How do you keep warm if the power goes out for several days?

[Anonymous]

We lost power last night around 8pm and it came on at 2am. It went out again at 8 this am, and is still out. We've kept both fireplaces burning continually and are wearing warm sweats. It's cool in our house but not freezing. Fortunately, our next door neighbors are on a different grid, and have electricity, and we were able to run an extension cord to our TV, small heater and interent. I hope our power is restored by tomorrow am, I'm so over this, although I've been engrossed in reading "Lovely Bones" most of the day while curled up in front of the fire. My dh has shoveled and entertained our son most of the day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should I heat up the house now a few extra degrees just in case??

We did. I set the heat on 75 last night. We lost power at 3am or so, and didn't get it back until 5:30pm. Our house fell to about 58 degrees or so, but it stayed very tolerable for about 12 of those 14 hours. I just cranked it again tonight in case we lose power again.

[Anonymous]

We have been without power since 10 pm last night. We have a fireplace that we are using for heat and a bit of cowboy cooking. We pulled the curtains when the sun set and put a sheet across the open enterance to the livingroom, which is where the fireplace I'd located. It is about 60 degrees in the living room and 50 degrees in the rest of the house. Perishables are inca cooler filled with snow outside. We live in Chevy Chase. The crazy thing is that the folks across the road have power. I will never have an electric stove again. Phone went out with the power. My iPhone has been a lifesaver in terms of keeping informed and in contact with folks,

[Anonymous]

We did not have power for 12 hours today, we were wearing layers and layers of clothes and we were talking and playing in the same bed, parents and children, it was not that bad!!

[Anonymous]

We are in Falls Church and we lost power at 8:55 AM, right before the East Enders. I was pretty bummed. But the power came back by 1PM. We were one of the fortunate ones. I don't think it will go out again. During the power outage, we played and took naps in our toddler's room. Unlike other bedrooms, it does not provide an overhang to the lower level. It is the most insulated and warmest room in the house. We kept the door shut and at lowest, it was about 67 degrees.. comfortable still. We wore (including DC) few layers of clothes topping off with puffy vests.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this thread! We lost power for over 30 hours and were able to keep temps at over 60 for most of the time in our master bedroom, where we camped out. The bathtub trick actually helped a lot - we have a gas water tank, so we were able to drain and refill frequently. Yes, it "wasted" water, but since we were using zero electricity in 10 degree weather, I consider it cap and trade!
And frankly, any efforts to keep a room warm when you have two very small children are not wasted.

[Anonymous]

One important thing to remember is to not to wait until the power goes out to start using your fireplace. If you have one that is. Snow can build up on the top of the chimney (even the capped ones) and will prevent proper ventilation. Carbon monoxide can kill you this way. I also suggest using a carbon monoxide detector at all times but especially when you are using a fireplace.

[Anonymous]

Wow PP, amazing you were able to keep the room that warm. We've had our power out since 10pm on Fri night and it's still not back yet. Yesterday was not too bad with a fire going in the family room and everyone camped out in there. But by this morning, it was 47 degrees in the house and we couldn't take it anymore. Finally went over to a friend's house like we should have done last night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow PP, amazing you were able to keep the room that warm. We've had our power out since 10pm on Fri night and it's still not back yet. Yesterday was not too bad with a fire going in the family room and everyone camped out in there. But by this morning, it was 47 degrees in the house and we couldn't take it anymore. Finally went over to a friend's house like we should have done last night.

Our family room was 49 this morning, and was not the coldest room in the house. Our bedroom was down to 57 this morning. Liveable, but we were very nervous about another night in the low teens outside. We cranked the heat and puled all the blinds Friday evening (seriously, after reading this thread), and then focused on heat preservation. We're in Potomac, where there are lots of outages. Via my folks (not local) we knew that most of Potomac didn't have power (15k out of 17k households) so we were pretty nervous.

I'm glad you have a place to go!