Electricity is the Achilles heel of most people’s lives and preparedness plans. You don’t realize how much you need or use 
electricity until it is no longer available. During Hurricane Katrina, an estimated 1.7 million people lost power anywhere from several days to several weeks. Want to test your preparedness plans? Go without electricity for a few days. I was able to test my plan this year without warning. We had some crazy weather this fall up in the Northeastern United States. Just after Halloween, I heard there was going to be a major winter storm hitting the Midcoast Maine area, which happens to be where I live. No big deal I thought to myself, it will be just a few inches. Yeah, right.
By Jarhead Survivor, a contributing author
Now this isn’t the kind of snow that upstate New York got hammered with late in November. They got something like six feet of snow!! Anyway, it started snowing on Saturday night and by Sunday morning it was really starting to pile up. I hadn’t bothered to hook up my snow plow as the last report I heard said no more than three inches. In front of the plow I had stored a picnic table, chairs, fire ring and a few other items, which were now all covered in about eight inches of heavy wet snow.
If you live in a snow zone you’ll know what I’m talking about. This was the coronary inducing kind of snow. Every shovel-full 
weighed about fifteen pounds, but it makes fabulous snowmen as my young son and daughter found out. They were thrilled with the snow and we did manage to get outside for an afternoon of fun and snowball fights. The snow continued to come down and the wind was blowing pretty hard. In the dead of winter this isn’t a problem because the ground is frozen and most of the leaves are off the trees. Unfortunately the trees still had plenty of leaves and the ground was wet and unfrozen. So what’s the big deal?
When wet snow piles up on tree limbs and leaves it’s heavy. When the wind blows it will eventually break tree limbs and knock trees over because the ground isn’t stable enough to hold them in place. When it’s frozen it’s no big deal, but this is the kind of storm that’s a perfect recipe for disaster. And it delivered.
When the kids and I went back inside the lights flickered off and on a half dozen times until they went off and didn’t come back on. I was expecting it, so I grabbed my generator and took it out to the small shed I built for it out of pallets and fired it up. A couple of years ago after a similar storm I had a transfer switch put in, which allows me to hook a generator to the house with a single 200 volt cord. In the basement next to the main switch box is another one for the generator. Turn off the main power to the house, start the generator, go down to the basement and flip the switches to the on position and voila! The house was back up and running.
The Video
Transfer Switch and Generator
The generator is a midsized 550 watt rig. It can run the lights in the house, the pellet stove, water pump (220 volt), freezer and ‘fridge, and a few other small devices like the TV and DVD player.
My wife tried to run the microwave a few times, but it bogged everything down and I told her to give it up. It would probably have ruined it if she kept trying, so I brought up my propane camp stove and we used that for cooking and warming things up. In addition to the camp stove we had the grill outside, which meant we were in fine shape for cooking.
For the most part the generator runs everything we need in order to be comfortable. The only downside is that it’s a little noisy and I had to put gas in it about every 12 or 14 hours. I can’t really complain because five gallons of gas is not a lot to ask for to have electricity. I filled it up in the morning and then again at night.
When I filled up the generator, I had to shut it down for about ten minutes so that I would not start a fire if I accidentally spilled gas on the exhaust. Keep in mind that when I was doing this task, for the most part it was dark, there was about ten inches of snow and the wind was blowing a pretty good clip.
General Preparedness
I was relatively satisfied with my storm preparations. Both vehicles were topped off with gas and I had plenty of water in the 
basement in case the generator broke down. I also have a backup propane heater and a kerosene heater standing by as well. When you have little kids you can’t have too many back up plans.
The one area I fell down on was gas for the generator. Due to a series of incidents I won’t go into here (involving the wife not checking her gas gauge) we only had one five gallon can of gas on hand. After I filled up the generator and got the house up and running I threw all the gas cans in the back of my truck and drove down to the gas station where luckily they still had power. Once I had my twenty gallons of fuel safely stored away I felt we were in a pretty good place and didn’t go out again until after the snow stopped falling.
