eyesight in the one eye for the rest of the day but vastly improved overnight. I left driving for another 24hours.

[alan_m]

The average household uses 8.5kWh a day (assuming gas/oil central heating)

If you have a power wall you could charge it up from the grid while the power is still on and in a power cut run on a 10KWh battery for a day.

You appear to be looking att more and more expensive solutions for what may be achieved much cheaper if its just for emergency lighting for a few hours.

You may have eyesight problem that require high levels of illumination for normal day to day comfortable living but do you really need this level of illumination during a relatively short power cut? A single 5W led emergency light can fully illuminate a room fairly brightly.

[SH]

Most of the lightbulbs in use are SES candle bulbs or GU10 spotlights. all 4watt LEDs

Its also the computer servers, media servers and CCTV room for the whole house..... :-)

[George Miles (dicegeorge]

In each room put the emergency light on the same circuit as its light.

Then if its light rcd/mcb/fuse is the only one to trip the emergency light will go on.

[g]

[Colin Bignell]

A 14 moth NHS wait is why I paid for the first one. By the time the second needed doing, the NHS wait was only a few weeks.

[Jim Stewart ...]

maintained or non-maintained ? ....

[alan_m]

Probably the worst type of lighting for anyone that has sight issues.