Preparing for Power Outages?

We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

Thanks.

Reply to
Jonathan Grobe
Loading thread data ...

We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp. Flashlights and batteries for a small portable radio. I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before opening the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

Reply to
betsyb

I have two deep cycle batteries with small inverters that will run the TV and computer for several hours. I also have a 4 KW generator that will take care of the heat, refrigerator, and freezer; as well as the neighbors.

Reply to
Jim Rusling

I prepared for this by living in California.

Reply to
Gil Faver

I keep some candles, flashlights, kerosene lamps around, I keep the propane bottles filled so we can grill if we want, but since we have a gas range, only the oven is affected. City water is not a problem either. If I lived in a very rural area I'd have a generator. In my entire life, only after Hurricane Gloria were we without power for about 30 hours. Longest time otherwise is maybe an hour. Give that 60 year history I can't justify spending a lot of money for equipment.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

My house has a well and sump pump which are critical. First thing I did when I bought the house 18 months ago was to buy a 6 kW gasoline powered generator, and had an electrician install a 10 breaker panel in my basement and an external outlet to connect the generator to the panel. I selected the 10 most critical circuits to run on the generator, including the well pump, the sump pump, the fridge, and my oil furnace. I also keep 10 gallons of gas in the garage. Haven't had an outage yet, but I can sleep at night.

Reply to
Dimitrios Paskoudniakis

Right, because California is the least likely state to have a natural disaster.

Karen, who lived in the Bay area for 13 years

Reply to
dkhedmo

you were inconvenienced at 22 hours? Trying going 3 weeks. It's an adventure, you should relish the opportunity.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

Reply to
Steve Barker

Nothing, because we never get power outages that long.

I just read stuff on the laptop, currently Slick's memoirs, when the power is out.

I have considered getting a cheap generator, but whenever I do, I decide that we dont get long enough power outages to justify it. Likely I will get one anyway, they're so cheap.

Reply to
Rod Speed

Oh, and of course they NEVER have power problems in CA. LMAO!!

Reply to
Steve Barker

I have a drawer full of high powered flashlights and batteries including two that plug into outlets go on when the power stops. Also two battery powered radios, one a headset, the other with speakers. As for food, plenty of canned food,water and dehydrated stuff.

Reply to
George Grapman

Jonathan Grobe wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@worf.netins.net:

I have a couple of battery-powered fluorescent lights,more LED flashlights,a charcoal grill for cooking.

If you have a home,you could get a generator,couple of KW at least,and keep some gasoline on hand to run it.That will keep your fridge cold and food unspoiled,run a TV/radio,fans in hot weather.You need a big generator to run AC or heating,and then a power transfer box is best and safest to couple the gen to your home wiring.

I live in an apartment,so there are some things I can't do.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Nothing -- it's 66F outside. ;-)

Seriously, though, I usually prepare by making sure I have all my sets of rechargeable batteries charged up so I can use them in a flashlight, making sure I have some food I can eat without having to cook it, and making sure I have some clean water just in case.

The biggest challenge is keeping frozen and refrigerated items good. One approach for a short power outage is to just put some containers (like old plastic milk bottles, or 2 liters from soft drinks) in the freezer and let them freeze solid. One or two of the resulting blocks of ice can be moved from the freezer to the fridge, and the ones that stay in the freezer keep the thermal mass higher, which means the temperature rises more slowly as the heat leaks in from outside. It also helps to leave the fridge and freezer door shut and never open them.

Of course, if it's already really cold, you can just move the food outside, although in certain environments animals might steal it.

- Logan

Reply to
Logan Shaw

Making more friends.

Despite the stories, my food keeps cold for at least 3 days without electricity. Thawing freezer food may hurt the taste when it refreezes, but it won't hurt you. But certain freezer food I make a point to eat when I have no electricity (ice cream) and shortly thereafter.

Sour milk is hard to drink, but poses no risk. My mother would make sour milk pancakes when she somehow had some. (This doesn't work, I think, when the curds and whey have separated.) I just add a lot chocolate syrup, and I can drink a quart in the time it takes from a bit sour to too sour to drink at all.

Reply to
mm

When I lived in California (the Bay Area, specifically), we had a power outage that lasted well over 48 hours because of a "storm". In this "storm", the winds got up to a whopping 20 miles/hour, and we received maybe 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. It turns out PG&E had just cut a bunch of jobs in order to save money a few months earlier, and the jobs they cut were the people who were responsible for maintaining the lines (making sure trees were trimmed and so on) and repairing them. So a bunch of tree limbs fell on the lines and cut out power, and it took forever to repair them, so we were without power for days even though nothing big had really happened.

Luckily we had a natural gas water heater which did not need electricity to start, and it was January so it was not too cold outside, and we did fine without heat. But it was still stupid.

- Logan

Reply to
Logan Shaw

Generator and 2 week's worth of fuel in drums. Probably another week's worth in the diesel truck. Plenty of firewood for the fireplace stove. I always have enough food on hand to eat for a month so that's not an issue. The generator runs the well pump so no issue with water.

If all else fails there is my motorhome sitting in the driveway, always fueled and watered and ready to go. I can "dry camp" for a couple of weeks with the on-board stores if I'm careful.

I rather enjoy power outages of up to perhaps a week. Then feedin' the generator gets a bit tedious. I don't believe in curtailing my lifestyle during an outage so I have a 10kw homemade diesel generator and an 8kw commercially made gas unit as backup. Never had to use the backup except during tests.

John

Reply to
Neon John

BTW, it's times like this that you'll look back on and remember. Everyday life is normally so uneventful that it is remembered as one big blur. I don't think I'm the only one to feel this way.

Last night I heard a story by a man I know who was guarding the food supply of his town in Siberia in 1944 with minus 40 degree F. weather. He was feeling bad at night, fever, so he got on his small sleigh and told the horse to go back to town, a mile or two. But he passed out and fell off the sleigh. Woke up and had no idea where he was. All there was was snow and stars. After a while, he saw the horse in the distance. The horse stopped when it noticed that my friend wasn't on the sleigh. So he caught up to the horse and iirc tied himself to the sleigh this time, or at least held on. He passed out again, and later found out that he made it to town, and then they took him to the next town a couple miles further, where there was a hospital.

It's been 63 years and of course he still remembers this story. It's makes the piddling winters we have in Baltimore (even with 2 or 3 weeks of 20-30 degree weather, and our 3rd snow storm all day today) seem even more piddling. I'm sure they don't bother him, at age 80 or so.

Reply to
mm

Stock up on ammunition.

With enough ammunition, all other things are obtainable.

Reply to
HeyBub

If he's using a deep well pump he's relying on the electricity to operate the pump unlike gavity feed for municipal (public) systems.

Reply to
C & E

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.