I am well prepared for any event I’ve experienced thus far, and prepared for eternity. Since I have little control of what takes place between now and then, I can only do so much preparing.

I have discovered that I have no ability whatsoever to worry something better.

I also believe that living out in the country will make a fellow be better prepared than city life. We don’t live across the street from Kroger or WalMart and plan accordingly.

My house is heated with natural gas from a pretty close source, I have 2 generators. But. I have a spare wood stove and I am going to make a panel I can install in a window, duct tape the edges and run stove pipe through it. Just in case.

You can also set up a small tent in a small room for even more heat conversion. Put people in there with the heat sources outside of it and you have reduced the room size even more.

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Front sight and squeeze

They are different appliances not convertible from one to another. I have never seen a set of instructions for an unvented heater that did not require a permanently open to the outdoors of at least 10" by 10" free area. If it isn't installed per the instructions your insurance company may not pay in case of fire or accident. I would look at a gas operated insert that can be flush and run off of a thermostat. Many don't require electricity.

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Front sight and squeeze

We had an October snowstorm about a decade ago when heavy, wet snow brought down thousands of trees and branches on power lines all over the state. Power was out for more than a week. We have natural gas in the house, but couldn't run the furnace without electricity. Fortunately our water heater has a pilot light rather than an electric sparker, so we had showers. For heat we set a big pot of water on the gas range to simmer and act as a radiator, adding a quart or two when necessary. The fireplace was a mixed blessing - it threw some heat when lit, but drew heat up the chimney the the fire went out.
A friend who had no water (electric well pump), no heat and no lights spent the week on our couch with her two small dogs. We ate well, drank well and slept well with no TV or computers to occupy us. Not a bad week, all things considered.

Oh, thank you for using RV anti-freeze (and not the lethal automotive stuff, which is toxic in both municipal sewer systems and septic tanks).

Also, don't forget the washing machine. That little motor is not cheap and not easy to replace. No, I don't have experience -- I simply listened to a sage friend.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

If you look at my avatar you can see essentially what Steelslaver is talking about. That is me cooking a big pot of chili at a cookoff, using a burner that was designed to carry in a boat for shore lunches, hooked up to a 20# propane tank. The burner is often marketed as a fish cooker in the sporting goods stores or as part of a set up for deep frying turkeys. The BTU output is incredible. You'll think you've got an engine for a Phantom Jet. A 20# propane tank will supply fuel for heating for a long time.

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Living in a rural area makes us a little more prepared than most on a daily basis. You just have to be because help of any kind is often days away. So we got a generator and keep it ready to go. We have snow ice tornadoes etc almost every year in some form or fashion. We also have tried to keep food stockpiled to at least a couple weeks worth. If the water goes out I know where two springs are within walking distance of the house so we can always have a source of that if it gets really bad. The bottom line is be prepared for however your individual situation allows or requires.
A comment about climate change. My background is science based so I will let you in on a little secret. The climate is always changing. It always has. Nothing in nature is a static condition. Those that believe so are woefully uninformed. The prime driver of our climate is not your SUV or whatever the alarmists claim today it is that big bright ball in the daytime sky. What is going on with it and the planets relationship to it determines all.

CO detectors are not expensive and every home should have one or more. I even have one in my cook box for my camp for the cook tent as I use a big propane stove.

Your smoke detector most likely does not detect CO gas BTW.
When I was finishing my addition a couple years ago winter came while doing the Sheetrock. At times I had 2 of the 2 round burner Mr Heaters that clamp onto a propane bottle running. I installed a CO detector and it never went off. That was in a space that was 22x32 about 700sq ft.. A one burner one running in a bedroom should be OK. I would not do something like duct tape off the door or windows though.

One thing many never knew or forgot is that a furnace needs electricity to turn on and blow hot air around the house.

We are fortunate to have a cast iron fire stove in our family room. It is only about the size of a large microwave oven, but it puts out enough heat when burning split firewood to heat the entire house when the outside temperature is in the single digits. Compared to a fireplace a fire stove is very efficient because you can carefully regulate the air coming in, the entire stove radiates heat, and the large flue that goes straight up and into the ceiling before exiting through the roof also radiates a lot of heat.

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

Good for you!

But you might want to make sure your current home is prepared so you can stick around here a bit longer.

