# When your power goes out...



## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

The power went out today, and as usual I immediately think in terms of what I need to do IF it stays out a long time. Today it was in the low 30s, so my first thought was about heat alternatives. Luckily, the power came back on in less than two hours.

What do you think whenever your power goes out?
Are you thinking it is just a temporary inconvenience, or are you thinking it might be a long term thing and your brain goes into overdrive? Is your first thought when you lose power that it might be for a loooong time or even a SHTF situation?


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

Ours went out this morning too for 3 hours. I plan as if it won't come back on. We always have a good amount of canned food on hand,lots of water stocked up and plenty of oil lanterns. This morning when it went out I got a fire going and put a pit of water on to boil


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## ridgerunner1965 (Apr 13, 2013)

ive had a lot of power outtages over the last 30 years here. most of the time it comes back on in less than 2 hrs, not always tho.

if not tho im ready. plenty of firewood for the wood stove. smaller firewood for the bbq grill.

2 generators, one diesel and one gas. fuel for both.

kerosene lanterns and also candles and coleman white gas lanterns.

enough canned food for a month plus 100's of lbs of frozen meat.

last power outage was almost 2 weeks. I rather enjoyed it.the wood stove is really the key to make it enjoyable.

I have also installed a propane stove and propane tank as a back up for heat.

I could be pretty comfortable for a month or so and never leave the farm.

OP what are your strengths and weaknesses as far as being ready for a power outage?


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## Hooligans (Jul 11, 2017)

I keep a small generator and a set of cords to power the furnace and lights. I can switch cords around for fridge, etc. The variable is having enough gas on hand, especially if the gas station is down too. So I try to keep a fresh five gallons all the time.

A better bet is having wood heat and oil lamps. We once went through a multi day outage in a house with a wood stove, and it was a very comforting thing.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

anniew said:


> What do you think whenever your power goes out?


We have a number to call and report outages and they generally can tell you what's happening. 

Most of the time it's during storms, so usually it's a matter of waiting it out unless it's major event such as a hurricane. 

Then I'd be setting up the generator.

We have propane heaters that don't require power, and it's much more rare to lose power when the weather is cold.

We cook with gas and have enough food not to worry about that.

The longest outage we've had was almost 5 full days during Hurricane Florence.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

I always wonder if it'll be a long-term thing. To that end I have the following:

Propane stove and heat, Plenty of flashlights and headlamps.
Plenty of food put by. Plenty of warm clothing. Generator and fuel in the wings.


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

We live at the end of the road. We have had regular outages. My wife has multiple health issues that require electricity. We invested in a whole house generator that is hard wired in. That is itself has been a life saver and stress reducer. We have back up heat, propane. I have another portable generator that can be used to charge a battery or anything like that that is away from the house or shop.
We have been with out power for up to 4 days, hauling water for the horses became a full time job when we had a power pole snap because of ice. We have plenty of food stored as well. I feel more confident now with the big generator. Dsmythe


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I have a wood stove BUT the chimney needs fixing and I don't see that happening this cold-weather season...
I also have a generator, but not sure if it is working as I haven't started it for months. 
I am just not keeping up with things, but do have a Mr. Buddy heater and propane tanks, plus a propane cook stove so guess I could muddle through in a short term outage.


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

I always assume that a power outage is going to be at least 24 hours long. I live in a big city in an apartment building and 24 hours is the longest outage I've had....so far. 
About three weeks ago the power did go out in the evening. No problem says I, I'll just get my emergency box which ALWAYS stays on a shelf just inside my front door. Except, I've been moving things along and it wasn't in its usual spot. Smacked myself on the forehead for that mistake. I do always keep a couple LED flashlights in the front closet and I used one of those to locate the box. 
Inside the box is a radio,with batteries packed separately, candles/matches, several "hot pockets" - hand warmers good for several hours. There's another flashlight too. Now I have light and can listen to what's going on. There's a good down duvet for warmth supplemented with the Hot Pockets if the outage is in winter. 

I always have two weeks worth of drinking water on hand, and enough food that doesn't need heating to keep me going for weeks.

Heating up food is a issue as it is illegal to keep propane/butane in our apartments. I've noticed some battery operated hot plates on the market lately and am debating getting one of those so that I can make a hot drink,or heat up soup. 

Our apartment building has back up generators which keep emergency lights on and one elevator going. The generator also keeps a low level heat going in our amenities room, which could be a good place to warm up a bit.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I used to "decorate with candles" in the AZ. mountains as the electricity would go out frequently and send me into never never land - never knew when it's come back on. 
Here, I use a headlamp. Close all the doors to the kitchen and family room. Hunker down in there with gas heat, gas stove and loads of books. Prefer using gas to the stack of wood outside. But it's there if needed.Since I'm a CERTS volunteer, I'm always prepared.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

alida said:


> I've noticed some battery operated hot plates on the market lately and am debating getting one of those so that I can make a hot drink,or heat up soup.


I wouldn't spend money on battery powered heaters.
It's not cost effective to generate heat electrically, and it would take huge batteries to get enough heat to do you any good.

You can cook with candles if you have foods that only need warming.
Just have a stand to hold a pot of water above the candles, and heat the food in zip lock bags. 

If you have enough candles to boil the water, you can make egg omelets that way


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

An alternative to candles would be an alcohol lamp or stove.

https://search.aol.com/aol/search?q=alcohol lamp or stove&s_it=loki-tb-sb

Sometimes you can find them at thrift stores with fondue pots.
(Which can also be used with votive candles.)


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

Bearfootfarm said:


> I wouldn't spend money on battery powered heaters.
> It's not cost effective to generate heat electrically, and it would take huge batteries to get enough heat to do you any good.
> 
> You can cook with candles if you have foods that only need warming.
> ...


 Thank you. I really think I should experiment cooking with a candle, to see how it works. I was looking at hotplates which run with batteries. Some claim to be good for up to three hours cooking time before the battery is run down completely. I don't believe that, but figure that if I could use the hotplate for 15 minutes at a time that would be enough to give me something hot to drink or eat for a couple days. Reviews on those hotplates vary significantly,so they're something I'm still pondering.
We used to use Votive candles to keep fondue pots hot when I was a teenager in the late seventies. I forgot all about that until now.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

As long as your food just needs warming versus actual cooking, it really doesn't take a lot of heat if you don't mind waiting and stirring.

