Winter is around the corner.
Best time to prepare is now.
This blog will discuss items you’d want if the grid went down (including electrical and gas).
- Assuming you live in a suburban home or apartment
- Had friends that went through this last year in TX
- At time of recording Nord Stream pipeline appears to be crippled. Europe is facing some challenging times ahead / winter will probably be difficult there.
At the end of blog, will also discuss steps to take if the grid is crippled.
- We’ll break up the items by category.
- If you’ve been preparing for awhile, you’ll probably have most of these items already.
We’ll post links to all of these items in the section below.
ITEMS TO GET
Safety
Important to have since we’ll cover options such as generator and candles.
Have to factor in neighbors (if in apartment) as well.
1) Carbon monoxide sensor alarm
2) Fire extinguisher.
- Don’t get the small kind, get a decent sized one.
Warmth
3) Painter plastic sheeting + duct tape
Use these to cover windows to create a vapor lock.
Most modern windows are double pane.
Even if have doubled pane windows, some may not shut tightly and want to seal any leaks. We’ll cover more about this next week.
If the room you retreat to doesn’t have a door, will want to isolate the room by hanging up plastic sheets or blankets.
Heat rises: if you have a two story house and you’re staying downstairs / block entrance to upstairs
4) Sleeping bags, quilts, wool blankets + ground pad
- Do not sleep directly on floor: will suck your body’s warmth way. Have a pad or blankets under the sleeping bag.
5) Electric blanket or heating pad
Will need a solar or gas generator which can be expensive / will cover momentarily.
6) Emergency foil blankets
- Cheap
- Can line clothing with these to reflect body heat back
7) Hot water bottles and thermoses
- Put hot water in these
- Can keep in your sleeping bag to keep you warm
- Great to sip on to keep core body temperature up
8) Small tent (enough for your family, nothing more)
- Set this up in your designated area
- Get several people in one of these: will produce warmth that can be contained.
- Also can line the inside with the survival blankets to reflect back the heat.
- No tent? Use a table and throw blankets over it and get underneath.
9) Winter clothes (layered)
- Be sure to move / calisthenics
10) Mr. Heater Buddy
- Mr. Heater Buddy have a sensor to detect low oxygen levels and shut off. Probably safest option on the market.
Still, be sure to have ventilation and have carbon monoxide device next to it.
11) Small propane tanks + large tanks + hose for Mr. Heater and cooking stove
We’ll cover these momentarily.
Ideally get items that can use the same fuel source.
Lighting
12) Led headlamps, lanterns, flashlights
13) Tea candles
- Be very careful with open flames
14) UCO lantern
- Heat and lighting
- We prefer this over an open flame
15) Propane lantern
- Not our first choice, but an option
- Works with propane bottles
Cooking
16) Camping stove
17) Food
- Eat the refrigerator (perishable) items first
- Can place food outside at night
- Put buckets of water outside to allow to freeze and then put them in the refrigerator in the daytime
- Warming foods easy to cook: canned chili or soup, oatmeal. Easy to prepare and clean up.
Water
18) Stored water
- Bring water containers into your heated area as they can retain heat and slowly dissipate it over night
- Plus helps them avoid freezing
Communication
19) Emergency radio
Power
20) Small solar panel for charging electronics + battery (i.e. phones)
21) Solar generator setup and lights that can be run off of this system
22) Generator: Be careful with this where you run it
23) Extension cords with splitter on the ends. Get quality options if powering a lot. Handle higher amperage.
Damage prevention
24) Faucet cover.
- Let faucets inside house drip.
- If extended cold weather / consider filling up containers / shut off water to house / drain pipes
WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT
- Move to your designated room and begin preparing it.
- Ideal room would be part of kitchen as cooking will add heat to the area.
- Lock windows to keep tension.
- Cover windows and doors with your plastic sheeting. This doesn’t need to be airtight. Simply slowing the exchange of warm and cold air is often sufficient enough.
- We are hesitant to recommend the DIY heaters with candles.
- We mentioned the UCO lantern which is safe, but beyond that, be careful with open flames.
- Regarding sanitation
- Keep trash to a minimum as
- Check on your neighbors
We’ll do a follow up blog next week about ways to make your home more efficient for the coming winter.
As always, stay safe out there.
