Keeping warm
 

With a snow storm, and the power off for two weeks, how to stay warm?

The furnace has gas, but there is no electric. The stove is electric,
and the portable space heater is electric. So, the house gets cold in
one day.

What to do now?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

Keeping warm
 

On Fri 03 Nov 2006 09:40:31p, Stormin Mormon wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
:

With a snow storm, and the power off for two weeks, how to stay
warm?

The furnace has gas, but there is no electric. The stove is
electric, and the portable space heater is electric. So, the
house gets cold in one day.

What to do now?


Been there a couple of times. Thing is, the power wasn't out as
long as they predicted. They have to tell you weeks, even if it can
be back within a week.

Peanut butter, bread, cold meals of things like chicken salad if
you have chicken in the freezer (that you'll need to use) and can
cook on the grill if you have one.

You'll need to have a cooler and ice. With a snow storm, you can
probably store perishables outside - make sure they're not
accessible to animals.

The thing that got to me the most when I went without power for so
long was no hot water. No hot showers and no hot water to wash
dishes, or even wash out the sink, really got to me. I'd go to a
hotel with power if you can. Or family or friends. Even for a
single night will lift your spirits and give you strength for
another day of no power.

--
Cheryl

Keeping warm
 

On 4 Nov 2006 02:55:23 GMT, Cheryl
wrote:

On Fri 03 Nov 2006 09:40:31p, Stormin Mormon wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
:

With a snow storm, and the power off for two weeks, how to stay
warm?

The furnace has gas, but there is no electric. The stove is
electric, and the portable space heater is electric. So, the
house gets cold in one day.

What to do now?


Been there a couple of times. Thing is, the power wasn't out as
long as they predicted. They have to tell you weeks, even if it can
be back within a week.

Peanut butter, bread, cold meals of things like chicken salad if
you have chicken in the freezer (that you'll need to use) and can
cook on the grill if you have one.

You'll need to have a cooler and ice. With a snow storm, you can
probably store perishables outside - make sure they're not
accessible to animals.

The thing that got to me the most when I went without power for so
long was no hot water. No hot showers and no hot water to wash
dishes, or even wash out the sink, really got to me. I'd go to a
hotel with power if you can. Or family or friends. Even for a
single night will lift your spirits and give you strength for
another day of no power.

If you won't be able to wrap up enough to be sure of avoiding
hypothermia while you sleep, go to a hotel, or to the home of someone
with a backup heat source, instead of taking a chance at freezing to
death in your sleep.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

Keeping warm
 

With a snow storm, and the power off for two weeks, how to stay
warm?

The furnace has gas, but there is no electric. The stove is
electric, and the portable space heater is electric. So, the
house gets cold in one day.

Outdoor survivalist here, slept outside without a tent in 40 below
winter weather.

Do you have outdoor sleeping bags? If not, the best thing to do is
build your own "cocoon" out of as many layers of cloth as you can find.
Sheets, blankets, even towels, make yourself a nest and sleep in that.

Clothing: Again, layers is the key. A sweater will not keep you as
warm as a sweater over a turtleneck over 2 t-shirts. Wear a hat, even
to bed--you lose body heat through your head. One note on this: If
you find yourself sweating, take a layer off. If you sweat, then the
sweat will cool at night and chill you.

Heat Sources: If you have any heat sources, like a grill or camp
stove, hang tarps around an area to keep the heat in, and sleep there.
I did this once...caught outside in snow, we got into a cabin, put
tarps up all around the kitchen area, turned on the stove, and used
that as a heat source. The tarps stopped the heat from escaping into
the rest of the cabin.

Be extremely careful with open flame indoors. Don't fall asleep with a
camp stove still on. Let it warm up the room, then turn it off before
you go to bed.

Good luck,

--Fil

Keeping warm
 

I was hoping there was a survivalist out there. Greetings. From a
fellow survie.