The benefit of doing it in a pot of hot water and bags is you can heat multiple things and still use the water too.

I learned the omelet thing from a friend who invited us to her place for an "omelet party".
She had eggs and all the things anyone might want to add to an omelet, zip lock bags, and a big pot of boiling water set up buffet style. You put as many eggs as you like in the bag, add whatever extras and drop it in the water in the sealed bag. 

A few minutes later you have cooked eggs and a pot of hot water to wash all the utensils.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

First thing I do when the power goes out is to check my phone or computer and make sure those work (ie: no EMP)


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

I must look around for that hot plate Alida. was it at Canadian Tire? we are expecting a storm tonight. I have everything ready. flashlights, kerosene lanterns. wind up lanterns, radio. etc. etc. I have 2 campstoves but don't bother with them. I use the paste in a can since it's only me. if I can get a cup of tea or several i'll be fine. I wont if I can't get my tea though. 

even if the power goes out. never lasts long here. I'm on the main line and always the first to come back. couple hours is all. most it was ever out was about 12 hours years ago. I don't think I have a back up heat unless the gas fireplace works. but I can always huddle under a mountain of quilts until it's over.

i'm seriously thinking about a natural gas generator hooked up to my furnace. someone told me it was around 8000 or so. not sure if it's worth it for the few times the power is out but it would be a comfort I guess knowing it's there . ~Georgia


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

Newfieannie I saw some of those hotplates in a Outdoors camping type store which seemed more like a army surplus store. The only ones I've seen in CT and Home Depot are electric hotplates.


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## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

as an apartment dweller during Sandy and Irene et. al., still living in CT, I used a Sterno stove setup, and had no legal alternative heating source (which sucked), except for my first service dog, who learned to wear a blanket cape when his big ol butt wasn't piled up under blankets with the hand warmer packets with me.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Options for apartment living are slim. The wood stove is the best investment I ever made for power outages, which are common enough where I live that a back up plan is necessary.

If I was in the apartment predicament though, Id look into a few solar panels with deep cycle batteries for a small amount of electric power and then if I needed more, like for heat, see if a small generator like those new Honda's could be used out on a patio or balcony.
Not great, but better than nothing at all.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

ok that Sterno is what I'm calling cans of paste(I never know the proper names) that was what I used when the power was out when I had Andrew sick to look after also. they do give out some heat. I had 5 cans of that and 2 stoves. I cooked his eggs, bologna and whatnot on one and boiled the kettle on the other.

I used the smaller camping pans that I had in my bug out bag to cook with. I put it all on cookie sheets on top of the stove. i remember having him wrapped in quilts then and he said I was trying to smother him. in any case I kept him toasty warm. got through that storm with no problem. now I only got myself to look after and it's a breeze. most times in storms I don't bother to cook just boil the kettle for my tea. I got it all ready set up for tomorrow just in case ~Georgia


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## Hooligans (Jul 11, 2017)

Good stuff here. It's all worth thinking about. There are many possible solutions.


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## Hooligans (Jul 11, 2017)

The good thing is to be thinking about it and have something of a plan.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

I have a coal heating stove ,and spring water gravity fed . but i'm no stranger to power outages and with my nearest neighbor a mile away i'm at the end of power line .making me low o the list of repirs . the diesel generater is ready when I need it to keep the freezer n lights even the stove but I have a backup propane one I use for canning .the good thing about a diesel generater is the fuel stays good and if I run out the tractors got a tankfull too use . few yers go it went out for 2 weeks I a big snowstorm . some day ill set up not to need extension cords


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

farmrbrown said:


> then if I needed more, like for heat, see if a small generator like those new Honda's could be used out on a patio or balcony.
> Not great, but better than nothing at all.


If they can't have butane or propane stoves, I'm betting gas cans won't be allowed either.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Bearfootfarm said:


> If they can't have butane or propane stoves, I'm betting gas cans won't be allowed either.


Possibly, without knowing exactly what's prohibited, I can only make suggestions.
From her post, all that was certain was no storing of pressurized fuel containers inside the apartment......



alida said:


> Heating up food is a issue as *it is illegal to keep propane/butane in our apartments. *
> 
> 
> Our apartment building has back up generators which keep emergency lights on and one elevator going. The generator also keeps a low level heat going in our amenities room, which could be a good place to warm up a bit.


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## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

the generator/apartment thing. forgot to say at that point too I had a 1500 watt Xantrex portable power pack box. I blew it out finally after three years of the non stop storms. helped with at least keeping what I could charged. all of those storms were multiple no power days, over a week for a couple. 
I did have a full gas tank too in prep, so could charge some things that way.
I could charge the Xantrex from the vehicle too, but that was a giant PITA. you can use solar to charge it as well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005RHQQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## JohnP (Sep 1, 2010)

anniew said:


> The power went out today, and as usual I immediately think in terms of what I need to do IF it stays out a long time. Today it was in the low 30s, so my first thought was about heat alternatives. Luckily, the power came back on in less than two hours.
> 
> What do you think whenever your power goes out?
> Are you thinking it is just a temporary inconvenience, or are you thinking it might be a long term thing and your brain goes into overdrive? Is your first thought when you lose power that it might be for a loooong time or even a SHTF situation?


We live in the boonies and I keep up on the news so when the power goes out, don't think much of it. Pretty much means a tree fell on something or an old rotted electric pole snapped.
Our elec co has a web page that shows outages and we usually don't loose phone/dsl since it's run underground.

We recently lived off grid for 5-6 years with 3-4 of it being on this property. We still run 12vdc LED lights and have added 110vac LED bulbs. The 12vdc stuff is hooked up to our 8-9 year old golf cart batteries that everyone said would last two years for first timers on solar.

I guess having done without it for so long, it doesn't faze me much. I know exactly what life would be like without it. 