The Aftermath
Most everything was closed the next day due to the storm. They finally plowed the road outside my house and my wife was able to 
take the kids out for awhile in her minivan. Later that day we had several families over as they were without power and didn’t have generators. They were quite grateful to have a place to hang out for a few hours and nobody complained about the generator droning away in the background. My parents came over Monday night and stayed with us as they didn’t have power either. I wound up letting them borrow the propane generator and my Dad told it me it nearly drove them out of the house, which is his way of saying it worked really well.
Damage to the Midcoast area was extensive, there are still trees and limbs down in peoples yard that need to be cleaned up. Power crews were out working non-stop for days. They focus on major population centers first such as hospitals and towns, before heading out to the sticks where I live. The power came back on for us on Tuesday around 8:00 pm. I was surprised as I was expecting to be without power for at least four or five days, so this was a happy occasion for us. Some schools were kept closed as they were being used for emergency warming shelters for people who didn’t have a warm place to go. Luckily the temps weren’t really all that cold and things did start to warm back up a few days later.
Thoughts
Once again I was struck by how many people are unprepared for something like this. As a Survivalist, I don’t want to just survive, 
I want to survive in style. I want to be watching a movie on my DVD and flat screen TV while sipping a cold beer and eating popcorn I popped over the camp stove.
When I drove down the road right after the power went out I saw a guy sitting in his driveway in his SUV to stay warm. If nothing else get a woodstove and some lanterns! This is Maine. The power goes out. It’s one of the few things you can depend on and as the grid gets older it takes longer and longer to get back up again. You need to have some kind of plan in place to stay warm when the electricity stops flowing. Overall I was satisfied with the way I’d prepared.
A year ago we had a big storm come through and knock out power and when I started it up it wouldn’t produce any electricity at all. Not one volt. I took it to a repair shop and found out the brushes were gone, so I paid $100 to have it repaired and serviced and when this storm came around I didn’t regret that money one bit. The generator delivered and the family was happy.
Looks like it’s going to be a long winter.
10 Lessons From the Power Outage
1. Make sure your generator is ready! If you don’t have one, now is the time to buy one.
2. Test your generator monthly and have it serviced if necessary. Don’t just start it up to hear it run. Start it and put it under a load and let it work for awhile.
3. Make sure you have enough fuel on-hand to last your generator at least a couple of days. Come up with a fuel rotation plan.
4. Have enough food and water to last you at least a week. No self-respecting survivalist would have less than three months food on-hand, just make sure it’s all good. Camping is a good way to practice for a black out!!
5. Have enough supplies on-hand for others that might land on your doorstep. You might say, “Tough cookies for those who don’t prepare,” but when your elderly parents show up you’ll take them in. (I hope.)
6. Make sure your generator is big enough to do the things you want it to do. If you expect it to run your whole house don’t buy a 400 watt generator and expect it be your workhorse. Do your homework and buy the right size for the job you expect it to do.
7. Make sure your car or truck is ready to bug out. If worse comes to worse and you have to travel. Make sure your vehicle is ready to travel out of the affected area (Spare gas, tools, etc).
8. Have backups! If your generator doesn’t work make sure you have a propane or kerosene heater or a wood stove as a back up. Actually, you’d probably want your wood stove as your primary source of heat.
9. Have flashlights, headlamps, LED lanterns, gas lanterns, or at the very least candles for light.
10. Meet and talk with your neighbors about planning for an event, or you can wait until SHTF and have them sitting on your doorstep.
Are YOU prepared?
Questions? Comments?
Sound off below!
-Jarhead Survivor
Photos By:
Puget Sound Energy
Ellen5e
Neeta Lind
Shaggy Hill
Desouto
57 comments
Well I’m 100% off grid. The worst that could happen is the microwave tower I get my internet goes down. Then I just work around my farm as there’s plenty of crap to do.
Will have to figure out heat for next winter though. It’s damn cold in a container even in TX.
