What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

DP.

I can't even imagine how coddled, spoiled, and privilege to even ask this question. If you're not trolling.

OP you're not fit to be a homeowner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

How do you survive day to day? Any brain cells in that head?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

NP. Yes…? Open some windows and get on with your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It never gets that cold in this area. At worst you might need to layer sweaters and fleece jackets, maybe a hat and gloves.

Low or 1 and high of 19 next week.

yeah and the point above still stands - that's not cold enough to actually be worried even if the power goes out. The house will retain some heat

[Anonymous]

Use your grill to boil water, cook, etc.
make sure devices are charged fully.

[Anonymous]

A couple (few?) decades ago - we had the famous snowmeggadon.

We had a fireplace in the apartment, and a whole bunch of duraflame logs. We were newly married, no kids, no pets, much before the era of work from home. We survived fine.

If you have a normal fireplace - check that it is working well and not blocked...and then burn a duraflame log.

[Anonymous]

We ended up at a hotel when we lost power for multiple days and had a newborn.

Otherwise, we would just ride it out.

[Anonymous]

Insulate the house as much as possible - keep the blinds down, stuff blankets around any drafty doors.

Huddle the family together in one room, preferably one with doors rather than an open floor plan space. Body heat generates a fair amount of heat, but you need to keep it contained in one room. If that room has a fireplace, even better.

Light exercise to keep warm - jumping jacks and similar. Not so much that you break into a sweat - you want to stay dry.

Hot liquids - drinks and soup.

Do NOT run a propane camping stove or heater indoors. You can use your kitchen gas stove if you have one, but any portable propane devices need ventilation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

These are not comparable situations. Most people can survive 90 degree heat. You won't be happy about it, but you'll survive.

We're looking at lows in the teens. Without any heat, it's going to get very cold inside overnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

Uh, yes. The vast majority of humans live in places that get to 90 regularly and they have no A/C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT run a propane camping stove or heater indoors. You can use your kitchen gas stove if you have one, but any portable propane devices need ventilation.

It's actually not that black and white. Many propane heaters are designed to be used indoors - and only require a small degree of ventilation. Yes, you wouldn't want to run one in a small room all night with the door and windows shut tight. But running one in a room with the inside door to an open hallway cracked 2-3 ajar is considered safe. There is a formula for determining how much ventilation is needed (as often cited by the heater companies themselves).

TONS of people living in campers and RV's use them throughout the winter to help heat their living space - but I'd still follow the cited safety guidelines . We run a "big buddy" dual tank propane heater in a small cabin often and keep a KIDDE explosive gas and carbon monoxide alarm nearby simply for added peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do NOT run a propane camping stove or heater indoors. You can use your kitchen gas stove if you have one, but any portable propane devices need ventilation.

It's actually not that black and white. Many propane heaters are designed to be used indoors - and only require a small degree of ventilation. Yes, you wouldn't want to run one in a small room all night with the door and windows shut tight. But running one in a room with the inside door to an open hallway cracked 2-3 ajar is considered safe. There is a formula for determining how much ventilation is needed (as often cited by the heater companies themselves).

TONS of people living in campers and RV's use them throughout the winter to help heat their living space - but I'd still follow the cited safety guidelines . We run a "big buddy" dual tank propane heater in a small cabin often and keep a KIDDE explosive gas and carbon monoxide alarm nearby simply for added peace of mind.

PP here. To be clear, I am NOT taking about the type of propane heaters designed for outdoor/patio use. I am referring to the small/medium sized portable heaters designed for campers, RV's, hunters and so on.

[Anonymous]

Got a generator.

[Anonymous]

You all are so dramatic. It’s not that serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP it's kind of nuts to me that you typically bail out and go to a hotel when you lose power for a couple of days. You must be wealthy.

OP here - what do you do when you lose power in the summer? Sit in the house when its 90 degrees?

Uh, yes. The vast majority of humans live in places that get to 90 regularly and they have no A/C.

dp.. maybe they are used to it. I'm not. I'm originally from CA. I have a hard time in the summer in this area.

People who live in hot climates would find 80 degree weather to be a bit chilly but you would find it warm if not pleasant.

I knew someone who worked in Bahrain many years ago, and they said that when it got to be like 70/80 degrees in Nov/Dec the locals wore thick coats.