Technically, it would be different as our Xantrex C40, which was supposed to be bulletproof, died on us as did our inverter and I doubt those old batteries are 100%. I should probably replace the stuff but it's more than half of the system. Our 12vdc fridge died on us too but we could live without that. It would be nice to be able to run the 12vdc LEDs, inverter and 12vdc RV pump long term without a generator to charge up.


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## Lowe.Buuck (Jul 1, 2017)

alida said:


> Heating up food is a issue as it is illegal to keep propane/butane in our apartments. I've noticed some battery operated hot plates on the market lately and am debating getting one of those so that I can make a hot drink,or heat up soup.


First I would read the rules and rent/lease agreement again. Determine exactly what is not permitted. Compare the suggestions to what is allowed. Even though propane/butane are not allowed in the apartment, what about using them at your vehicle or in the parking lot?

I keep a JetBoil stove in my truck for emergencies. It wouldn't take long to heat up lunch and beat feet back indoors for a while. Alternatively Hibachi/grill and some briquettes or small white gas backpacking stove. If you have a southern exposure, solar may be an option. Sun Oven or a large Fresnel lens (off an old rear projection TV) will allow you to focus enough heat to cook with. As others have suggested, Sterno (jellied alcohol) or other alcohol burner. There are also solid fuel options like Trioxane tabs that we used to heat up rations when I was in the Army. If you just wanted to heat up some water, a hand full of sticks and a Kelly Kettle will do the job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When our power goes out, my first response is NOT to get out one of the generators. 

My first response is to get out a couple Coleman lanterns and a Coleman stove. Lanterns not only provide light but also produce a good amount of heat. Over the years companies have made adapters that attach on the top of a lantern to support a pan or coffee pot.

I have a few deep cycle batteries and a 12v portable TV if I want to catch the news.

My response is proportional to the amount of time the power is off and the season. In summer, refrigerator and freezer get draped in blankets to insulate them. In winter, food goes in coolers and moved to garage.

Generator only comes into use when furnace or freezer must be run. I have a limited amount of fuel on-hand for emergencies. Four 100# tanks and two 20# tanks of propane for cooking or running infrared heaters, 30-40 gallons of gasoline for the generators and eight gallons of Coleman Fuel. 

Last year I invested in a Honda EU2000i after measuring the power requirements of all items in the house. I can keep the furnace, lights, TV/computer, refrigerator, freezer and water heater running off just the Honda. It consumes far less fuel than running the larger generators. It can power anything in the house except the electric range.

I could run everything in the house off the larger generators, but do not keep enough fuel on hand to do that for more than a few days. The largest generator will run anything in my shop, except the welder at full output.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Alida, are kerosene or oil lamps illegal? What about Sterno cans? Those can be used both for heat and heating foods.

My first thought in a power outage is to shut off the toilet. I wouldn't want the storage tank to be drained by unnecessary flushing. The wood stove would take care of heat and warm food and drinks. Flashlights, candles and oil lamps are always nearby.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

For a hotplate you can buy a military style unit that uses fuel tabs cheap.

We have setup pretty good with a Generic propane genny, a free standing propane stove, gas stove in kitchen and our own well. We could run for 8 months using the genny 2 hrs a day to heat water for showers and washing up, and keeping the freezers cold. Stove to keep the house warm. I bought an extra 500 gallon propane tank to be on the safe side.

A 2nd gas genny to power the well and shop. An hour a day is all we need to run the well to do everything.

An 11 day power outage from a bad ice storm was a minor inconvenience for us.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

When the power goes out here, I address it in phases. First 4 to 6 hours I keep my cap light equipped hat on. After that I set up the generator truck for my 1 day to 4 week auxiliary power needs and prepare my generator powered fan if in warm weather or my 16 hour on a pound tank propane heaters in winter.

Regardless of the season, if the power outage is over 6 hours I set up the grill to cook on and set up the charging station for my blackout TV and radios.


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

I've just read and printed off all the suggestions from everyone and thank you so much! I knew nothing about sterno or fuel tabs before today and definitely want to explore that option further. As happens with many condos there are rules, sometimes too many, but I knew that when I bought so it's on me to work with them. I will re-read the bylaws, however the parts about propane/butane is in my mind since the Fire Department did it's annual inspection of common areas and we all received a fresh copy of the "do not" rules and laws.
I also like the idea of a oil lamp,which could provide a better light source. The camping/army surplus store I've been in is on my way into work. I'd like to stop in there with the suggestions and see what there is on offer. Thanks again everyone.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I can understand them not allowing propane/butane in a condo. I bought a fireplace shovel/poker/broom set from a woman who had lived in an apartment with a functional fireplace. One year while she was on vacation another resident decided to burn a bunch of trash in their fireplace and caught the building on fire. The woman I knew came back from vacation to find her lovely fireplace had been bricked over. At least her unit had nothing more than a bit of smoke smell.


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## Pschmidt (Dec 31, 2017)

We haven't moved out to our homestead place yet, but it would be better equipped than my current place. Luckily, it's only 5 miles away. Most of my stuff from my van-living days is out there, so we have the Mr. Buddy heater and propane for heat, enough for a week, currently. Also have a small butane single burner stove and some cannisters to heat up food. A small folding solar panel to charge some usb devices. There is also a generator ready to go for any bigger electrical needs. It would kind of be like camping out there currently. House we are currently in we are screwed.

We are in the works to add out there a big propane tank with propane stove and a wall mounted radiant propane heater for heat. That would take care of heat and cooking. Considering a propane on demand water heater. The well runs on electricity, so would need to store up enough water. The generator could be ran a few hours a day to keep things cold in the fridge/freezer. Back up batteries for the radio. I'd like to find some oil lamps or kerosene lamps, though. And still tossing around the idea of a wood stove, just reading too many conflicting arguments of installing them in a mobile home. Would be nice to put to use some downed trees out there.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

1. Kerosene lights, including Aladdin lamps and a Petromax lantern, will keep our home bright.

2. Woodburning fireplace and several years of firewood will keep our home warm.

3. Outdoor hand pump well will keep our home supplied with plenty of water.

4. Our natural gas range works without electricity.


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## Meinecke (Jun 30, 2017)

We were preppers in Germany already and since we moved to the states with it "intersting" infrastructure, we learned that power outages are real (never had on in 30 years in Germany that i dont caused myself smile)
So with the first down, we got a generator and pellet stove (including UPS for grid independent usage) with always at least a week of fuel, well water storage, canned and dry food for weeks in water tight container (keyword month box http://survival.4u.org/vorraete/monats-tonne-neu-2010.htm).
Candles are more for fun and mood but no real light source for us...
So longest outage so far was 5 days after sandy, and besides the lack of a hot shower, we had a great time and did not even miss coffee...smile


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Times have changed, kerosene is very expensive anymore. I lived without electric much of 1980s and used kerosene lamps and small propane refrigerator from old RV. Wood heat of course.

