Surviving Winter Storms...No Power, No Heat, No Problem!

Photos

weather storm power out-Photo-06

see larger image

uploaded by Jawa Lunk

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jawa Lunk | add comment

Being a resident of Michigan my entire life, there is one thing that i have grown accustomed to, and that is crazy weather!

I have literally experienced single digit temps with snow one day, 57°F temps the next with rain, which then dropped to 35°F temps by night.

Th Great Lakes really play havoc with the weather system over our beautiful state.

I have lived through more tornado's than I can count, I have also seen at least half a dozen with my own eyes before I was a teen, have had countless power outages, and witnessed the devastation that some of these tornado's can do to a city in 10 minutes.

With losing your power, in the summer is not really a big deal.

It has happened to me 40+ times in my life.

But in the winter, this raises the stakes, especially if you have children.

I have experienced power loss in the winter quite a few times, and my wife and I have 6 children, so we have over the years developed a game plan that works, and I would like to share this with everyone, especially since we spent nearly the entire day yesterday without power.

Thankfully the temp was about 57°F for most of the day, so it was easy to keep warm.

But we go through the same routine whenever there is a power outage.

Here are some tips...

Videos

power outages-Video-01

see larger video

sourced by Jawa Lunk

• 

  Created by Jawa Lunk | add comment

• 

  Created by Jawa Lunk | add comment

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU LOSE POWER

1) Check your fuse box first.  Don't assume because all the power went at once in your house that it's a city wide outage.  Sometimes a surge through the system can trip your MAIN and kill the power to your entire house.

2) If you happen to see a downed powerline outside your home, STAY AWAY FROM IT...it will kill you if you touch it or even get near it.  Electricity CAN travel through wet grass, puddles and even the ground!

3) Look at your neighbors to see if they have power.  It's a good thing to check, because if you are the only one without power, and your fusebox isn't tripped, then you have a serious problem, and I don't recommend you wait it out inside your house.  An electrical fire in a home is one of the more common causes of fire.

4) If you and your neighbors are without power, call your power company.  Don't just assume they know the power is out.  I once waited nearly an entire day before I called, and apparently everyone in my neighborhood assumed someone else must have called or the power company knew...and they didn't because no one had called.

WHAT TO DO TO PREVENT LOSING POWER

There are a few steps you can take to help prevent losing power during storms.

1) remove dead or dying branches from trees close to lines.  The high winds and heavey snow can cause these to fall and break lines giong into your house.

2) Keep extra fuses just in case the problem is your fuse box.  Sometimes when a fuse is tripped, it wont reset.

You should also take steps BEFORE you lose power as well...

1) Assemble an emergency kit that is easily accessible.  It should include the following...

• battery powered radio
• flashlight with extra batteries
• candles
• lighters
• first aid kit
• fire extinguisher
• bottled water

Keep your pantry full with canned goods, and bottled water (which can be stored for up to 1 year), and remember to get a MANUAL can opener! 

Also, keep your cell phone handy, sometimes phones go down with the power.

To keep warm you should do what me and my family do.

We choose a medium sized room, and using thumbtacks cover all the doors and windows with blankets.  This will help insulate the room.

We then bring all of our bedding into the room as well in case we have to spend a night or two.  Doing this right away save you from having to do it later when it is dark and colder in the other parts of the house.  PLUS evertime you enter or leave the enclosed area, you are losing precious heat!

We also use a small propane heater.

These are not recommended for tents or small enclosed areas, so make sure if you are using one to keep warm, you only us it to take the chill out of the room, not to keep the room 70°F.  remember, the idea is to not feeze, it isn't to make the room so warm you don't have to bundle up.

These heaters do use up oxygen, so use them sparringly, and choose a bigger room to stay in during the storm.

We use our front room in our victorian home which has very high ceilings.  It was easy to keep the room a comfortable 68°F just by running the heater for a few minutes.

We also keep many extra tanks as well.

What's nice about the heater we have, is it was designed for camping, so it can lay on it's back and you can cook on it!

This has come in handy more than once!

And be sure to layer your cloathing, and keep your blankets handy!

Something else you should consider...

Unplug or turn off your appliances.

A lot of times when the power company is trying to get the power back up, surges go through the system, and may destroy your stuff.

Keep your fridge and freezer closed!  A closed fridge can keep cold for 12 hours.  A freezer kept closed can preserve your food for 2 days!

Obviously gas furnaces will not operate when the power is out because the fans and ignitors need electricity.

BUT, your gas water heater still works!

If you have site water like us, we could still run hot water, take showers, flush toilets, with no problem.

But if you have an electric water heater, you are limited to the water that is in your tank at the time of power loss, and it wont stay hot long without electricity.

If you have well water, you wont get much either.  Without electricity, you only have enough water until the pressure runs out.  So use it wisely!

Fill containers with water if you do not already have some.

Some people have plugged the tub and filled it with what water they could get from thier pressure, and used it for bathing and flushing the toilet.

Last but NOT LEAST...something to do for the kids!

If you don't do this step and you have kids...you may go mad.

Keep a stack of card and board games especially for this event.  Something they don't have access to unless the power is out, otherwise they will be board before you even begin.

I made a guitar for my youngest daughter during our outage.

I recycle stuff, so it was easy to throw together, only took about 10 minutes, and kept her busy for hours...literally.

These tips and hundreds more can be found in my latest book, Energy Saving Tips that will save you money

The book is full of hunderds of tips for reducing consumtion and expense, while helping our environment, most of the solutions are free or very low cost.

Well, believe it or not, after not having power for most the day yesterday, the lights are starting to flicker again!!!

I hope this helps you, and I better sign off because I think we are about to lose power again...