My brothers house uses a heat pump but it had a wood fireplace in the living room and they aren't very efficient so he had it bricked up and put in a wood stove. He got tired of cutting wood and the mess so he installed a gas propane stove that looks like a wood stove. He has an upright propane tank on the outside that the gas co. keeps filled. When the power goes out that stove will put a bunch of heat and no mess or fuss. Larry

Like I alluded to before , long lines at the gas station and the grocery store a day before the storm hits speaks volumes .

A regular smoke alarm is $6-12, with a Emergency light, up to $20. A combo smoke, fire, & Co detector is about $35. You can get them that are direct wire with 9V back-up, 9V only or plug in the wall!

My condo has a Smoke/CO detector on lowest level, regular smoke alarms on 1st and second floor bedrooms, and an smoke alarm with Emergency light in the second floor hallway and stairs. (a total of 5 alarms) but it takes seven 9V batteries to do a change out, WELL WORTH THE EXPENSE!

If your alarm is over 10 years old, throw it away (or recycle) and replace it! When I bought the condo it was 12 to 14 years old, so I replaced them all, I have 4 years to go before the next change out. Most people do battery or alarm replacement around daylight savings time change, so neither alarms or batteries are marked down then (regardless of what the add flier says!) so look for them to be really on sale in mid summer, when nobody thinks about them! As in all things, THINK AHEAD!

Note on CO detectors: If you sleep on the same floor as your gas furnace or gas water heater. CO is heavier than the breathing air, so get a detector that plugs into a wall outlet, and have it plugged in between your bed and the furnace! In this case, by the time the ceiling mounted CO detector goes off, you will already be dead (or brain dead, which some think may be worse!)

Ivan

When we moved from the farm to the condo (6 years ago September), my wife heard a radio program that talked about not having control over our water supply. The solution is/was to buy 2 gallons of distilled water every time she went to the grocery store (69 cents each). So after we were here 2 1/2 years, a water line exploded in mid summer (right under a ground level electric transformer!), so were were without power for 8 hours and water for 3 days! We had 8 gallons of drinking/cooking water. AND I had taken 8 one gallon milk jugs and filled them with tap water for flushing the toilets. The complex brought every unit a case of 16 ounce bottled water, but most people didn't own a bucket to get water from the swimming pool or the 4 ponds to flush their toilets! (not to bright on their part!) The couple next door flushed with bottled water! Well duh!

We have a guest bedroom with a tub. I thought about a water bladder for the tub. They are 35ish gallons, $10-15, but single use. Too expensive, so I have four 5 gallon buckets I can prefill and leave in the tub if I wish, but we always have the 8 gallon milk jugs of tap water on hand!

Ivan

I bought a house with a heat pump as the main source of heat back in the 1980's.
We also had a wood stove that sat un-used in the basement.
Co-workers in Roanoke VA using natural gas as their heat source laughed at me,,
if the electricity went out, I would be cold, they would be warm,,,

WELL,, the electricity went out a couple winters later,, I chopped some wood, and fed my wood stove, we stayed warm..

The natural gas guys? Well,, they found out the natural gas was pumped by electric pumps.
When the electricity stopped so did the natural gas pumps.
The "natural gas" heated homes went cold, there was no gas pressure.
There was a LOT of frozen pipes in natural gas heated homes that winter,,
oops,,,,,,,

THE natural gas supplier here has a set of natural gas powered gen sets.

Guess they got fired and moved to Texas went to work for the electric grid !!!!!

In 2015 I was an advisor in Afghanistan and was living in a barracks with all manners and ranks of U.S. military. We would lose electricity and water in the barracks just about every afternoon. I placed 5 gallon jerry cans in every stall for flushing. One can would usually provide three flushes.

After a couple of weeks finding toilets filled to the brim on a regular basis, I came to the realization that our military is filled with men who have no idea how a toilet flushes. I had to explained how to use the jerry cans to fill the tank. Several young men had assumed I just wanted them to pour water in the bowl.

I finally got people flushing the toilets and found out no one was re-filling the jerry cans once the power was back on.

Edited to add:
I also had to teach them that courtesy dictates you fill the tank AFTER you flush.

A gallon or so of water, poured directly into the bowl, WILL flush it. I have a 5000w gas generator, but I don't have a line to the well pump yet. The power was off for a week back in the summer of 2011. I would drive my truck down to my creek and fill two 5 gallon buckets, then haul them back to the house.