But 2009, had mother of all ice storms and my electric out all February. ALL MONTH and I wasnt really set up for such. Though I heat with wood stove and cook with propane so those werent a worry. Discovered kerosene lamps no longer economical, kerosene very expensive, nobody sells it in bulk around here, only in pre packaged 5 gallon cans. hooked up an old car alternator to lawn mower engine to charge a battery. That was cheaper. Since then bought a 800watt 2cycle generator from HF. Got it for $35 cause it had leg broken off. I just welded up a cradle for it. That thing with light to moderate load go 5 hour on gallon gas. You can do quite a lot with 800watt plus have bright light with LED or fluorescent bulbs.

Wont be bright light, but if you set it up right, LED plus alkaline batteries can go long time in emergency. Here is one of those articles about adding resistor to cheap flashlight to get very long runtimes, with less light of course, but as they say better to light one candle than curse the darkness. https://survivallife.com/increase-flashlight-run-time/ Or get those $2 solar marker lights and put them outside during day to charge and bring them in at night for light. Not big light but not lot different than regular kerosene lamp. The Aladdin kerosene lamps are lot brighter but also burn lot more fuel. No free lunch, just like Aladdin uses more kerosene, brighter flashlight uses up battery lot quicker.

Oh if you do need way to cook in emergency they have little camp stoves that burn twigs and pine cones. I have one, works fairly well but have to replenish fuel fairly often to keep temp up. Still free fuel for the collecting..... Only use it outdoors or setting in a fireplace.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

lots of good ideas here.
but a word of caution.
those propane burners can kill you.
every year here in wisc , someone dies in an ice shack while fishing because of CO2.. provide plenty of fresh air while using one of those..
we don't have many power outages here. in the summer I worry a bit because we have a few freezers and refrigerators. 
.....jiminwisc......


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

Here in Florida, if the power goes out for an unknown reason, it is usually back on before long. If a " Hurricanado " passes by, I know it may take several days to restore. I have a smaller stand-by generator for long term use. It will NOT power the entire house. A large generator may burn 3-4 gallons of gas PER HOUR !! 
I start the smaller 3KW genset, & move into my master bedroom. I use extension cords to that room, with bath, & can live quite well in there. I have a small window unit a/c , or small electric heater, fan, light, small TV, to keep me comfortable. Every so often, I will unplug the A/C/[ or heat ] , & take the cord into the kitchen to run the fridge, til it gets cold, again. Also, can use microwave, coffee pot like that, but I run only one at a time. Small generator uses about 1/2 gallon of gas per hour, & I have done this a week at a time, in the past. Only thing missing is hot water, but I have a camp shower set up outside to use in my carport.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Esteban29304 said:


> A large generator may burn 3-4 gallons of gas PER HOUR !!


My 5500 watt would run 8 hours on 5 gallons

My Honda EU2000i will run 12 hours on less than 1 gallon.
The key is to only run the things you have to.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Our normally grid feed solar has battery backup, so I walk out in the garage, flip the 100amp transfer switch from 'grid' to 'off grid' and we have enough power to run the basics (lights/refrigeration/etc) as long as the sun shines in the next few days. 8kw and 4kw gasoline backup generators to charge the batteries if the sun doesn't shine. Plenty of stored gasoline (varies from 400-900 gallons depending on state of fill of 500gal farm tank)

Heat with wood, 2-3yrs always cut ahead.

Propane water heater and stove...keep several year's worth on hand.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

Wife keeps at me to get a generator, I can't see the need of it. We heat with wood and can cook on it if need be. Keep a propane lantern and camp stove for when the electric goes out. Power usually goes down in the winter, if it looks like it's going to be down for a while we just load things into coolers and put it outside.
If it happened during warmer weather and I thought it would be for an extended period of time we'd can what we had in the freezer. I am thinking about a pumpable addition to the well head though.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

gilberte said:


> we'd can what we had in the freezer


Do you really want to can everything in your freezer on a "camp stove" when a generator could provide you power to keep from having to do all that extra work?

It won't take long for one to pay for itself through food saved if there's ever a long term outage.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Do you really want to can everything in your freezer on a "camp stove" when a generator could provide you power to keep from having to do all that extra work?
> 
> It won't take long for one to pay for itself through food saved if there's ever a long term outage.


It depends how long your electric is down and the value of the food. Devil is always in details. I made decision quick back in 2009 that food in my smallish chest freezer wasnt worth extraordinary measures long term. Especially since I didnt own a generator at the time. I would quickly spend more on generator and fuel for it than the value of the food. but guess depends what you have in your freezer. Now anymore with that 800 watt generator, running it 5 hours a day on gallon gas assuming I had assess to gas (took me three days just to chainsaw my way out my driveway), probably keep freezer cold, plus could power some lights, etc. while doing it. Definitely worth it short term, though if it looked like another PR type thing where it was going to be months, then I would try to use up or can food soon as possible. A big freezer would need bigger generator of course.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

HermitJohn said:


> A big freezer would need bigger generator of course.


I can run a refrigerator/freezer, a large upright freezer, my computer and TV with power to spare on a 1600 watt (actual output) generator that uses less than 1 gallon in 12 hours.

It would take days of canning time to do all the food stored.


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

About 2005, we had several " Hurricanados," pass over Florida. Everyone was scrambling for a generator, of any size. My little 2500 watt purred right along. A friend just had to have one that powered his whole house, so he bought a 15KW gas . The next time he had a power outage, he was scrambling for gasoline !! None to be had around here.