Excellent article.
well I WISH we could get a generator but we are in a apartment but we DO have a fair amount of food and water is easy hear to get as we are not far from one of the great lakes and I just went and bought a good camp stove flashlight and 60 pounds of brickets so cooking shouldn’t be a problem we went a got some life straws for filtering water now I need to start stocking up more on ammo for firearms
https://www.amazon.com/eGear-21-LT13300-00-30-Day-Lantern/dp/B007YAPQ0S#productDescription_secondary_view_pageState_1419796426473
Here’s a nice piece of gear. It’s a D cell lantern. Manufacture claims it will run 30 days on low setting. The low is more than bright enough to illuminate my 2 rooms that open to one another say 600 square feet. I’ve had it over a year an have yet to replace the batteries. I can’t substantiate the 30day claim but I can tell you its easy on batteries. I keep 5 gallons of kerosene and a few lanterns, but with rambunctious kids the flame and fuel made me a little nervous. The battery lantern fits the niche nicely. One nice feature is a blinking LED on the side of the lantern. Seemed useless until the power went out one PM and we weren’t exactly sure where the flashlights were. Just waited for the led to flash on the lantern. If your in the market for a battery lantern this had proven to be a good product in my experience.
Back-up power for apartment dwellers; buy a couple of deep cycle batteries, a small inverter ( 450-800 watts), and a charge controller (AKA battery charger). Keep it plugged in and when the power goes bye-bye you have power for lights, music, and communications. A small system doesn’t take up much room and can make life more pleasant.
If you have a balcony, you could use an EU1000i Honda gennie. Very quiet and sips gas and will charge your batts up quickly. I love mine. Of course your neighbors may want to plug in, but being a good neighbor has its benefits, like receiving bottles of fine Tequila on a quiet winter night 🙂
Hey Jarhead, I sure wish we could get some of that snowman building wet stuff, the stuff out here barely makes for a good snowball. Some people have all the luck.
mighty pretty country up there…
we were without power here four days after “Sandy”. then, suburban Philly really got hammered again by another storm, last February.
I wish I had taken some video along the County Line road…
I need to get battery backup like Pineslayer suggested. have the camp stove, already, as suggested by kevin. (see above). the apartment complex management here would have a fit if they knew. and the kerosene heater would get me evicted… (so I got a small Mr Buddy instead, but haven’t tried it out yet). I set the camp stove up on top of the electric range, and keep a good quality ABC fire extinguisher right there, when I use it. I would only use a propane camp stove indoors, the liquid fuel stoves frequently flare-up when being lit.
Mr. Buddy needs a hose attachment to a 20 lb or larger propane bottle. The little 16 oz jobs may last 2-3 hours. I have one that heats my 27′ motor home to about 65 degrees in 20 degree weather. Takes 1.5 hours to bring the temperature up, but sure beats being cold.
you also should buy – it’s recommended by the Mr Heater company – to put their inline gas filter (approx $10) between the hose end and the heater ….
the 20lb tanks supposedly have more floating debris than the 1 lb bottles …. good insurance considering the pain it is to clean out the heater gas lines ….
interesting tip I read … someone that seemed familiar with propane recommended a start up tip for heaters & BBQ grills …. with the new tank valves he said to just crack the valve and slowly fill the extension hose …. a sudden gas surge will pre-set the valve level to a lower release level (??) …. alot of the bad burner performance is caused by this (??)
Thanks Shoot it, and Anon.
I have one of the filters, will buy a second, when I see them again. the darn hoses all seem way over priced, but I’ll bite the bullet soon and get one. I’ll give the gradual startup a try also. can’t hurt.
Thanks Anon 10:39, I will look into that. I do have a fair bit of raw mechanical aptitude. I look for left-hand threads, whenever something isn’t going together as anticipated…
Weedhopper, thanks for the insight and information. I have a Generac gas powered gennie (6250 watt surge/5000 watt continuous) I use for emergencies around the house (power goes out, doing something on the property where an extension cord won’t reach, work-related out in the field (mostly recovering airplanes a customer put down off-field or a crash) and it has been a HUGE boon to have.