You touched on a couple really great points. Have a backup heat
source. Warm a smaller area. Use clothing and sleeping bags.

A couple to add. High calorie food is good -- calorie is a measure of
heat. Working water heater is priceless, a hot shower or tub is a
great way to start and end a day.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Enfilade" wrote in message
oups.com...


Outdoor survivalist here, slept outside without a tent in 40 below
winter weather.

Do you have outdoor sleeping bags? If not, the best thing to do is
build your own "cocoon" out of as many layers of cloth as you can
find.
Sheets, blankets, even towels, make yourself a nest and sleep in
that.

Clothing: Again, layers is the key. A sweater will not keep you as
warm as a sweater over a turtleneck over 2 t-shirts. Wear a hat, even
to bed--you lose body heat through your head. One note on this: If
you find yourself sweating, take a layer off. If you sweat, then the
sweat will cool at night and chill you.

Heat Sources: If you have any heat sources, like a grill or camp
stove, hang tarps around an area to keep the heat in, and sleep there.
I did this once...caught outside in snow, we got into a cabin, put
tarps up all around the kitchen area, turned on the stove, and used
that as a heat source. The tarps stopped the heat from escaping into
the rest of the cabin.

Be extremely careful with open flame indoors. Don't fall asleep with
a
camp stove still on. Let it warm up the room, then turn it off before
you go to bed.

Good luck,

--Fil

Keeping warm
 

Electric water heater? Not good. The folks I was thinking about have
gas water heater, but the knob got bumped some how. They didn't know
that hot water was available.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...

The thing that got to me the most when I went without power for so
long was no hot water. No hot showers and no hot water to wash
dishes, or even wash out the sink, really got to me. I'd go to a
hotel with power if you can. Or family or friends. Even for a
single night will lift your spirits and give you strength for
another day of no power.

--
Cheryl

Keeping warm
 

Some people did bug out. I heard of some folks who left their home
about the time the trees came down -- glad to be out, the roads were
blocked for days.

So far, no one has mentioned a generator to power the furnace. I'm a
bit surprised.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...

If you won't be able to wrap up enough to be sure of avoiding
hypothermia while you sleep, go to a hotel, or to the home of someone
with a backup heat source, instead of taking a chance at freezing to
death in your sleep.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

Keeping warm
 

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
With a snow storm, and the power off for two weeks, how to stay warm?

The furnace has gas, but there is no electric. The stove is electric,
and the portable space heater is electric. So, the house gets cold in
one day.

What to do now?


If someone were in that situation, and didn't have any back-up means of
heating the house, it would make more sense to spend nights in a heated
shelter. Surely they would be opened in those circumstances.

For planning purposes you always have alternative plans for heating and
cooking if you are without electricity in a climate like that.

Jo

Keeping warm
 

Outdoor survivalist here, slept outside without a tent in 40 below
winter weather.

No tent?
40 below is damned cold WITH a tent.
I would assume that you, at least, built a shelter and a fire.


We built quinces (snow shelters). You only need a candle in a quince.
A fire just produces water, chills you, and brings on hypothermia. A
candle melts just enough to create a crust on the inside which helps
keep the heat in.

We did have a big outdoor fire to cook, though, and we kept it burning
through the night just in case anyone got too chilled (unlikely to
happen in the quince, but if a poorly built quince caved in, or if
somone got turned around in the woods and spent too long wandering
around on her/his own...)

Also, I had an emergency van, so if anyone ever DID become seriously
hypothermic or otherwise injured, we could evac them back to
civilization.

--Fil

Keeping warm
 

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Some people did bug out. I heard of some folks who left their home
about the time the trees came down -- glad to be out, the roads were
blocked for days.

So far, no one has mentioned a generator to power the furnace. I'm a
bit surprised.

I mentioned a generator in my reply. It can power everything, even your
microwave if you must have one to live by :) Just don't run a gas generator
in an enclosed space. That's an easy way to kill yourself.

Jill