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## Ziva (Aug 22, 2018)

anniew said:


> The power went out today, and as usual I immediately think in terms of what I need to do IF it stays out a long time. Today it was in the low 30s, so my first thought was about heat alternatives. Luckily, the power came back on in less than two hours. What do you think whenever your power goes out? Are you thinking it is just a temporary inconvenience, or are you thinking it might be a long term thing and your brain goes into overdrive? Is your first thought when you lose power that it might be for a loooong time or even a SHTF situation?


Like others, I first call the emergency number of my electric co-op to see what kind of outtage it is. However, I have prepared as if it will go out forever: 500 gallon propane tank; propane fireplace; propane range/oven; a whole house transfer system and a 12,000KW generator. My generator is a duel fuel standby, not a "whole house" generator. IMuch, much cheaper than a whole house one. live on top of a mountain and the electricity goes out often. I have a well so I needed the pump to be powered, thus a large genny. I just plug the transfer box to the generator and voila! I'm up and running. It's like plugging your RV into the power pole. Hope this helps.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Simply DIY heat source
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" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> I can run a refrigerator/freezer, a large upright freezer, my computer and TV with power to spare on a 1600 watt (actual output) generator that uses less than 1 gallon in 12 hours.
> 
> It would take days of canning time to do all the food stored.


How many hours to earn the money to buy the fancy generator? Cheap 2000 watt generators dont go 12 hour on a gallon of gas. Dont last particularly long time either. Figure all the costs, not just the energy.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

HermitJohn said:


> How many hours to earn the money to buy the fancy generator? *Cheap* 2000 watt generators dont go 12 hour on a gallon of gas. *Dont last* particularly long time either. *Figure all the costs*, not just the energy.


The generator was about $1000.

I probably could have gotten one cheaper from a pawn shop, but my old one died and I didn't want to hunt around to save a little money. 

*I don't buy cheap junk and then spend time complaining about how poorly it performs.
*
During Hurricane Florence, I ran it for 122 hours on 10.5 gallons of gas.
It starts with one or two pulls and my wife can do it with one hand.

The generator should last for many years, so the cost can be prorated.

10 gallons of gas will vary in cost, but I don't moan over every single penny like some do.

I value the convenience and security the generator provides more than working myself to death trying to can *hundreds* of pounds of food in the dark, in the middle of a hurricane.

Figure all the costs yourself.

Stress is a cost.
Sacrificing good steaks for boiled meat is a "cost".
Canning indoors with no AC is a "cost" when there's a tropical storm in progress.

Your main concern always seems to be what is "cheapest".
Mine is being comfortable and safe.

I can afford to spend the money, and it's not good for anything else.

Being prepared isn't about how *little *can I spend to survive.
It's about "how do I *want* *to live* while surviving".


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## ridgerunner1965 (Apr 13, 2013)

when the power goes out I roll over and go back to sleep. I can deal with it in the morning.

the wood stove will always do its job like it always has. its warm and dry here. ive been thru so many power outtages its not a big deal.

crazy how we have it so much better than our fore fathers.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Your main concern always seems to be what is "cheapest".
> Mine is being comfortable and safe.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Bearfootfarm said:


> As long as your food just needs warming versus actual cooking, it really doesn't take a lot of heat if you don't mind waiting and stirring.
> 
> The benefit of doing it in a pot of hot water and bags is you can heat multiple things and still use the water too.
> 
> ...


I never heard of this but will try it. I am always looking for alternative ways to do things.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

So far this winter there has only been one power outage here that lasted 5 hours. Some how Nova Scotia Power is linked to New Brunswick power. New Brunswick has colder weather and more power outages than we do so when their power went they tapped into NS Power and OPPS! Out went lights for thousands of Nova Scotians! We were lucky because our outage was a few hours. Some places it was lights out for days.

When we bought this older house trailer its one redeeming feature was a partial basement with a big wood stove. Bill has heat piped through the heat vents upstairs. It would be warm enough but we could go down in the basement and keep really warm and cook on the wood stove. I can't have oil lamps because of allergies but I bought led lights that run on AA batteries which I stocked up on. At the farm our tiny cabin has a wood stove and solar lights. In a long term outage I think I would rather be there . At the trailer I keep water in a five gallon jug and a bucket of water in the tub to use to flush the toilet in an emergency. There are also a few bottles filled for cooking and drinking. Right now we have a couple of small freezers which I want to eliminate eventually. Plan to go back to only dehydrating and bottling food that won't keep in cold storage. Because we prepare for winter anyway food is always available. It is a good cozy feeling when power goes out and traffic slows and people actually go outside as long as it isn't too cold and talk to and check up on each other. Kind of reminds me way back when I was a child a long time ago!


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

We keep two five gallon buckets out in the garage. One full of cedar wood chips and the other has an available toilet seat, no water needed ('cept fer washin' yer hands of course)


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

I live out in the boonies on co-op power, so outages are real common. Long isolated lines and lots of trees. We are looking at another winter storm warning tonight, with maybe a foot of heavy wet snow and high winds - so this is timely. 

I'll run some water ahead for the kitchen and hand washing, fill up one of the bathtubs with water for flushing, the dogs and outside stock, because without power, the stock tanks will eventually freeze to the bottom. I hate mucking around with a genny, so it would have to be a real long outage before I fired up and pumped water that way.

We have a propane free-standing fireplace that doesn't need electricity to run and a 500 gallon tank - which heats up the whole house, and my kitchen oven and stovetop are propane pilot, so work the same whether there is power or not. Half the year (right now), I don't worry about refrigerator/freezer, because the whole outdoors is a freezer. 

I have plenty of light sources, (oil lamps - both flat, round and Aladdin wick are a hobby of mine, along with a couple of vintage antique round-wick kero heaters), plus lots of battery lanterns, headlamps, etc. and SAFE candles...burned in a jar inside of a hurricane chimney or vase set-up.

Also, will charge the small electronics today - cell phone, tablets, laptop - and have a good sized UPS (uninterrupted power supply battery unit) to power the house wi-fi router/modem which takes very little power and will give me internet for days if used wisely. Battery radios, weather radios, and a battery powered scanner for news and info always handy. With the land-line phone, I always keep a couple of old-school phones that work without grid power.