While I’ve never had a problem with it providing power (except when the fuel supply line nipple at the tank finally wore out and needed replacement), having to re-flash the field isn’t something I’d ever considered needing to do. So Thank You for the suggestions. I’m headed out to buy a couple of the 9v cconnections you speak of to lash the the frame of my generator for that Just In Case moment. This could save me a TON of time, not to mention expense if a shop were to try and take advantage of an ignorant consumer.
I just bought the mid size Mr Heater for my camper but its still useable for the house. But to get a hose to to hook that size up to a bottle was a PITA! It cost about $40 & had to get all the fitting separately buy hunting around. If I had bought the larger Mr Heater I wouldn’t have had that problem, but I didn’t need the larger one.
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Mr. Jar Head, a very good article to share with us. I’m happy to hear y’all survived another one. Happy New Year!
December 2004, 12 days without power due to a ice storm. Christmas spent opening gifts with a propane lantern for light (used for camping/fishing) and a kerosene heater (y2k purchase) for warmth, a 2 burner stove for coffee and soup. had to go to the inlaws for showers, or for laundry, fast food places for hot food. only had 2 1lb propane tanks, and 3gl of kerosene on hand. lucky the power was on 30 miles away.
January 2005, new prepper!
The other thing to consider is consolidating. Camp out in one room of your house like a bedroom with attached bathroom when it is cold or hot out. Our generator(5000 watt) will not start our central air conditioning so we have a window unit that I can put in the window of our “consolidated” living quarters. Heat is not an issue since we have natural gas and our furnace will run off our generator or our small solar system.
Many people are sold brushes for generators when all that is need is field excitation. Older generators have a permanent magnet generator (PMG) which provides excitation for power generation. If the magnet becomes weak and the excitation field collapses your generator won’t make any power. A good way to be ready for this is to go to Radio Shack and buy a 9vlt battery connector. With the generator OFF, momentarily plug a 9vlt battery into the power outlet of the generator; polarity won’t matter. This will recharge the excitation field. Unplug the generator and see if it produces power. An alternative to this method is to plug a power drill into a non-running generator, squeeze the trigger and turn the drill motor by hand. The drill will work like a magneto and recharge the excitation field on the generator. Start the generator and test.
I have a diesel powered welding machine/generator that is used infrequently, so the field is ALAWAYS collapsed. I put together a jumper wire which runs from the 12 vlt starter battery to the auxiliary power outlet on the machine. Near the plug end I wired a momentary push button switch the flash the field.
Hope this saves some people some cash. Cheers.
That is really super cool Weedhopper. I have an older generator that I bought used and these two tips to recharge the field are awesome. In fact I stopped by Radio Shack today and purchased a couple of the 9 volt battery connectors and some extra batteries.
Question, how long do you have to hand crank the drill before recharging the generator’s magnetic field?
Thanks!
Snake Plisken
grateful for this article…sounds like you are working things out, which is what every USA citizen needs to do…visited Valley Forge in the winter once and wondered how they survived?…i start with priority personal clothing that will survive wet and extreme cold for long time..the house doesnt care if its cold, as long as your water lines are shut down, water run off not running or managed, sewer line stabilized, etc…canned food might freeze and explode though….I use Northern Outfitters insulation, only I made this for myself because I want a custom fit…and then use a good shell covering, footwear head wear etc…so I can get soaked with this and still dry off while wearing and stay very warm….so thats my last ditch plan and i tried it out for 2 months straight at home during the coldest winter time…you wont get your family to back you on this maybe…but then we worked out having a second woodburning furnace indoors and outdoors for greenhouse and barn…but we have own home and land with trees to cut…visted a guy in NYC who has different solar parabolic and heats kiln bricks during the day and uses those at night to stay warm 20 some stories up…and he puts solar on his balcony and stores in batteries then uses the batteries to run low power space heaters…we can run out of fuel of any kind after a few days, more time if underground etc. fuel tank at home…I think there is a solution for everyone regardless of living situation…but the right clothing with the right understanding will keep us safe and warm no matter if the house is warm or not….seriously, I think its time to think about staying alive rather than get boxed into things as usual
You can run diesel generators on heating oil. So, if you use heating oil for heating, you probably already have a nice large tank of it available . . .
