Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:49     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: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.


Abso-frickin'-lutely not. Do not do this. If you don't believe me, a simple google search will confirm.


2nd this - do not do it as it is a carbon monixide issue and could kill you.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:49     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:It’s extremely rare to lose power in the winter around here. It’s never happened to me in 19 years. Isn’t that more of a southern/ice thing?


No, about 15 years ago we lost power in the winter for a week. They did a massive tree cutting and that seemed to help but now it goes out for an hour or so at least a few times a year.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:47     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous[b wrote:]It’s extremely rare to lose power in the winter around here[/b]. It’s never happened to me in 19 years. Isn’t that more of a southern/ice thing?


What? Are you joking?


No. I have lived here since 2007 and have literally never lost power in the winter. I live in Sterling and our power lines are all buried. We lost it one time in the summer due the derecho. That’s it. In 18 years.


You might be in a newer development. Most of the DC area does not have buried lines, and power outages are common both in the summer and in the winter. In my experience, they rarely last longer than a few hours, but longer periods of outages do happen when unusual amounts of snow fall - such as what is being projected for the weekend.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:47     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote: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.


Abso-frickin'-lutely not. Do not do this. If you don't believe me, a simple google search will confirm.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:44     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:
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


Just don't do that German house burping thing . . .
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:40     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous[b wrote:]It’s extremely rare to lose power in the winter around here[/b]. It’s never happened to me in 19 years. Isn’t that more of a southern/ice thing?


What? Are you joking?


No. I have lived here since 2007 and have literally never lost power in the winter. I live in Sterling and our power lines are all buried. We lost it one time in the summer due the derecho. That’s it. In 18 years.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:38     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous[b wrote:]It’s extremely rare to lose power in the winter around here[/b]. It’s never happened to me in 19 years. Isn’t that more of a southern/ice thing?


What? Are you joking?
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:32     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
I'm in Central Illinois and it's supposed to be -30 windchill for the next 2 days. Not sure what I am supplosed to do but am planning to run all the faucets periodically and flush the toilets, and keep all the blinds closed. We have one bathroom that doesn't get used. Someone told me to keep ALL the faucets on a slow drip but I'm not sure I should do that for 2 days.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 14:12     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
It’s extremely rare to lose power in the winter around here. It’s never happened to me in 19 years. Isn’t that more of a southern/ice thing?
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 22:20     Subject: Re:What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:
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.


But if the water cut out, for whatever reason (most of us aren't on wells), you could bring snow inside.

I grew up in earthquake country so I also have the automatic urge to fill a bathtub. I get it. But I am trying to be reasonable.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 22:03     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
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.


Not wealthy and I’ve done this during a snow storm w power outage and another during a blazing hot tropical storm.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 21:54     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:Usually we lose power during a summer storm and can just drive to a hotel if need be. What do we do if we lose power in a winter storm but the roads are impassable? We only have a gas fire place (but haven't had it checked yet so don't feel comfortable using it) and don't have a generator. Do we just put blankets on and hope for the best? We have young kid (under 10) and a dog.

Invest in a whole house generator and never lose power again.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 21:42     Subject: Re:What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Anonymous wrote:If you have a gas stove, you can still use it in a power outage.



Any hacks/suggestions for food options or other things to have on hand for those of us with electric stoves in the event of an extended power outage? (We’re currently in a temporary rental and this is our first time facing this scenario.)
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 21:33     Subject: What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
Use rubber hot water pouches to stay warm for body heat. All you’d need is a gas stove to boil water.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 21:30     Subject: Re:What to do if you lose power during a winter storm?
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?


Np-You’re filling the tank of your toilets so you can continue flushing your sh*ts