I will not be caught unprepared again (heat)

[Anonymous]

The one thing I didn't plan on: 36 hours without power means NO HEAT. We don't have fireplaces.

If I couldn't dig out my car, if the street wasn't plowed, if I'd had to get the babies out of here before their little fingers fell off.... It could have been really bad.

Anyone have a non-fireplace coping suggestion for heat in an unheated house? Are kerosene heaters my only option?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I wish I had some ideas for you! We also have no power but have 2 fireplaces. The fireplaces weren't producing enough heat so we had to leave. I was miserable!!!

[Anonymous]

you could get a small generator

[Anonymous]

We are getting a generator, I don't care what DH says. This totally sucked! We also lose water and flushing toilets when the power goes out, because we're on well water. Thankfully, we are now out of the dark ages.

[Anonymous]

Does a generator make a lot of noise? ..As in your neighbors will want you to turn it off so they can sleep at night?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does a generator make a lot of noise? ..As in your neighbors will want you to turn it off so they can sleep at night?

The solution for that is to invite them over!

[Anonymous]

My parents got a generator after the last big power outage in upstate New York, and it is big enough to run their heating system plus electric stove and lights in a few rooms. I think it was somehting like $1,000 and they did get someone to connect it to their house wiring system. However, you do need to get gas for it in advance of a storm.

We have some of the small propane heaters.

http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=41&id=116

I'm not wild about using them indoors unvented though. But it is truly for emergency use.

OP, if you also lose water when you lose electricity, I'd get a small generator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does a generator make a lot of noise? ..As in your neighbors will want you to turn it off so they can sleep at night?

You oculd turn it off at night. Run it during the day and to get the heat up, then get under the covers and turn off the generator for nighttime.

[Anonymous]

Generators make a ton of noise. Our next door neighbor had one when we lived in a rowhouse. It sucked for us.

[Anonymous]

OP here, My neighbor has a generator and it is VERY noisy. I can't see running it 24 hours like he does. I'd like to run it just long enough to run the furnace for a few minutes to get the temp up just a little.

But, a kerosene heater seems more practical. We have water and a gas cooktop when the power is out; the only problem was heat. It was 54 degrees in here.

[Anonymous]

Are kerosene heaters safe to use inside?

I don't have a fireplace built in to my house, but bought one of the portable ones that uses gel fuel. It doesn't really heat a room, but is better than nothing and very warm up close to it.

Luckily, I haven't had to put it to the test in this storm.

Also, after the ice storm of 1999, when I lost power for 4 days, I bought sleeping bags rated down to 0 degrees.

[zumbamama]

There are solar powered generators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are getting a generator, I don't care what DH says. This totally sucked! We also lose water and flushing toilets when the power goes out, because we're on well water. Thankfully, we are now out of the dark ages.

It sounds like you need a whole house generator. Don't try to do this with a portable unit. it's going to run you some money though.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have a particular brand of kerosene heater they recommend, besides Penguinsix' link? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Penguin, any reason you choose kerosene over the propane heaters?