Really?! Do you need to do anything to it first? I have been looking into getting a generator, but this would completely sell me on the idea of getting a diesel….
We had a power outage warning a couple of days ago. I looked around and decided to refill our water jugs, just because I could. But other than that and picking up the toys in the yard, did not panic at all! So proud that I have come so far…
I agree with Kathleen about the clothing as well. The other thing that I have been collecting is warm blankets. You tend to feel the cold more at night when you are not working hard. Visiting thrift stores all summer and scored some really nice wool and down blankets for next to nothing! Thanks for the reminders and great ideas!
You don’t need to do anything special to home heating oil, to use it as diesel fuel. you can also use it to power your classic Mercedes and Volkswagen diesel vehicles. (just not on the road, because the highway taxes weren’t paid. Jet fuel will also work well, but don’t try to buy “jet gas” to make your regular car go faster…)
(will ruin a gas engine)
Good article! I really can’t add anything to it. I am in central Minnesota and while we rarely have had any power problems, I keep about five cords of firewood stacked, 3 100# propane tanks with an area heater and a cook stove. I have a 4200 watt generator and two water wells. Should be good to go, and I will be happy to help out my neighbors if need be.
Semper fi
ITs about a mile from my front gate to my front door a good snow plow blade on one of the ranch trucks is nice to have to plow a road to the main road. A good wood stove is great as it uses free wood for fuel. You can cook on it.also oil lamps for light and lots of coffee and good books and your set assuming you attended to all the details
Exactly!
Funny how a couple of weeks without electricity will make you a believer. Good job!
I have one of those solar generators you mention above except I only have one deep cycle battery. It’s a cool set up.
And the snow was great for snowmen. The kids had a blast.
I was looking into a solar generator but was told it would only b good short term, not good for long term shtf scenario. Your opinion?
in the long term, each of us is going to die…
solar panel output declines over a number of years. deep cycle batteries have a finite lifespan. the Deity Loves You, and means you no harm. a little bit of applied technology, will enhance your life, even if it doesn’t last forever. use the tools you have.
irishdutchuncle,
What encouraging, calming words! I’m prepping, but, in the end, whenever that is, I KNOW that I’m going home. Then, our savior won’t allow any of that stuff to follow us. Amen? Yep.
illinoispike
greetings, spike.
the timeline is not entirely in our own hands. 70 years ago my Dad got kamikaze’d in the Pacific. they burried 13 of his shipmates at sea. he passed away last July. I’m compelled to believe it isn’t your time until it is. try to enjoy it while you’re here though…
thanks trucker, it’s good to know it’s not just me…
I have a lantern similar to this one – I use it camping but the last time some idiot took the big turn too fast and killed the pole, we were the only family around with anything. Kinda made me paranoid; there weren’t even candles in other houses, and we looked 3 streets either way.
The lantern I have is about 4 years old, used it for three years, three trips each. Plus various day to 3 days of power being out. It was great, haven’t changed the batteries and still is bright as when I put them in. It also can take a battery pack, but the D’s are a better choice for me (Rechargeable or alkaline.)
It’s fairly light and very stable (all weight is in bottom), no mantles or gas to mess with. BUT it’s nowhere as bright as the white gas lanterns, but it’s safe for the grandkids to carry.
I’ve got a similar setup with a small 30W panel and a 35 AH battery, and a 100W panel and 100AH battery (small one for me :), other for wife.) It’s not grid level power, but when the wife hears others *&^%$ about power going out, she always touts her “boy scout husband” and tells them to ask me what we’ve got for storms. One ‘friend’ said “Well when things get bad, we’ll just come to your house…” She stared them in the eye and just said “NOT a good idea.” And dropped it. 🙂 I knew I married her for some good reason. Plus, they all know I’m a few bricks shy a load…
I’m round-robinning the stash: ammo, savings, power, water, food. Due to get another setup like hers soon. Yay! I expect the set to last 5 years at ‘full’ use then 5 at 25% (least the panel), and after that I figure the set will be ready to be replaced. Still worth it.
