diff --git a/central_backend/src/energy/consumption.rs b/central_backend/src/energy/consumption.rs
index f9ae070..d24b6ca 100644
--- a/central_backend/src/energy/consumption.rs
+++ b/central_backend/src/energy/consumption.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,11 @@ pub async fn get_curr_consumption() -> anyhow::Result<EnergyConsumption> {
             let response = match curl {
                 false => reqwest::get(url).await?.json::<FroniusResponse>().await?,
                 true => {
-                    let res = std::process::Command::new("curl").arg(url).output()?;
+                    let res = std::process::Command::new("curl")
+                        .arg("--connect-timeout")
+                        .arg("1.5")
+                        .arg(url)
+                        .output()?;
 
                     if !res.status.success() {
                         return Err(ConsumptionError::CurlReqFailed.into());
diff --git a/central_backend/src/energy/energy_actor.rs b/central_backend/src/energy/energy_actor.rs
index 0f58c71..b586ecd 100644
--- a/central_backend/src/energy/energy_actor.rs
+++ b/central_backend/src/energy/energy_actor.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,14 @@ impl EnergyActor {
     pub async fn new() -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
         let consumption_cache_size =
             AppConfig::get().refresh_interval / AppConfig::get().energy_fetch_interval;
-        let curr_consumption = consumption::get_curr_consumption().await?;
+        let curr_consumption = match consumption::get_curr_consumption().await {
+            Ok(v) => v,
+            Err(e) => {
+                log::warn!("Failed to fetch consumption, using default value! {e}");
+                constants::FALLBACK_PRODUCTION_VALUE
+            }
+        };
+        log::info!("Initial consumption value: {curr_consumption}");
         let mut consumption_cache = ConsumptionCache::new(consumption_cache_size as usize);
         consumption_cache.add_value(curr_consumption);