The first thing you want to do when the power goes out is turn off your breakers to the A/C, furnace and items like your water heater, computers and television.
If the temperatures drop, layer up – wool blankets are a good choice. And pick the warmest room in the house for sleeping.
Ken Youngquist of survivaltek.com has a simple and unique way to heat up
a small space. Grab a roll of toilet paper, a coffee can, and some
isopropyl alcohol.
Light it and set it on a safe surface like an oven door -- make sure you
have some ventilation by opening a window until you extinguish your
heat source.
Items that might come in handy include flashlights,
lighters, water bottles, lanterns and canned food, among other things.
Youngquist also says “prayer candles” are good to have around, as they can last for a couple of days.
Youngquist also says “prayer candles” are good to have around, as they can last for a couple of days.
Lantern tea lights, oil lamps and even a can of Crisco with a wick made of a denim pant cuff can provide light and some heat.
Lantern tea lights, oil lamps and even a can of Crisco with a wick made of a denim pant cuff can provide light and some heat.
“If you deal with fire, don't put anything over it that's going to get
hot and catch fire,” Youngquist said. “And you don't really want liquids
loose because if it spills, it spreads.”
Make sure you also have hand warmers. And if high tech is your thing,
Don Pulsfort of Great Outdoor Provision Co. says Down alternative
sleeping bags can keep you warm.
Another item to have around? A hand-cranked lantern.
Another item to have around? A hand-cranked lantern.
Meanwhile, solar battery chargers can be used to charge phones or tablets, Pulsfort said.
Water filtration devices can help clean unsafe water. Some water devices
take only one minute to kill biological hazards including viruses.
As for food, dehydrated food can be bought by the bucket.
Youngquist suggests using an inverter to charge phones and computers from your car.
As for food, dehydrated food can be bought by the bucket.
Youngquist suggests using an inverter to charge phones and computers from your car.
Meanwhile, cooking food from your freezer and fridge outdoors can save you money. No grill? No problem. Make your own.
First aid kit: If you already have one, double check the contents and update expired items.
Batteries: Check the electronic devices in your kit and stock a few extra batteries for those devices.
Read more: http://www.ksbw.com/news/money/-/1850/19429066/-/wwp0yqz/-/index.html#ixzz2P354axlN
The main reason you turn off your power at the main breaker box is so you don't get spikes that can damage you electrical appliances when you start to get
brown outs or unsuccessful attempts from the power company to turn everything back on. Another thing to think about is "How cold is it where you are and how cold will it get inside without forced air heating or whatever your normal heat
source is. If you are set up to burn wood in a wood stove or fireplace, "Will enough heat get to my water in my water heater and pipes to keep them from freezing where I am this time of year? This is an important question because hot water
freezes faster than cold water sources most places. I can't explain the
physics of this, this is just what actually happens.
And wool, down or synthetic down is the best way to keep warm. Natural fibers
and down usually keep you the warmest as the temperatures go to 50 or lower inside. However, if it goes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit in your home anywhere
you have to start worrying about your pipes freezing then so if you have to
drain all your pipes.
Also, depending upon whether you are a mountain climber or not
and used to living in below 32 degrees Fahrenheit at that point you might want
to go stay somewhere else where it is warmer if you can.
The toilet paper and isopropyl alcohol and coffee can idea is a good one
to prevent hypothermia and frostbite. However, be sure where you do this is well
ventilated so breathing doesn't become a problem. Also, White toilet paper
or any other paper that is white is treated with Dioxin to make it white. And
since there is no human safe level for dioxin you definitely don't want to be
breathing that unless you are on the edge of frostbite or hypothermia. Hypothermia will take away your mental faculties eventually so you will
begin to hallucinate and not make any sense at all if someone talks to you.
From camping in a tent in cold weather I found that a candle can heat up a whole tent and you as well. So, for example, if you set up a tent in your living room and got in it, the candle if you were in a sleeping bag could keep you warm just by putting your hand over the candle at about a foot or more to take in the heat directly into your hand into your body. It also will warm the tent inside as well. However, you don't want to fall asleep with it and set your tent and house on fire. So be careful.
a hand crank lantern or radio is a good idea to have also. This way you can listen to the news even without any batteries. Sometimes they make hand crank radios with lights on board. However, for just a light sometimes a flashlight or battery operated lantern might be the best for times under a few hours.