BTW, where were you in the sandbox? I spent 3 years in Kunduz, in the northeast, as a police advisor, 2004-2007. I was at a RTC and we had two large diesel generators, so we didn't have to depend on the local grid.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air, that's why it was used in some gas balloons long ago.

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Release the Kraken

While this is true when pouring from a bucket, you will likely be left with change if pouring from a jerry can.

I spent 22 months in Afghanistan from 2014-2017. That covered a couple of different locations all supporting NATO Special Operations Command. I did spend some time in Kunduz and recall the night sky really had some stars visible.

Prior to that, I did two deployments flying over Afghanistan from the USS Eisenhower.

Google says exactly that also.

However, building codes require (in Ohio) that in a garage connected to a dwelling, the garage floor must be 4" lower at any doorway into the dwelling (some cities require 12"). It may be associated water vapor, but something make the combustion fumes heavier than air at our altitude. That may be because Air is 79% nitrogen and only 20.9 % oxygen. The real world isn't composed of pure anything. Fire fumes are hot so they rise (which is why smoke detectors are on the ceiling) and most fumes from hot water tanks and furnaces are too. But fumes from pilot lights will sink to floor level due to less heat. 95% efficacy furnaces don't have enough heat left in the fumes to make them rise, so there is an exhaust fan to move those fumes outside. Why because they will fall to the lower areas and that will kill you.

Ivan

I have one in the open part of night stand. If that CO gas is coming into my bedroom I want something near me that is going to wake me up.

I wanted to add something to this thread that I haven't seen addressed yet. I wanted to mention some "soft" home preparation issues that I've been involved with for over the last 5 years. If you live alone, is there someone you are in contact with each day? I have an aunt and uncle who live in the same town as I do. Literally the day I retired, my uncle said to me that we needed to call or text each other each day. And we've been doing it each day for over five years. There have been a couple days where my uncle thought I was late in contacting him and he sent me a text asking me if I was out of bed and OK. Since my aunt had her stroke two years ago, it's reassuring to have the texts from my uncle so that I know they are both OK.

I've learned that some people in town get concerned when I'm not seen for awhile. So part of the reason I go to the VFW, American Legion and/or Eagles, or at least stand in the driveway and wave to people is so that people see me and know that I'm OK.

Living in the country we are somewhat more prepared than cityfolk. Last year I became a active prepper although I have a bunch of holes left to fill in my preps. FEMA recommends having enough supplies on hand for two weeks. Real life events show it is more likely to be a month or more.

One item I want to replace is my generator. My current one is gas operated. With the power out I will not be a le to get more gasoline so I want get a dual fuel generator. My plan is to put the generator, 40# propane tank and long extension cord in a garden type wagon. The wagon has pneumatic tires, floor and sides are metal mesh and the sides can be lowered. Think of a mini fire wagon. Everything I need is on the wagon and all I will have to do is pull it out of the shed, roll it to wherever I need use it, connect the extension cords and start the motor.

Propane never breaks down chemically like gasoline. The only problem with long term storage is with the valve becoming inoperable. We have a propane grill so I will simply rotate the tanks and keep a third tank in reserve.

I probably should get a chemical toilet to help conserve water.

Extreme weather teaches us what we have overlooked.

BSA1, are you anticipating needing to use the genny elsewhere than your house? I can see the portability being ussful in that case. But if you're just hunkering down at home, I'd think a stationary setup would be more practical and easier.

You'd want to keep the genny and tank protected if you live in an area that gets extremely cold. (Article here)

If you're anticipating an extended outage, as you suggest, I'd get a transfer switch installed in the house and avoid the hassle of running extension cords hither and yon. A couple of weeks running stuff from extension cords would get tedious really fast.

It also has the property of mixing almost 100 % with air. That means no stratifying or separation layers if there is a circulation fan moving air around. I was taught it was 97% the weight of dry air.

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Front sight and squeeze

The reason for the garage rule as I understand it is to prevent idling car fumes from entering the house. Most properly adjusted gas appliances produce little or no CO and a lot of CO2. After doing a lot of testing we recommended that appliances be cleaned if vent CO was over 8 parts per million [PPM]. This figure came from the fact that CO in the blood becomes fatal at 9 PPM. OSHA has changed their rules varying between 35 PPM and 50 PPM for the average person to work in during an 8 hour work day. [I had the misfortune to be qualified as an expert witness in CO creation from gas appliances before the other attorney advised their clients to settle]

The high efficient appliances have the gasses cooled to the point of condensation and the water heavy gasses need to be pushed out. Pilot lights will vent in an old style furnace as they did for nearly a century if the chimney is properly sized. Too big and if it gets cold and they will not, yet they remain no more deadly than the pilots from a stove and oven used from the 1920's to the 2000's.

