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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking that I would shut off the water and open faucets (like wintering faucet bibs) if I lost power to avoid pipes bursting in the wall. Is that recommended?

Not needed. You will still use toilet/sink throughout the day. Your house will not drop below 32

[Anonymous]

I have never owned a generator in my life.

Unless we get an abnormally large amount of ice, you’re unlikely to lose power, OP

[Anonymous]

Keep extra water on hand, fill tubs

why is this done?
what am I doing with this water that's been in the bathtub?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking that I would shut off the water and open faucets (like wintering faucet bibs) if I lost power to avoid pipes bursting in the wall. Is that recommended?

Not needed. You will still use toilet/sink throughout the day. Your house will not drop below 32

Temp is forecast to be in single digits on Tues morning. I’ve had pipes freeze at tha temp *with heat*.

[Anonymous]

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

Otherwise, we would just ride it out.

Yeah I would consider a hotel if someone was medically fragile or we have a newborn but otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. OP, did you take the dog to a hotel? So spoiled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Otherwise, we would just ride it out.

Yeah I would consider a hotel if someone was medically fragile or we have a newborn but otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. OP, did you take the dog to a hotel? So spoiled.

You don’t get merit points for undergoing unnecessary discomfort. If you’re upper middle class or above (which most of dcum skews) I’m baffled why people would willingly choose to undergo potentially multiple days of no electricity in 90+ degree or sub freezing temperatures rather than just relocating to a cheap hotel, much less judge someone else for doing so.

Apparently the puritan streak runs deep.

[Anonymous]

Last time it happened, we drove <1 mile to the nearest hotel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Otherwise, we would just ride it out.

Yeah I would consider a hotel if someone was medically fragile or we have a newborn but otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. OP, did you take the dog to a hotel? So spoiled.

Op here - yes we took the dog to a doggy hotel as well. No way were we spending multiple days in a stifling hot house with no electricity. We easily have the means to pay for a few days in a hotel and it’s worth it to be comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Otherwise, we would just ride it out.

Yeah I would consider a hotel if someone was medically fragile or we have a newborn but otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. OP, did you take the dog to a hotel? So spoiled.

Op here - yes we took the dog to a doggy hotel as well. No way were we spending multiple days in a stifling hot house with no electricity. We easily have the means to pay for a few days in a hotel and it’s worth it to be comfortable.

That's great for you but recognize that most people do not easily have the means to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a gas stove, you can still use it in a power outage.

+1. We always have Kraft Mac n Cheese on hand and that's easy comfort food to make on the gas stove top for our kids. And, we usually get some hearty soups that we can heat up on the stove.

I mean...you can make entire gourmet dinners on a gas stove top. Not sure why you have to have special food on hand if you have a gas stove.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Keep extra water on hand, fill tubs

why is this done?
what am I doing with this water that's been in the bathtub?

Maybe in case the pipes freeze? Then you have some water on hand, for washing stuff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never owned a generator in my life.

Unless we get an abnormally large amount of ice, you’re unlikely to lose power, OP

This is not true. Big snowstorms can cause power outages in the DC area. This happened during “Snowmageddon” and people were in fact trapped without power for 3 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never owned a generator in my life.

Unless we get an abnormally large amount of ice, you’re unlikely to lose power, OP

This is not true. Big snowstorms can cause power outages in the DC area. This happened during “Snowmageddon” and people were in fact trapped without power for 3 days.

Trapped? That's a bit extreme.

[Anonymous]

Try to get someone to look at the fire place. Otherwise, go stay with someone else, a hotel or make the best of it. We made the best of it years ago and multiple layers of clothing and blankets. We survived. We got a generator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Keep extra water on hand, fill tubs

why is this done?
what am I doing with this water that's been in the bathtub?

Maybe in case the pipes freeze? Then you have some water on hand, for washing stuff?

People who are on well water need electricity for the pump to provide water to their home. So if the power goes out, they can use the water from the bathtub to fill the toilet tank and flush it, wash hands, etc.