Power Outages... How Do You Prepare?

[WindyHill]

I recently moved into a house in a very remote area. Last winter was my first winter here, and I lost power A LOT. And for a couple of weeks at a time. It gets very windy here (hence my username) and we lose power at the drop of a hat. Because I'm so remote, it takes the power company forever to finally restore our area.

This year, I've already lost power once. So I'm trying to prepare. I have a small generator which isn't sufficient, but due to finances, I'll have to wait until I can afford a bigger one.

SO: What things should I have? I have several oil lamps and figured I'd stock up on lamp oil. Is that the best lighting, or does anyone have a better idea?

What about water? I live in a tiny little cottage with no basement or storage space. Last winter I stocked water in jugs in my dining room, which was not only ugly, but a few leaked and ruined my floor. Does anyone have any water storage ideas for outages? I have a shed I could put water in, but I'm sure milk jugs would burst. What else can I do, any ideas?

Cooking. Any ideas for that? I have a small woodstove and last winter was able to cook a couple simple things on it. Does anyone do anything else for cooking during outages? Do you stock certain emergency food that is easy to cook?

Cold storage? Last year I had to bag all my fridge food and bury it in the snow. This year I plan to buy a couple large coolers, but anyone have any other ideas?

Any ideas or tips you might know to make power outages easier would be great. Thanks!

 

[abifae]

wow. how long does the power go out for? here it's just minutes... 4-5 hours on a really really bad one.

i just keep candles around.

 

[Beekissed]

Lots of questions!!

I use oil lamps and my wood stove for light and cooking. I store water in 5 gal. jugs in my cellar for casual use and in milk/orange juice jugs for drinking.

I have an outhouse for toiletting needs, if necessary.

As for the things in my freezer...most of it can be canned in a jiffy or placed outside if it is cold.

I've read where one lady stores her canning jars by canning water into them so she has potable water and her jars stay clean and ready for use. I guess if you have to store the jars anyway, this is a dual purpose way to do so.

I have an extra well that I can access if the outage goes on for too long and there are many, many artesian springs in these hills. The spring water in this area is fantastic and doesn't require a pump to obtain. My own well is spring fed and the best tasting water I've ever had.

 

[WindyHill]

wow. how long does the power go out for? here it's just minutes... 4-5 hours on a really really bad one.

i just keep candles around.

4 or 5 hours would be lucky here. It's at the least a day, typically several days, and a few times it's been a couple of weeks. Last winter the longest was 18 days! That's why I have so many questions about it, because it's so common here and lasts so long! I really want to be better prepared this year.

 

[SKR8PN]

2 500 gallon propane tanks and 15,000 watt generator is how I prepared!

Seriously though, if I were in your position, I'd be looking real hard at wind and solar power and a large bank of batteries. A propane powered freezer might also be on my list......

 

[WindyHill]

2 500 gallon propane tanks and 15,000 watt generator is how I prepared!

Seriously though, if I were in your position, I'd be looking real hard at wind and solar power and a large bank of batteries. A propane powered freezer might also be on my list......

Thanks. I don't have the money for those alternatives. I am saving for that type of stuff, but right now I'm concerned about this winter, and the small (inexpensive) things I can do to make it easier.

 

[SKR8PN]

Instead of buying a couple of coolers, see if you can find an old, non working freezer for outside cold storage? You can usually get them for free.

 

[k0xxx]

As a start, keep your freezer as full as possible. As you have open space in it, add gallon jugs or 2 liter bottles of water. They will help keep the contents cold longer. When power goes out, and you suspect that it may be out for a day or more, consider wrapping your freezer with extra blankets to help keep it insulated.

Also you may consider adding an outside water tank to provide flushing and/or potable water. If you raise it off of the ground using cinder blocks or something similar, you can gravity feed it to the house. If you use a tank that isn't suitable for potable water, you can add a check valve/double valve system to make sure that the water doesn't enter into your household piping. If freezing may be a problem for the tank, painting it black would help it absorb heat from the sun.

Canned soups and other one pot meals are easy to heat on a wood stove. Stock up on canned or dehydrated ingredients for some creative wood stove cooking.

 

[WindyHill]

Instead of buying a couple of coolers, see if you can find an old, non working freezer for outside cold storage? You can usually get them for free.

That's a great idea!! I have no idea where I would find one, but I'll start keeping an eye out. This is exactly the kind of ideas I am looking for, I don't even need storage space for that, I could just put it behind my shed or someplace. Great idea, thank you!!

A really big thing is the water. My water pump doesn't work during outages, and I have no space indoors for bottled water. Any ideas for water storage?? I do have an attic, maybe I could store jugs up there?

 

[WindyHill]

As a start, keep your freezer as full as possible. As you have open space in it, add gallon jugs or 2 liter bottles of water. They will help keep the contents cold longer. When power goes out, and you suspect that it may be out for a day or more, consider wrapping your freezer with extra blankets to help keep it insulated.

Also you may consider adding an outside water tank to provide flushing and/or potable water. If you raise it off of the ground using cinder blocks or something similar, you can gravity feed it to the house. If you use a tank that isn't suitable for potable water, you can add a check valve/double valve system to make sure that the water doesn't enter into your household piping. If freezing may be a problem for the tank, painting it black would help it absorb heat from the sun.

Canned soups and other one pot meals are easy to heat on a wood stove. Stock up on canned or dehydrated ingredients for some creative wood stove cooking.

Water jugs in the freezer is another idea I hadn't thought of! Thanks!