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Front sight and squeeze

Yes. We live in the country so it could be a long ways from a electrical outlet if running fence, thawing a stock tank or fixing a outbuilding that doesn’t have electricity.

Short answer is $,$$$ or maybe $$,$$$

That is what my garage and outbuildings are for.

Again more $,$$$ or $$,$$$. Transfer switch, whole house generator is a lot of money. Electricians are not cheap. A lot of money for a rarely used item. Plus whole house system needs to be started and have a load test once a month.

Only need two or three extension cords. In summer it would be mainly for the freezer and fridge. In the winter the fan on the propane furnace.

In reality it is like camping only not going to the lake.

There are companies the make kits to convert a gas generator to Two and Three fuel capability. My source for extra 20# cylinders, was to find them with thrown out grills along the road (translated to mean: FREE) Note; just before and just after Father's day is the prime time that people throw away old grills!

I took them to a "Tank exchange" rather than just fill them, because they get recertified before returning to public circulation. In about 3 years time I had 18 tanks. When I decided I only needed 6, I gave empty tanks to friends.

A small propane heater hooked up to a 20# cylinder will run nonstop 20 to 40 hours (depending on BTU output). My "Big Buddy" will last 26 hours at 30,000 BTU's. I have to use an adapter hose similar to one on a grill. I also have Coleman stoves that have the propane adapter and propane camp lanterns that screw into or onto a "Propane Tank Tree". If necessary, I can cook, light and heat off of one tank.

Ivan

Garages sometimes house cars, thus a gasoline leak is a potential problem. Gas fumes are heavier than air. You don't want a gas fume to enter the kitchen and come into contact with the stove.

Points taken. "The buck stops here...", and "here" is usually a lot closer to the bottom of the barrel than we think.

I hope my preparations will help others because of our recent experience. We survived the cold weather last week a lot better than our Texas neighbors. We have gas logs in the living room and we have a small gas space heater in the master bath. The propane tank was 68% full. I've had a 5000 watt Black Max pull start generator since about 1996 when we were without power and the temperature was below freezing for a week. Last summer just after the hurricanes, I upgraded to a 7500 watt Black Max with an electric start Honda engine, which was probably more power than I needed. It hooks up to the breaker box which allows us to power the whole house, except for any 220 appliances with heating elements.

We lost power from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. It ran a total of 95 hours and powered two freezers, two refrigerators, and everything else in the house on 110. Everything worked normally. We were able to use 2-3 1500 watt countertop appliances (microwave, George Foreman, air fryer, etc.) at a time with no overload. We washed clothes and hung them up on the shower curtain rods to dry.

My only concern was that an exterior faucet might freeze, but that did not happen. I started out with 24 gallons of gasoline, but will have more for the next event. I got about 10 hours per 6 gallon fill up. Except when we were preparing meals or when the clothes washer was going, it ran at less than 35% capacity.

During hurricane season I have a small window AC unit that I can install in the master bed room.

Not only do i have a generator but i also collect and repair old camping stoves and lanterns as well as Coleman table lamps. A few of my heating devices are shown below. I have plenty of fuel for both propane and Coleman fuel type stoves and lanterns. As well as many repair parts.

The first picture is of a space heater made by Coleman for train station waiting rooms in the upper mid-west. The second picture is of a trio of my table lamps, and the third picture is of a German made military/camping cook stove. The fourth picture is of my Range Rover at a local canal about a mile from my house and i went there to cook my breakfast so as not to wake my wife. And the last picture is of the canal looking to the west about twenty minutes after the one of my breakfast. This is one of my fav pictures. Llance

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Having lived in hurricane zones most of my life, think I’m prepared. Have 2 generators, Mr. Buddy heaters cooking stove and lanterns that run off 1 # propane bottles, and Co2 detectors. One reason of moving here is little or NO cold weather. Enough freeze dried food, 1st aid supplies and assorted radios. Best is maybe the roll around AC unit that vents out a window. Assorted alarm devices for a perimeter.

Something I remembered about draining pipes.

I worked for a rental home company for about a month (16 years ago now), They got homes read as soon as they emptied, then they were ready for "Instant Move-in". All utilities were shut off at the meters, so squatters wouldn't be comfortable, and neighbors couldn't steal electricity with a power cord!