The other thing I like to do is wash up all the dishes and get the laundry taken care of before a storm hits. 
I dunno - have been doing this "planning ahead" thing for decades, and manage to sail through most stuff very comfortably.


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## ridgerunner1965 (Apr 13, 2013)

the worst power outattge I was ever thru was in hot weather. cold weather is no prob at all. the freezers are out in the cold sheds. I run the gen a hr a day to keep them up. wood stove makes it comfortable.

however in hot weather its a diff story.but in 53 yrs ive only been thru 1 hot weather outage.


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## happy hermits (Jan 2, 2018)

Power goes out often where we are. We heat with a woodstove so we are good there. We have a small generator to run on the freezers if it is out to long. I try to run water in the ice chest with the drain on it for the kitchen needs if I think it is going. I fill a couple five gallon buckets in the bath tub. We have a big buddy propane space heater we can put in the cool room to keep the food from freezing(worked to hard to have it all freeze) As for the animals we have to go across the road to the creek and haul water for them. We have two propane cook stoves so we can light the burners with a match and still cook. We do well with no electric.


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## sweetbabyjane (Oct 21, 2002)

"I try to run water in the ice chest with the drain on it for the kitchen needs if I think it is going"
Excellent idea, happy hermits!

SBJ


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

We heat with an outdoor boilerso everything must run on that. We have a 9000 watt cont run. With fuel on hand for a week. We have some back up too. Lost power for 11 days in Jan before. Count on it


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

sweetbabyjane said:


> "I try to run water in the ice chest with the drain on it for the kitchen needs if I think it is going"
> Excellent idea, happy hermits!
> 
> SBJ


 For hand washing, I also like to keep a couple of those big laundry soap jugs (with the red push spigot) full of water to set by the sink. They are also great to take camping for the same purpose.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

newfieannie said:


> ok that Sterno is what I'm calling cans of paste(I never know the proper names) that was what I used when the power was out when I had Andrew sick to look after also.


My only experience with cans of Sterno was when I helped out a friend by driving their catering truck, they had 4 or 5 cans of sterno in a heating cabinet keeping food warm and it seemed like it was sucking the oxygen out of the van. I had to open the windows and stick my head out to breath. So be very careful around sterno.


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## Olpoop (Jul 8, 2012)

gilberte said:


> Wife keeps at me to get a generator, I can't see the need of it. We heat with wood and can cook on it if need be. Keep a propane lantern and camp stove for when the electric goes out. Power usually goes down in the winter, if it looks like it's going to be down for a while we just load things into coolers and put it outside.
> If it happened during warmer weather and I thought it would be for an extended period of time we'd can what we had in the freezer. I am thinking about a pumpable addition to the well head though.



No generator here either. The wife and I have never had one, and have no plans to get one unless one of us develops a medical condition that requires electrical equipment. We cook (very minimal during an outage) and heat with natural gas (wood backup), and cool with natural shade and 12VDC fans. Water is municipal, so we depend on personal water storage. We play Cribbage, crack pecans, or sew with treadle and handcrank sewing machines to pass the time. Maybe spin a few old 78 records on Grandma’s old wind-up portable player. Lighting is solar garden lights, AA flashlights, and oil lamps, but we usually just go to bed not too long after it gets dark.

We don’t count on frozen food for our long-term food storage at all, so we don’t have expensive food in our freezers (side-by-side and full-size upright). The freezers have mostly bottled ice and chocolate bars and chocolate chips in them (LOL). We keep very little raw frozen food. If we have an extended outage and everything thaws out, we’ll cook some and give our security detail (two dogs and a cat) a nice feast of the rest. We have both a water-bath and pressure canners that we could use over our wood fire outdoors, but we don’t plan on canning much of anything. Our food loss wouldn’t exceed $300-400 if we lost everything, and we haven’t ever had a food loss from an outage in 43 years.

We went 5 days back in December of 2015 with our fresh food in a cooler outside and left the freezers alone in a non-heated kitchen. Ambient temperature outside was around 30 degrees (F) during the day and colder at night. We watched the drain hose sticking out from under the freezer for interior temperature condition and never opened the door. We got a small puddle of water on the 5th day (in 2015), but then the power came back on. We didn’t lose any of the raw frozen food. (The chocolate wasn’t melted either.)

I think everyone’s situation will be different. If we lived in hurricane country, we’d probably have a generator (maybe two of them and fuel storage) because flooding keeps the utility workers from getting to the damage to repair it. We believe that ice storm, fire, and tornado are our most likely threats (shorter duration events), so with everything except refrigeration fairly well covered, we intend to go without a generator, and without refrigeration.

CD in Oklahoma


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## Faith1234 (Feb 10, 2019)

anniew said:


> The power went out today, and as usual I immediately think in terms of what I need to do IF it stays out a long time. Today it was in the low 30s, so my first thought was about heat alternatives. Luckily, the power came back on in less than two hours.
> 
> What do you think whenever your power goes out?
> Are you thinking it is just a temporary inconvenience, or are you thinking it might be a long term thing and your brain goes into overdrive? Is your first thought when you lose power that it might be for a loooong time or even a SHTF situation?


My family say that I over think everything, but I like to be ready for anything that happens. I got a Coleman stove I got at a yard sale and have about 8 full thanks for it. We have gas heat so we never run out of heat. I have several bins of lighting sources candles, flashlights, lamps, headlamps and batteries. Plus I have several oil lamps. I store plenty of blankets just in case and lots and lots of water for different uses and food and coffee to go months without an worries. Plus I have a generator with gas. Plus a well stocked first aid kit. You never know when someone is going to need help. Plus plenty of books I love to read and it keeps me busy when there is no lights.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

During the Winter we already are heating the house with our woodtsove, and most weekends we have a pot of stew/chili/simmering vegetables on the top of the woodstove. I have many flashlights , and several oil hurricane lamps. I keep 20-30 gallons of clean drinkable water in the stout plastic gallon jugs from Arnold Palmer tea. We do have a hot tub on the back porch that has 700 gallons in it for flushing toilets into our septic tank. There is always a freezer full of food and a large pantry full of cans/supplies.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I am always surprised at the amount of stuff some people have, but I also wonder if the OPSEC idea that some have isn't used much.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

anniew said:


> The power went out today, and as usual I immediately think in terms of what I need to do IF it stays out a long time. Today it was in the low 30s, so my first thought was about heat alternatives. Luckily, the power came back on in less than two hours.
> 
> What do you think whenever your power goes out?
> Are you thinking it is just a temporary inconvenience, or are you thinking it might be a long term thing and your brain goes into overdrive? Is your first thought when you lose power that it might be for a loooong time or even a SHTF situation?