Having a 7 day suppy of medications at all times lessens something catastrophic happening to you if you can't get to a drug store or they can't get to you.
It always helps to have the tools you need to fix anything that might go wrong in a power outage.
Cash is more important now than ever, because it isn't just storms now that affect cash, it is cyber wars, solar flares and more. Last fall they couldn't accept my atm or any credit card for gas when I was traveling because solar flares had shut off their satellite that does those transactions nationally so I was really happy to have put away some 20s so I could get to where I was going.
What I do if my power goes out for over 24 hours is to run a cord from my motorhome (which has a gas electrical generator to my refrigerator as that is the main problem in a power outage after the heating system and water pipes freezing usually. I also make sure I have a working gas stove that I can light with a match (you have to make sure this works when you have them installed because some will not work right without electricity and electrical sparkers). This way we can always cook on our stove top with natural gas even with the power out. I then put a surge protector at the end of my 100 foot electrical cord from my Motor home into my kitchen where the refrigerator is. I plug my refrigerator into the surge protector which is plugged into the 100 foot power cord from my generator in my motorhome. (note: make sure you have shut off the main breaker to your house before you do this. Otherwise when the power comes back on it could be a real problem if you don't expect it from the power company. ) Then I move over my router and modem so I can use Wifi with my computer. I then plug in my laptop and my cell phones so we don't lose contact with the outside world. Also, even during power outages your land lines often will work (this is true about 99% of the time where I live) as long as you have at least one phone that doesn't have to be plugged into AC that usually has only a cord. So, even if we have a 3 to 5 day power outage from downed tall trees in our area on the Pacific Ocean we still have TV, refrigerators, computers and cell phones and land lines working. Also, we have a fireplace where we can get warm (I usually keep a cord of wood year around for emergencies for when the forced air heat is off when the electicity is off and if water is shut off for any reason we have a Hot Tub outside with water we can use for flushing toilets and other non-drinking or eating uses in a real emergency. It is a good idea to have bottled water available for emergencies also for drinking. You can get it in any size you are comfortable storing. I like the 16.9 fluid ounces size because each one stays sterile until you use it and so individuals don't pass colds and stuff to each other. But everyone has their own way of doing things. So, I buy one or more cases of the 16.9 fluid ounce size of bottles and always keep at least one case on hand and you can replace the case as needed throughout the year to rotate your stocks of food and water. It isn't a good idea to buy several thousand dollars of survival food and never use it. It is much better to be slowly using and replacing your survival food so it doesn't become outdated. Several years ago we stocked our motor home but then a few years later much of it had gone out of date so I had to throw it away. So, rotating survival food stocks is important if you don't want to be accidentally wasteful. If you don't want to eat it yourself think about donating it to a charity or your church before it goes bad so someone can benefit from it especially with so many with so little good food around the world these days.
First aid kit: If you already have one, double check the contents and update expired items.
Batteries: Check the electronic devices in your kit and stock a few extra batteries for those devices.
Medications: A seven day supply is recommended for all daily medical items.
Tools: Locate and ready any tools that may be needed for quick fixes.
Fill up the car: In the event of an extended power outage, gas stations will also be off line.
Cash: Even in the electronic age, cash works and will be needed if credit card readers are down.
Radio: Be sure to have a powered or hand-cranked radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible).
end quote from:Read more: http://www.ksbw.com/news/money/-/1850/19429066/-/wwp0yqz/-/index.html#ixzz2P354axlN
The main reason you turn off your power at the main breaker box is so you don't get spikes that can damage you electrical appliances when you start to get
brown outs or unsuccessful attempts from the power company to turn everything back on. Another thing to think about is "How cold is it where you are and how cold will it get inside without forced air heating or whatever your normal heat
source is. If you are set up to burn wood in a wood stove or fireplace, "Will enough heat get to my water in my water heater and pipes to keep them from freezing where I am this time of year? This is an important question because hot water
freezes faster than cold water sources most places. I can't explain the
physics of this, this is just what actually happens.
