Fwd: Winter Storm Survival – Keeping You and Your Home Warm When the Power Goes Out
Debbie Bolton
From: Debbie Bolton <debor...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 9:42 AM
Subject: Fwd: Winter Storm Survival – Keeping You and Your Home Warm When the Power Goes Out
To: Jerry Shrader <jsjs...@gmail.com>, Jeanne <l...@praiseyah.net>, Anita Whitley <-msni...@aol.com>, "Katriel (Steven) Porth" <batl4e...@gmail.com>, Bob Wells <BobW...@inbox.com>, Pebbles ISmyDOG <babypeb...@yahoo.com>, Tina Carlson <tcarl...@gmail.com>
From: Common Sense Homesteading <lau...@commonsensehome.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 11:49 PM
Subject: Winter Storm Survival – Keeping You and Your Home Warm When the Power Goes Out
To: debbie <debor...@gmail.com>
-
Winter Storm Survival – Keeping You and Your Home Warm When the Power Goes Out - 2014-01-08 23:26:27-05
It’s winter, you always *planned* to get supplies if the power went out. Now it’s below zero and the power just failed. What do you do when a winter storm leaves you without power? This post contains ideas for winter storm survival while sheltering in your home, but many of the ideas could be adapted for elsewhere, especially the section on cold weather clothing.
Plan NOW instead of trying to remember all this when you are freezing and the power is out.
Keeping the House Warm Without Power
#1 – Eliminate Heat Loss
- Avoid opening and closing exterior doors. We don’t think about it much when heating is working but a blast of cold can easily drop the temp 5 to 10 degrees with no easy way to get that heat back. If you need to go outside, go through a porch or garage or other area that can act as an airlock to prevent colder air from entering the home.
- Close all the doors in the house. This keeps unused exterior rooms from cooling your main living/survival area.
- Block drafts – Place rolled up towel at the base of a front door or drafty door to keep heat in or cold out. Hang blankets over windows and doorways to block out even more cold.
- Insulate windows – Close your blinds/curtains to insulate the windows (reduce heat loss).
- Consider moving to the basement. – Even though basements are normally colder, they can be “warmer” because of the insulating quality of the ground. 45 degrees ground temperature is a lot better than 20 below zero air temperature, especially with high winds.
#2 – Safely Add Heat to the House
- Wood stoves – If you have a wood stove, fire it up and keep it burning. If you have a limited amount of wood, burn at regular intervals, letting it get quite cold between burns.
- Use the sun for heat. If it’s a sunny day, open the windows on the sunny side of the house. Place dark blankets on the floor, furniture or bed in direct sun to soak up the sun’s heat. As soon as the sun goes down re-insulate the windows best you can.
- Add extra heat before you lose power – If you have some warning that the power will go out, set the temperature higher in your house. The warmer it is to start, the longer it will take to cool. You can also
- Run a bathtub of hot water. It will add heat to the house, and you will be able to drink it if needed (probably filter it if you have a water filter). If the temperature drops too close to the freezing point you can allow it to drain.
- Open Flame – USE WITH CAUTION – **Do not burn anything larger than a candle inside your home without providing adequate ventilation to the outside. Keep a fire extinguisher right near whatever open flame heat source you are using. Carbon monoxide and fire can be deadly. Pay special attention to kids and pets with any open flame.
You might be tempted to use a Coleman pack heater or Alcohol Fuel heater, but these can quickly build up dangerous levels of combustion products in confined spaces. The terracotta pot candle heaters (in all their variations) do help to trap the heat given off by a candle and slowly radiant it into the room. Don’t leave open flames unattended. I’ve heard from two friends who know someone who had a flower pot heater catch on fire. In one case, the pot itself ignited due to wax buildup, in another case, they had the heater on a table and the table varnish ignited. If you cook outside on a grill and bring the warm pots in, that will safely add some warmth inside indirectly.
Conserve Heat by Living in One Room
When faced with an extended power outage, living and sleeping in a single room will help conserve heat. Select a room away from the prevailing winds. If you have a room in your house that normally stays warmer than the rest of the house, that’s probably a good choice. Hang blankets over the door to your “warm” room, and insulate the window with blankets if possible. Use painters tape, duct tape or other tape to seal the blanket over the window. Pillows function well as insulation. If by chance you have spare fiberglass insulation, bubble wrap, or Styrofoam sheets, those can be used to cover windows, too. Heat may also be lost through the floor. Put blankets, rugs or pillows on the floor to further insulate the room.
Set up a tent in the house. You can sleep in sleeping bags or a mattress in the tent to share heat and warm a smaller area. The tent can also keep kids distracted.
Choose the Right Clothing to Stay Warm
Layer your clothes – include wool and/or Thinsulate if you have it. Loose layers will keep you warmer than tight layers. Wear gloves under mittens to trap more heat around your fingers. Remember, extremities are in the most danger from intense cold. If you have no gloves or they aren’t warm enough, wear socks over gloves.
Look for a Higher Gram Count – When considering winter clothing, get 100 gram (Grams per square meter of insulation) or higher if possible. Higher gram counts provide more warmth. Traditional wool, down and fur jackets, hats and gloves are also good options. When you are active, it helps to have a wicking layer close to your body to draw excess moisture away so you don’t end up cold and clammy. More on this in the post, “Emergency Underwear and Socks“.
From the 3M website – Recommended grams of 3M™ Thinsulate™ Insulation for footwear:
- 200 grams for cool conditions or high activity levels
- 400 grams for cold conditions or moderate activity levels
- 600 grams for very cold conditions
- 800 grams for extremely cold conditions with light activity levels
- 1‚000+ grams for extremely cold conditions with light to minimal activity level
Use chemical hand warmers in gloves, footwear or pockets – but be careful because they may be too warm to place directly against the skin. These warmers can be purchased almost anywhere. They are inexpensive and work fast. The heat can really make a difference for comfort and keep you from getting frostbite. Many gloves and mittens have a pouch for the warmers.