.....................................................................
.....................I'm thinking , IF's it's in August I'm not going to open the Frig. door so as to maintain the cold temps inside . Food , can spoil very quickly in summer ! After about 1 hour I'm going to power up my generator cause it's awfully hot in a 5th. wheel during the summer months . During spring or fall power outages aren't so bad , in any case I can always fall back on my genset If it lasts very long ! , fordy


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## Falfrenzy (Aug 20, 2018)

anniew said:


> I am always surprised at the amount of stuff some people have, but I also wonder if the OPSEC idea that some have isn't used much.


On this forum, or around their neighbors?


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## Falfrenzy (Aug 20, 2018)

alida said:


> I always assume that a power outage is going to be at least 24 hours long. I live in a big city in an apartment building and ....
> 
> I always have two weeks worth of drinking water ...


I commend you for this. Remember that your bathtub(if your apartment has one) can be used to store a large amount of water in a short period of time.
How much water per day did you calculate to stock up on 2 weeks worth?


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

Falfrenzy said:


> I commend you for this. Remember that your bathtub(if your apartment has one) can be used to store a large amount of water in a short period of time.
> How much water per day did you calculate to stock up on 2 weeks worth?


I spent some time on websites, both government and prepper types, and followed the pretty consistent recommendations, which was 1 gallon per day, minimum, so that's what I store, plus 5 more just because I have a bit of extra space now. That 1 gallon per day is based on using it judiciously when there's no water available, half for drinking, half for personal care. I do rotate the jugs, use one, and replace it so the water is always fresh. I spent part of my life on a farm with a well that didn't ever go dry,but did get low some summers. We learned to use water carefully.

I also always have any number of 1 liter/quart tetra paks of drinks such as almond milk,tomato juice and the like which I can use to stretch out the water for drinking.

If I know that there's a storm and warnings about possible outages I do fill several pails with water too. (tub isn't a option).


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

Falfrenzy said:


> On this forum, or around their neighbors?


both....


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## Falfrenzy (Aug 20, 2018)

alida said:


> I spent some time on websites, both government and prepper types, and followed the pretty consistent recommendations, which was 1 gallon per day, minimum, so that's what I store, plus 5 more just because I have a bit of extra space now. That 1 gallon per day is based on using it judiciously when there's no water available, half for drinking, half for personal care. I do rotate the jugs, use one, and replace it so the water is always fresh. I spent part of my life on a farm with a well that didn't ever go dry,but did get low some summers. We learned to use water carefully.
> 
> I also always have any number of 1 liter/quart tetra paks of drinks such as almond milk,tomato juice and the like which I can use to stretch out the water for drinking.
> 
> If I know that there's a storm and warnings about possible outages I do fill several pails with water too. (tub isn't a option).


Are you remembering to calculate the flushing of a toilet in that daily figure? If your area doesn't have a gravity feed water tower, or even a frozen water main in your building, you could find yourself without a water for a little while. 

I prefer the 2 Gallon per day figure, but have the luxury of going outside to take care of my business most of the time. I have debated building an outhouse for spring, late fall and mild winter usage. The wasps and spiders would dominate it during summer months presumably.

For the men out there, a washed out gallon antifreeze jug is the perfectly ergonomically designed urination container, that horizontal handle is perfectly suited for one-handing it.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Who flushes the toilet when you have no water? Go by the old mantra "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". We had 3 days without power once. (so thankful it was only 3 days, have to have electric to run the well pump) Used a bucket with hardwood pellets as a toilet for urine.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

CKelly78z said:


> During the Winter we already are heating the house with our woodtsove, and most weekends we have a pot of stew/chili/simmering vegetables on the top of the woodstove. I have many flashlights , and several oil hurricane lamps. I keep 20-30 gallons of clean drinkable water in the stout plastic gallon jugs from Arnold Palmer tea. *We do have a hot tub on the back porch that has 700 gallons in it for flushing toilets into our septic tank. *There is always a freezer full of food and a large pantry full of cans/supplies.


We did the same when we had the above ground pool for the kids.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Danaus29 said:


> Who flushes the toilet when you have no water?


It depends on the circumstances.

If you plan ahead you can have water stored for that purpose and it wouldn't even have to be potable water as long as it's not trashy. Running it through a single cloth filter could make it usable.

Most people who have a house have room for some rain barrels or large trash cans to store emergency water.


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## alida (Feb 8, 2015)

Falfrenzy said:


> Are you remembering to calculate the flushing of a toilet in that daily figure? If your area doesn't have a gravity feed water tower, or even a frozen water main in your building, you could find yourself without a water for a little while.
> 
> I live in a high rise condo where all of the water pipes,for bathrooms and kitchens are located towards the middle of the building (nothing along the outside walls). I'm not as concerned about freezing pipes,including the water main, though it could happen I suppose if there was a real deep freeze. With my space limitations I can only store so much and use it carefully.
> Today we had significant wind storms through Southern Ontario with a lot of outages reported. I didn't have to deal with a outage this time,but I was ready.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

This house is just a bit bigger than a tiny house so there isn't much room to store barrels of water indoors in case of a power failure. Even less room when you can't possibly store the water outside due to subfreezing temperatures. Of course if necessity indicated we always have the option of pulling water from the creek, provided the creek isn't frozen and the hill isn't icy.