And wool, down or synthetic down is the best way to keep warm. Natural fibers
and down usually keep you the warmest as the temperatures go to 50 or lower inside. However, if it goes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit in your home anywhere
you have to start worrying about your pipes freezing then so if you have to
drain all your pipes.
Also, depending upon whether you are a mountain climber or not
and used to living in below 32 degrees Fahrenheit at that point you might want
to go stay somewhere else where it is warmer if you can.
The toilet paper and isopropyl alcohol and coffee can idea is a good one
to prevent hypothermia and frostbite. However, be sure where you do this is well
ventilated so breathing doesn't become a problem. Also, White toilet paper
or any other paper that is white is treated with Dioxin to make it white. And
since there is no human safe level for dioxin you definitely don't want to be
breathing that unless you are on the edge of frostbite or hypothermia. Hypothermia will take away your mental faculties eventually so you will
begin to hallucinate and not make any sense at all if someone talks to you.
From camping in a tent in cold weather I found that a candle can heat up a whole tent and you as well. So, for example, if you set up a tent in your living room and got in it, the candle if you were in a sleeping bag could keep you warm just by putting your hand over the candle at about a foot or more to take in the heat directly into your hand into your body. It also will warm the tent inside as well. However, you don't want to fall asleep with it and set your tent and house on fire. So be careful.
a hand crank lantern or radio is a good idea to have also. This way you can listen to the news even without any batteries. Sometimes they make hand crank radios with lights on board. However, for just a light sometimes a flashlight or battery operated lantern might be the best for times under a few hours.
Having a 7 day suppy of medications at all times lessens something catastrophic happening to you if you can't get to a drug store or they can't get to you.
It always helps to have the tools you need to fix anything that might go wrong in a power outage.
Cash is more important now than ever, because it isn't just storms now that affect cash, it is cyber wars, solar flares and more. Last fall they couldn't accept my atm or any credit card for gas when I was traveling because solar flares had shut off their satellite that does those transactions nationally so I was really happy to have put away some 20s so I could get to where I was going.
What I do if my power goes out for over 24 hours is to run a cord from my motorhome (which has a gas electrical generator to my refrigerator as that is the main problem in a power outage after the heating system and water pipes freezing usually. I also make sure I have a working gas stove that I can light with a match (you have to make sure this works when you have them installed because some will not work right without electricity and electrical sparkers). This way we can always cook on our stove top with natural gas even with the power out. I then put a surge protector at the end of my 100 foot electrical cord from my Motor home into my kitchen where the refrigerator is. I plug my refrigerator into the surge protector which is plugged into the 100 foot power cord from my generator in my motorhome. (note: make sure you have shut off the main breaker to your house before you do this. Otherwise when the power comes back on it could be a real problem if you don't expect it from the power company. ) Then I move over my router and modem so I can use Wifi with my computer. I then plug in my laptop and my cell phones so we don't lose contact with the outside world. Also, even during power outages your land lines often will work (this is true about 99% of the time where I live) as long as you have at least one phone that doesn't have to be plugged into AC that usually has only a cord. So, even if we have a 3 to 5 day power outage from downed tall trees in our area on the Pacific Ocean we still have TV, refrigerators, computers and cell phones and land lines working. Also, we have a fireplace where we can get warm (I usually keep a cord of wood year around for emergencies for when the forced air heat is off when the electicity is off and if water is shut off for any reason we have a Hot Tub outside with water we can use for flushing toilets and other non-drinking or eating uses in a real emergency. It is a good idea to have bottled water available for emergencies also for drinking. You can get it in any size you are comfortable storing. I like the 16.9 fluid ounces size because each one stays sterile until you use it and so individuals don't pass colds and stuff to each other. But everyone has their own way of doing things. So, I buy one or more cases of the 16.9 fluid ounce size of bottles and always keep at least one case on hand and you can replace the case as needed throughout the year to rotate your stocks of food and water. It isn't a good idea to buy several thousand dollars of survival food and never use it. It is much better to be slowly using and replacing your survival food so it doesn't become outdated. Several years ago we stocked our motor home but then a few years later much of it had gone out of date so I had to throw it away. So, rotating survival food stocks is important if you don't want to be accidentally wasteful. If you don't want to eat it yourself think about donating it to a charity or your church before it goes bad so someone can benefit from it especially with so many with so little good food around the world these days.
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