As winter approached they would prepare them for sub zero temps. They had lots of expierance and did things I never thought of.

Where the water pipes come out of the wall then head to the toilet or faucet, there is a compression fitting, usually with a shut off. These work like a drain trap and hold water that will freeze and burst the pipes! This company had the winterizing team unscrew every one of these fittings
on the lowest floor and drain the water. Then you have to remember to hook them back on before restoring water pressure.

Just thought I would give you something else to think about.

Ivan

Now is the time to do anything you have thought about for future winter problems.
No hurricanes yet this year so generators should be available if you decided to buy one.
And now would be good time to do any plumbing changes that you have thought about.

Or procrastinate and hope for the best.

Got It !!!!

It will run the whole house, A/C, Electric Stove, Etc..

To many years in Florida to take any chances.

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

Ive went through a few hurricanes, last was Sally. We only were out for five days and I used this small 1400watt generator to power the fridge, a few lights, tv and fans. I have a 5kw but didnt use it. (I’ve since converted it to dual fuel using a 100 gallon lp tankas i have a lp stove and water heater). I decided I could sacrifice some comfort for not having to store large amounts of gasoline or having to try to locate a operational service station and staying in long lines . I went the 5 days on less than 10 gallons of gasoline. About 10 hours/ gallon.

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That reminds me! For the first time in my life,I need to order some firewood (I’m beyond cutting and splitting now) We lost power for a day last winter in subzero weather and I used up most of what I had left. It takes a lot of wood to heat up the stonework in a fireplace..

Last year was quite an education for us. We've taken corrective action where necessary, and can only pray that something new doesn't pop up. Unlike last year, we now have a community watch program that looks after property and all the seniors on my road have our number and know they have a place if they need.

Old way is best way.

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Blast from th past Dunno about the Geiger counter but the "communication" gear looks a bit iffy.

I'm ready for anything.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

About a month ago, I asked dealers/reps/installers for Generac, Kohler and Cummings to come out to my place for a site survey and estimates, installed, for a whole house/back up generator as advertised on their manufacturers sites.

About a week or so later, the Kohler rep showed up and did his thing. I got his estimate two weeks or so after that, last Monday. If I were to contract with them today, would be able to get a Kohler installed by winter or maybe early spring, they guessed.

Cummings rep took longer to get here. Maybe two weeks after I called. I'm still waiting on his estimate. If memory serves, he said that once I signed a contract, install would be eight to 12 weeks. (I think he was being optimistic.)

Generac, whose rep called me maybe a week after the Cummings guy was here, said best they could do would be to schedule me for a site survey at the end of December...

Would be a great business to be in nowadays. Not a good time to be a customer though.

Check to see if there are any Briggs and Stratton dealers near you. It might not be faster, but I have a B&S whole house "Fortress" generator. I originally looked at portables, but the Mrs pointed out that if I were away when we lost power, she would not be able to lug it out of the garage, set it up, and get it started.

The other things I do during hurricane season is make sure that we have food and bottled water. With the whole house generator we'll have power and can run the microwave. And of course I can always grill something.

Before winter comes, I do my annual maintenance on the snow blower and make sure that the roof heating cables are in working order.

Even though I live in a suburb and crime isn't out of control here, we live near a small city with a big crime problem. So, I also make sure I have at least one firearm loaded and on me.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

The same goes for snow blowers. Back in 2009 we had a very snowy winter and you couldn't find one for love nor money. Mine was on it's last legs and I spent more time getting it to run than actually clearing snow.

I spent several months looking at various models and decided on an Ariens 28 inch deluxe. It never fails to start and does a good job. I keep up on the maintenance because as a guy I know who repairs power equipment says, "The way you put it away at the end of the season is how it will start the next time you need it."

There's nothing worse (to me) than having a couple of feet of snow in the driveway and a snow blower that won't start.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Reminds me of this sentiment from a bathroom stall:
"Here I sit with a broken heart,
took a handful of pills and my Hog won't start.

I don't think freezing is a problem where I am. I would also think anyone living in Michigan should be able to deal with any freezing weather. Of course if you loose power it could be a problem so do as we do here in Florida and get a generator.

The difference is that in Florida you can always open the window and turn on a fan to cool things off a bit. You can't do that during winter in the north.

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Can open, worms everywhere.