What To Do In A Winter Power Outage

many years ago driving in the country in the dead of winter (canada -20) with my daughter who was a year old at the time...and the car broke down. panic soon set in because my kid was with me...i bundled her up and walked about a mile to the nearest house. sorry to say the people that opened the door did not offer to help in any way...i hiked back to the car fiddled with the alternator and bam got her started! i was sooo lucky that time.
always good to have a kit in your car at all times!


Lots of sevice to self people out there hun, I have similar stories to tell myself. Yes it's wise to have back up in the vehicle.

many years ago driving in the country in the dead of winter (canada -20) with my daughter who was a year old at the time...and the car broke down. panic soon set in because my kid was with me...i bundled her up and walked about a mile to the nearest house. sorry to say the people that opened the door did not offer to help in any way...i hiked back to the car fiddled with the alternator and bam got her started! i was sooo lucky that time.
always good to have a kit in your car at all times!


Lots of sevice to self people out there hun, I have similar stories to tell myself. Yes it's wise to have back up in the vehicle.

ya it was a fluke....maybe i walked in on a drug deal or something?

maybe city folks are nicer!

ya it was a fluke....maybe i walked in on a drug deal or something?

maybe city folks are nicer!


Why, did the people in question look questionable? Didn't you have cell phone service?

ya it was a fluke....maybe i walked in on a drug deal or something?

maybe city folks are nicer!


Why, did the people in question look questionable? Didn't you have cell phone service?

didnt have cell phones back then (except for huge bulky ones)...they did look shady, and all paranoid.

94

94


The good old days. No correction, that was the eighties. Do you have any sons?

94


The good old days. No correction, that was the eighties. Do you have any sons?


it was the good old days compared to now lol!

just 1 daughter.

You have what I want...

You have what I want...


i volunteer !

You have what I want...


i volunteer !


Well at least you've done it once before, lol. I have girl fever again these days!

You have what I want...


i volunteer !


Well at least you've done it once before, lol. I have girl fever again these days!

raising 1 girl is like 3 boys put together.....so you have practise for your little rebel ;)

Winter power outages can happen for a number of reasons. Rolling blackouts, winter storms, trees coming down because of high winds or ice...Whatever the reason it is smart to be ready and know what to do in case it happens to you. Remember, if you are stranded or without water DO NOT EAT SNOW FOR WATER! It will cause hypothermia.

Be Prepared
Being prepared for the unexpected makes all the difference. Since you never know when something may happen it is best to take steps to make sure that you have the things you need right now.

In a rubbermaid tub somewhere that is easy to get to have the following items handy and ready to use. This means that if the item takes batteries, the batteries are current and working with extra batteries in the tub. Check the dates about 4 times a year just to make sure that you have them when you need them. Many of these things should be in addition to the normal stuff that you have for disaster preparedness.

1. Flashlight- have a couple of different sizes. I think the best flashlight is the type that you wind up or shake and that has no need of batteries at all.

2. A hand crank radio so that you know what is happening. Battery operated will work too, but again, you will be dependent on batteries.

3. Oil lamps for long term outages. Include matches.

4. A hard wired telephone, not just a cordless. A cordless will not work without electricity. A cell phone is good to have as well but depending on the weather there could be problems with that.

5. If you depend on electricity to get your water (such as with a well) then be sure you have extra drinking water on hand.

6. A back up generator is a blessing if you can afford it. Be sure to have everything you need for it to run.

7. Warm clothing. This sounds silly but in our modern times we don;t dress for warmth because we move from heated houses to heated cars to heated workplaces. In case of a cold weather power outage you will want thermal underwear (long johns) for each family member as well as layers of clothing and warm socks. Be sure there are hats, gloves, scarves, and coats in case you need to get away from the house to seek shelter elsewhere.
8. It is good to have a fireplace or wood-burning stove for warmth. Make sure you have a stock of wood in case you need it. Try to close off the room that the fireplace is in to keep the warmth in it. You can use blankets over the doorways if you need to.

9. If there is someone at your house on some type of life support that depends on power then make sure you know what to do in case of an outage and that you have the items you need. Talk to your health care provider.

10 Use your hot water sparingly. It will stay hot for a couple of days in the hot water heater if you don't waste it.

11 Blankets. Have extra. Down filled comforters are great.

12. Have some games and things you can do to pass the time. Make it fun
[link to hubpages.com]

This is a pretty good source of info:

[link to www.safecanada.ca]

This is the winter power outage pages - pdf, 16 pages:

[link to www.sja.ca]

Will my water lines freeze and explode if this happens? What about my toilet? or the p-traps and s-traps, maybe I should be prepared to drain my water lines if the power goes down?

You know, this is a major concern for me.

I live in the south and we only get a few inches of snow a year in my area and it always melts fast. We dont really have roadcrew to clear roads, no snowblowers, no tire chains-- don't need it. In my 37 years of life, I've never even had the need to drive on ice. People just stay inside until it melts.

BUT-- if we were to get an unusual snowstorm, our town would close down. No food, no gas,

If we were to have power outages, we'd have no way to stay warm. No heater, no electric blankets....

We have a small fireplace, but it is not designed to heat a room well. I truly believe it sucks more warm air out of the hosue than it does heat it. We have about 1/3 cord of firewood in the backyard (at $250-350 a cord around here, that's $$$$)

We have lanterns, candles and flashlights, but other than blankets, no idea how to stay warm.

Could cook on the charcoal grill, also have campstove. Food wouldn't be a problem, but warmth is.

thoughts?