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## jimLE (Apr 18, 2018)

The longest we were without electric was 12 to 24 hours if i figure right.then a tornado tuched down in the summer of 2016.no damage to the home.but we were without electric for 3 days.so i plan around that when electric goes off.i have oil lamps and candles. For. Winter use..and battery operated lanterns for summer use.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

It's always a good idea to have a LIFESTRAW or two, to run river water through to drink.


Adwww.lifestraw.com


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## jimLE (Apr 18, 2018)

Thats only if you got a river close by..lol


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

CKelly78z said:


> It's always a good idea to have a LIFESTRAW or two, to run river water through to drink.
> 
> 
> Adwww.lifestraw.com


Don't need one. We have this.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

CF, does two-kid power equal one old feller power?


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## Grafton County Couple (Sep 20, 2018)

Since moving to NH some 30 yrs ago, most outages have occurred in winter with power restored within 24hrs. Longest outage was close to 48hrs. When the power goes out we call/report the outage & check on our elder neighbors down the road. After that, we accomplish what we can during daylight and/or turn in early at night. Our early experiences in NH taught us to be 'be prepared'.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

The old homestead has a wood boiler that does not need a pump. The heated water circulates on its own, since hot water rises. The kitchen cook stove needs nothing but wood. Just outside the back door is the well, with a self priming hand pump.

Originally the house had a 6 volt system and I still have a box of 6 volt lights. The 6 volt wind generator is long gone, so for SHTF long term use, I'd need a few batteries and a small wind generator. Otherwise sit in the dark.

But in the long term, I'd soon run out of gasoline for the chainsaw. Without a quantity of fuel for cooking and heat, I'm screwed.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

I know I am late to this party, 
but my opinion goes like this, I think a generator is a excellent way to go (at first), most homes now are set up to be on grid, everything is dependant on electrical power, water, heat, communications, and so on, 

but then come up with workable plans for emergency or auxiliary heat, may be developed it the main source or at least can be a main source of heat, 

water, some way of providing or acquiring by alternate means than electricity, (or if that is not a possibility save the generator for water needs, fuel will not last forever, generators suck fule like there is no tomorrow, and if things get drug out for some time, there will be little fuel around, (back in 1977 we had a snow ice storm and took the power out for over 30 days, gasoline was .62 cents a gallon and my Dad spent over $300 on fuel and it was not ran only in daylight and a bit in the evening, this was a 4000 watt generator,

lighting, to day we have leds and can or could be battery ran, but having some good camping lanterns and or colman pressure type for lighting, I know some of the led camping lanterns will still be putting out light after two weeks of continuous use, 
the decorative kerosene or oil lamps really don't put out a lot of light, 
to day solar and leds, one could fairly easily and without a lot of money spent, set up a lighting system that could be used on a regular basis that would provide lighting needs for a homestead, 


one will still want or may even need a generator even after doing some of the other enhancements, 
the more one does and makes it livable (with comfort) the easier it will be to go in to and do well during a power disruption, 

(example, on my place, I put in a 9000 gallon water storage tank, and it will gravity feed the place, (not great pressure) but it is running water, had a windmill, but it go damaged in a extreme wind and needs repair,

heat, have had a wood stove since 1980, and it can heat the whole house, for a few years we did heat the entire house with wood, I did put in a 98% efficient furnace, but my guess is it runs less than 10%, and we added two small ventless infrared heaters, and found a 1000 gallon propane tank to run them,
we found a kitchen range that can be lite with power if needed, and the oven as well,
also have a propane grill, and a wet leg on one of the large propane tanks to be able to refill the 20 lb tanks, 
generators, I have 4 now, the old one my dad had in the 1977 storm, had to put a new engine on it, wore it out in the storm, then I found a 30kw three phase, head, (have three phase in the shop), had a old engine off a old combine, I mated up to it, and works great, some years back I found a LP kit for a fork lift and the generators run on LP, now, but still can run on gasoline, I wanted the 20/30kw generator so it would put out enough power to run the welder in the shop if needed, a few years back I bought a used portable welder that has a 10,000 watt ac generator in it,
(had a engine problem in the middle of a project, so I bought a new welder, and it has a 11,000 watt output, 

If I had it to do over I would most likely have just bought the welder/generator, (and possibly put a LP conversion on it), but since the new welder is on the truck, not the most practical to have it LP, but if it was all I had I would consider it , and make sure the truck was parked by the transfer switch when storm warnings were such, and set a LP tank up with a hose and fittings to run it if needed, 
but since I have the other generators all ready no need to do away with them, 

with this last storm, the bomb cyclone last week,I think it was called, we filled the water tank, and come in and waited it out, knowing things were fine even if we did loose power for some time, it happened we did not lose power, (only two power blinks).


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## Pack Rat (Nov 9, 2006)

When the power goes out here, I put another piece of wood in the stove, finish cooking my meal, and think: Hmmm. The neighbors are gonna be asking to borrow gas for their genny if it doesn't come back on in a few days.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

When the power goes out, I can't help but think that well, we're all equal again.


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## In The Woods (Apr 27, 2017)

We live in a very rural area in the big woods. Power outages are common.

We actually have more outages in the summer months than winter due to trees falling on the lines. There is just no way for them to clear enough right-of-way so the 100’ trees won’t fall on the lines.

We kept a lot of our stuff from when we lived off grid. Aladdin and kerosene lanterns etc. We have a spring for water that is 20’ from the porch. For heat we have a wood stove - not used anymore except for power outages - keep a couple full cord of firewood on hand.

When the power goes out here it is either for 2 hours or 24 hours it seems. We are quite comfortable with everything we have. Since we now have an electric stove I bought a small propane camp stove and a couple bottles of propane so I can make coffee with the percolator.

All has been fine over the years except the last few years when the power went out in the summer. It always seems to be those days when it is oppressive - 100% humidity - so bad you sweat just sitting still. The weather has changed over the years. We never needed A/C before but now it is a necessity. So I bought a small generator a few years ago just so I can run an A/C unit. I hate having to store gasoline but couldn’t find an affordable small diesel generator. I have bulk diesel storage for my tractor plus 1000 gallon tank of heating fuel.

So we do fine - power outages are expected here. My best little thing I have is my Kindle Paperwhite - it will hold a charge for weeks. I always have at least 50 books in it - keeps my occupied.


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