Keeping Warm While You Sleep
A bulk of your heat loss is through your head, so put on a warm hat or other headcover to sleep. (“And ma in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just settled down to a long winter’s nap.”) Use a sleeping bag if you have it. Wool is an amazing insulator, so combining a wool blanket a cotton sheet and even a mediocre sleeping bag can give you a very warm bed. If wool makes you itch, layer a wool blanket with a cotton sheet above and below. Use fur or fleece if you have it. Both are great insulators and can add some comfort. Put on warm socks/slippers or even boots. Watch those extremities!
Sleeping in a group will allow you to share body heat. If you have your indoor tent set up, this is the perfect time to put it to use.
Eating and Drinking for Warmth and Safety
Your body will need more calories just to stay warm. If you are active (which will also help you stay warm), your calorie needs will increase even more. Eating raises your metabolism, which generates some additional internal heat. Consider a calorie dense bedtime snack to help get you through the night.
Make sure to keep hydrated. Drink plenty of liquid. Hot beverages such as tea or hot chocolate can act as hand warmers while you drink and warm you from the inside out. They also add variety to emergency meals. You can melt snow for water if needed using one of the emergency cooking options. You may want to filter the water before drinking.
Avoid large amounts of alcohol! A sip or two is one thing, but some folks think that if a little is good, more is better. The “warming effect” of excess alcohol is a false one. It can impair judgement and put you at an ever greater risk. Just ask the people that the cops found drunk outside the Packer stadium during the last playoff game. Not good!
Personal Hygiene – When the Potty Won’t Flush and Washing Gets Tricky
We take toilets for granted. When the power goes out, most of us no longer have running water. You should have emergency water storage and filtration as part of your basic preparedness supplies. If you have warning that the power may go out, you can supplement these supplies by filling a bathtub with warm water. Portable storage containers like the waterBOB attach directly to your faucet and come with a pump to make it easy to get the water out when you need it. This water can be used for washing, drinking and toilet flushing.
When water is scarce, the “mellow yellow” rule should apply. Don’t flush the toilet unless you *really* need to.
If you have no water for flushing, use a 5 gallon bucket and paper or sawdust to absorb liquid and odor. You could also cover a bucket tightly or use a garbage bag. If you have a wood stove and don’t mind getting a little primitive, you can do what my older sisters used to do. Rather than running out to the outhouse in winter (the farmhouse I was raised in had no running water when my parents started their family), my oldest siblings would poop on several sheets of newspaper and burn it in the wood stove. As I said, primitive, but it worked. I was very glad we had indoor plumbing by the time I was born, as I have used the outhouse when there was a minus 40 below zero wind chill one Christmas and the septic system froze. It was not pleasant.
Don’t bathe unless absolutely necessary. Getting wet is a quick way to get really cold. Keep some baby wipes on hand for waterless cleaning.
If you still have running water, protect faucets that are at risk of freezing by turning on a pencil size stream of water.
Cars, Cards and Food Storage
Your car can be a refuge. If you seriously cold, you can start car up and heat up for a brief period. Bring blankets and other things that will get warmed up and bring them back in the house all toasty. **Remember – never run the car in an unventilated area. Carbon monoxide can be deadly.
Have something to help pass the time that doesn’t require power. Get a couple of decks of cards and a card game book. Board games are great, too.
Use the cold to keep food fresh. If the power is out and it’s warm enough inside that food in the refrigerator or freezer will spoil, move food to an unheated porch or garage or outside to take advantage of natural refrigeration.
Statistically, here in Wisconsin, January is the coldest month (on average). After this week’s polar vortex sending much of North America into a deep freeze, I hope it doesn’t get any colder, but there’s still a lot of winter left.
Stay safe and warm!
You may also find helpful:
Emergency Cooking – 10 Ways to Have a Hot Meal When the Power Goes Out
Emergency Power Options for Your Home
and other posts in the Common Sense Preparedness series.
I earn an affiliate payment from your Amazon.com purchases through this website. Thank you! The post Winter Storm Survival – Keeping You and Your Home Warm When the Power Goes Out appeared first on Common Sense Homesteading.
How can I help you?
achot shel-kah, Debbie
achot shel-kah, Debbie
Suzette Robinson
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Parashiot Forum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to parashiot-for...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to parashi...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/parashiot-forum.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
Jim Graves
For insulation of any building area, the best is also the lowest cost : cover your windows/doors/openings with white styrofoam. If you're preparing for a survival situation, buy the . 2" thick . sheets. And duct tape (you knew that). And clear plastic sheets. Tape the clear sheet to cover window, being sure to seal completly. This is a necessary moisture barrier for long-term. Then cut the styro to fit the window tightly. Light will penatrate the foam, but not the cold. It's the best. Remember- Now you have Zero ventilation! Breathing requires air! Also, you can easily sleep plenty warm if you're out of the wind and wrapped in 20 Dry "moving blankets". And they cost little compared to much survival equipment. About all that dealing with the nasty toilet! - Worse than nonsense!! Stop using it immediatly if cannot be flushed. You do Not start piling that up where you're surviving!!!! I hope nobody would resort to such wallowing!! That's what the great outdoors is for! Even in the city, look at all the sewer drains! Build a blind. Some people simply will not survive!, if they have to be led by the hand for every decision. That's why it's called survival. 1.Prayer. 2.Repentance again. 3. Plan.Think. 4. Preperation - Styrofoam n Outside elimination. Even Better, --> Repent- Pray- Move to Arizona!! °__,°…Love to yall.