You know, this is a major concern for me.

I live in the south and we only get a few inches of snow a year in my area and it always melts fast. We dont really have roadcrew to clear roads, no snowblowers, no tire chains-- don't need it. In my 37 years of life, I've never even had the need to drive on ice. People just stay inside until it melts.

BUT-- if we were to get an unusual snowstorm, our town would close down. No food, no gas,

If we were to have power outages, we'd have no way to stay warm. No heater, no electric blankets....

We have a small fireplace, but it is not designed to heat a room well. I truly believe it sucks more warm air out of the hosue than it does heat it. We have about 1/3 cord of firewood in the backyard (at $250-350 a cord around here, that's $$$$)

We have lanterns, candles and flashlights, but other than blankets, no idea how to stay warm.

Could cook on the charcoal grill, also have campstove. Food wouldn't be a problem, but warmth is.

thoughts?



If you have the space, maybe get yourself a wood-burner and seal up the fireplace. We had the same problem and did this, all the heatnow in the property and not up the chimney. Look at investing in an ecofan>> [link to www.fluesystems.com] pricey but damned effective.

Also, get yourselves the gear shown above, by all means, but then make sure you know how to use it. Do you know where your kindling is in the dark. Can you light the stove / fit tire chains/ find your first aid kit/light light a hurricane lamp / etc in the dark.

Do you know just how fecking dark it can get in a total power outage? Pull your main fuse for a weekend and get practising.

Train hard - fight easy.

Good list OP.

Here is another one.

Keep a candle in your car in very cold weather, Light it if you break down and it will keep you from freezing to death.

Good list OP.

Here is another one.

Keep a candle in your car in very cold weather, Light it if you break down and it will keep you from freezing to death.


as long as you have adequate ventilation so you don't have to share your oxygen with the candle, this would be great. I would worry in some of the newer model cars that seem very air tight.

You know, this is a major concern for me.

I live in the south and we only get a few inches of snow a year in my area and it always melts fast. We dont really have roadcrew to clear roads, no snowblowers, no tire chains-- don't need it. In my 37 years of life, I've never even had the need to drive on ice. People just stay inside until it melts.

BUT-- if we were to get an unusual snowstorm, our town would close down. No food, no gas,

If we were to have power outages, we'd have no way to stay warm. No heater, no electric blankets....

We have a small fireplace, but it is not designed to heat a room well. I truly believe it sucks more warm air out of the hosue than it does heat it. We have about 1/3 cord of firewood in the backyard (at $250-350 a cord around here, that's $$$$)

We have lanterns, candles and flashlights, but other than blankets, no idea how to stay warm.

Could cook on the charcoal grill, also have campstove. Food wouldn't be a problem, but warmth is.

thoughts?



If you have the space, maybe get yourself a wood-burner and seal up the fireplace. We had the same problem and did this, all the heatnow in the property and not up the chimney. Look at investing in an ecofan>> [link to www.fluesystems.com] pricey but damned effective.

Also, get yourselves the gear shown above, by all means, but then make sure you know how to use it. Do you know where your kindling is in the dark. Can you light the stove / fit tire chains/ find your first aid kit/light light a hurricane lamp / etc in the dark.

Do you know just how fecking dark it can get in a total power outage? Pull your main fuse for a weekend and get practising.

Train hard - fight easy.


If you cook on the charcoal grill, make sure to do it OUTSIDE! many people have gotten CO poisoning by using a brazier/charcoal grill in the house in the winter with improper ventilation.

for light, I adore my aladdin lamp...I lived in a plywood shack outside of Buffalo, NY for a year with no running water and no electricity. We did have a woodstove for heat and cooking, but at night, the Aladdin lamps were wonderful. Sometimes we still have a "non-electric" weekend and use the aladdin lamp to read and play games round the kitchen table in the evenings.

A lot of cool non electric stuff at [link to www.lehmans.com]

We also had a kerosene fridge - don't recommend it though..stinky and difficult to maintain a constant temp that didn't freeze the lettuce and melt the ice cream all at the same time. It was a frustrating experiment and way too labor intensive.

Many years ago when I lived in the Northeast, I went to work in a regular dress with loafers, hose, and a light weight jacket. After all, I parked right by my door at home and went to work, parked by the door and dashed in. No need to dress warmly. Right? While there we had a blizzard, (there was already a lot of snow on the ground), and coming home over the mountains, someone had moved the detour sign and pointed it in the wrong direction. I crept along an iced over road in my small car until I could go no further. There was no way to turn around and I ended up sliding into a pile of ice and snow over 6 feet high! I had no warm clothing and was about 3 miles from home in a desolate area. I had to dig my way out of the snow after opening the door. I nearly froze walking/running home. I fell on the ice and hit my head. The temp was between 10 and 20 degrees. By the time I got home I was numb almost all over and had severe hypothermia. I lived, though I had the worst case of flu in my lifetime, but it was a good wakeup call. From then on I kept a snowsuit, warm walking boots, extra socks and gloves in my trunk.

For #10 in the original post concerning using the water out of the hot water heater: Remember to turn off the breaker box circuit or pull the fuse for the hot water heater if doing that. If you use up the water out of it while the power is off and it comes back on before refilling with water, it can burn out your elements.

ON FIREWOOD: I've many times used only dead-fall wood I could break up or small enough I could chop with an ax for my firewood. Never had to buy any, but worked hard to get it. With small wood you have to constantly feed the fire too. In an emergency, you do what you have to do.