And SPAM! {for the slackers. 🙂 }
I don’t have anywhere near three months worth of food put away yet… just another armchair survivalist.
I’m beginning to wonder though, if even three years worth would be enough.
(I was just reading up about the potato famine again)
good idea to learn about how to flash a generator field. (see discussion above)
I almost comprehend…
winter supplies:
Sand. Ice Melt. RV Antifreeze. Two Cycle Oil. HEET.
Seems like the world is inching towards either financial ruin or a war. Hard to say if either will happen, but it’s about time to grab a few extra cans of corned beef hash, brother!
Irish I have a buddy heater and the hose. Keep in mind the hose is reverse thread! Turn the hose to the left to tighten!
Jarhead
Good to see a post from you. Always enjoy your writing.
I can’t really afford a generator at the moment, or at least the wife says we can’t. But I just recently sold my 300 Blackout and used the money to put walls and insulation in the garage. I traded some ammo for a wood stove. So my worst case would be me and the wife and our 2 little ones will be in the garage on cots. Great article and even better blog site.
Consider how birds survive cold weather, by squeezing into the smallest small they can and fluffing out their feathers, which are great insulation. You don’t need to heat the entire house, only the fairly small space that you and yours occupy. Erect a tent inside a room that is just big enough to sleep everyone in it, with their sleeping bags (two or more per bag, especially with kids is much cosyier), covering the exterior of the tent with blankets will create a second layer of breathable insulation as well as making it less closed-in (if that’s a problem)! Don’t sleep in your day clothes as they lose insulation value as they get dirty, and pajamas are more comfortable! Do keep your day clothes (a new set?) in the tent for each occupant so they are readily available and not so cold to put on. If you have a heating devise like a Buddy Heater, then you can use it to warm up the inside bottom of your sleeping bags, nothing like warm feet and legs to make you sleepy. I do NOT recommend using that heater and any like it to heat the interior of the tent because they all give off CO2 exhaust! Another tried-and-try method is to heat rocks (not smooth-sided) or bricks on a stove (or camp fire), wrap them in a heavy towel then in a cloth bag like a pillow case, then place in the bottom of the sleeping bags to radiate heat for several hours. The towel and pillow case will keep the heated object from burning your feet! If the night is really going to be cold, then a designated brave soul (usually a man-stimulates male ego) can wake up in the middle of the night, heat more bricks as replacements, maybe some hot coffee/cocoa, (supervise pee breaks) and everyone gets a good-nights sleep! Don’t forget Fido, three dog night isn’t just a great rock-and-roll band, my Husky has to be the world’s greatest foot warmer! Keep a pot/tea kettle at least half full of water on your stove (I use a propane one, with a back-up) so you can immediately heat some water to make drinks or help thaw other water, since pouring ice from a plastic water container can be tough! Speaking of water, make sure you let a trickle of water flow from all your faucets, since moving water freezes at a much lower temperature than standing water, and keep buckets under each faucet to catch that water, waste not, want not, and if your water supply (via pipes) does get cut off, this gives you a little more reserve! Good Luck!
Roger and all, great ideas for future use.
Thanks a bunch
This is a great discussion. We had a transformer blow and the whole town was without power for 2 1/2 days. We were grateful that family lived 35 miles away as we stayed with them. The temps were in the teens at night. This gave me a big wake up call to get ready for the next one.
Thanks for the great site.
… so, that advice, from the Red Cross: “prepare as you would for a winter storm”, really shines, in a real world situation.
I don’t rember the “ice storm of 1958”, I was just a baby, but I sure give it lots of thought today….
through the woods, and over the river to grandmother’s house we,
NO Go. sold years ago. not replaced with a well stocked retreat yet,
or any time soon, probably. at least today I have a better BOV, available. (but without skid chains or a winch, it still might not be enough)
We lost power for 5 days during the big Colorado flood two years ago. Since we’re on a well, that meant we lost running water too. Fortunately we were prepared but not as well as I’d have liked.
Our solution was a 20KW Kohler generator that runs the entire house off of our propane tank. The 14KW generator is a bit cheaper but would have required installing a separate panel to power critical items and that plus electrician costs made it less expensive to get the bigger gen with a simple transfer switch; just turn off unneeded items to save fuel. Saved a couple thousand dollars by buying it online and hiring independent electrician and plumber instead of going to a local dealer.
Love it! The Kohler cycles every 2 weeks for 20 minutes and it sends me an email when it starts and stops so I know it’s working properly or if power went out while we were away. Can even start, stop, and monitor from my iPhone.
I have two generators in NC. I would not live north of here with none. Everybody, I mean everybody needs food for a month or more.
I am used to snow having worked a couple of yeats on the Alaska Pipeline year around. It got down to -70 still air temp and I was still working out side or playing catch with a piece of white ice. Over night where I live we had four feet of snow which was a surprise to be sure. How ever we had plenty of fire wood for heat and cooking and kerosene lamps. We had a 4 by 4 with huge tires that handled the snow easy and we were the only thing moving in that part of the county. Plenty of food in the pantry and feather beds. Being prepared beats huddling over a candle
I would love to see a list of items specific for seniors, people who are renting and are on a limited budget, and not as strong or as healthy as we once were. I cannot put in a wood stove, what can I safely use to cook on inside my apartment? What is the safest form of light? Beyond flashlights, oil lamps? Candles? I can close off a room, I know how to dress for cold weather, have plenty of blankets. But is there a safe way to add a little extra heat in an enclosed room? Not worried about food or water (plenty stored) unless it’s really, really cold for a very long time. Then will start to worry about frozen pipes. Would love some feed back.
Simple safe way to heat one room is Mr. Buddy heater. Store several 20lb grill tanks. Get Coleman L from walmart. Get 2 burner Coleman stove. Get hoses. Get propane light for top of L. Get hose to connect to stove. Put L on 20lb tank, have light, cooking system. Another tank and another hose and Mr. Buddy 9000 BTU heater. Had elderly grandmother with us during ice storm. Heated two bedrooms, bathroom with Buddy heater on high for two days with one 20lb tank. About 65 in rooms. 28F outside. No sx of CO checked several times each night. Large rooms lots of air. Would get CO detector but really not needed. Many accounts on internet of heating trailers with one Buddy Heater. Believe the ceramic plates give very complete combustion. Most people can carry 20lb tanks. Would store several outside when not using. Only use one at a time inside. May want to have one for kitchen-stove one for Buddy Heater sleeping area. Tent suggestion good but of course do not put heater in tent-guaranteed CO poisoning. Never tried heating bricks on stove, but I think the Normans in France did this before central heat.
in the “ice storm of 1958”, my parents used the standing pilot gas range as the source of heat. that only worked because there was enough air exchange…
try to drain the pipes, before they freeze. (if it’s your house)
RV antifreeze for the toilet, and the sink traps. the laundry tub is often the low point in your plumbing system. you can use a propane camp stove indoors, safely, if it doesn’t leak… keep the ABC fire extinguisher nearby. again, you do need to introduce some fresh air on a regular basis. be paranoid about minding the camp stove. I set it up on top of the electric range. Beware the film of cooking grease that gets everywhere, in a small place… don’t have a grease fire.
LED lanterns are the modern way to off-grid lighting.
hey Patti, I just set a Coleman 2-burner[it burned white gas, but I converted it to propane] right on top of the stove-then I ran a hose down[I rolled in a 20 lb. propane
tank-my floor is wood and she did not want it scratched up]. I left it on it’s side and used wedges to stop it from rolling, if bumped. I gutted the range hood and put in a 12 volt motor-it runs off a little 4.5 ampere rechargeable battery. for the stair climber, I took out the 24 volt motor so it would slide freely, then I hooked it up via pulleys to a 12 volt winch[with it’s own remote]. the neighbor boy swaps the batteries in and out of the car. for lights, use l.e.d. rope lights-they use little power, do not get hot, and do not cost a bundle like regular l.e.d.’s. for some heat, slide a short burn barrel onto the range.
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