Working on "off grid" situation

[Judi Dial]

We have propane, and I have a propane cooktop which I use when we lose power along with the wood stove we heat with. After some looking I found a metal pot small enough to fit on the small flat surface of our woodstove. I've been known to put coffee in it when the power is out to preserve propane, it doesn't have a lid, so that is a short-term thing, usually when we're outside shoveling snow and I know we'll want hot drinks when we come back inside. Mostly I use the little pot on the woodstove to put water in the air, it makes it feel warmer, and both of us are less miserable with moister air. Also, it seems that when we're without power, I'm always looking for hot water, mostly to bathe in or to wash dishes. The little pot on the woodstove is a help there too, you can wet a washcloth and wipe your face, which feels great when you feel grubby and cold.

Our "main" coffee maker now is a French press, which also helps when the power goes out, we just have to heat the water differently (we use an electric kettle as it's quick, most of the time).

Also, I'd advise you to cultivate your neighbors. There is a group of us here and we all lean on each other. One year we ran out of wood, and a neighbor gave us enough wood to last the 24 hours before power was restored. Another time another neighbor got stuck because of an accident and called us to restock their fireplace so their pipes didn't freeze, etc. There are about 4 or 5 of us on one end of the street, and we all get along and make sure each other has water, fuel, etc.

Finally, I'd get a copy of "Home Energey Diet" thru your library if you can. It's a book about cutting your energy use and methods for doing that. I decided I wanted a copy when I found out that a company that sold photo volatics and off-grid merchandise said that it was their recommended first step to going off the grid...read that book.

IHTH!

Judi

[madhen]

I had that very situation last winter, when an unexpectedly severe snow storm left me without power and unable to leave my house for several days. I had bottled water on hand, but I also melted snow that I scooped up from just outside my front door, by scooping it up in a sauce pan and putting the pan on the wood stove, that was going pretty much non-stop the whole time.

I recommend having your fuel source (wood, coal, etc) close enough to your house that you can brave inclement weather to get to it. (Happily, I had a large pile of wood right outside my door.) I would also recommend having a battery-powered lantern, because they come in really handy for walking around in the dark and also for reading, if you don't want to try to do either by candlelight. I also have a power converter, so I can plug small appliances into my car battery. I would go out daily, fire up the car, charge up my laptop battery, then use my laptop on battery power the rest of the day. I thought about taking my coffee maker out there (!), but it was easy enough to make it on the woodstove.

Happily, I had a lot of prepared meals in the freezer, so I took some of those items out and stuck them in a big cooler, using snow to keep them cool, and just warmed them up on the wood stove.

[NewLeaf]

We use an old fashioned stovetop percolator coffee pot. It makes better coffee than our elec. coffee pot.

We have the following ready for power outages:

1. Gas logs
2.Kerosene heater
3.propane heater
4. propane lantern
5. battery lantern
6. oil lanterns
7. candles (must be very very careful w/these)
8. 2 burner campstove that runs on propane bottles
9. battery operated radio
10. cell phones and an older telephone that is non elec and plugs into the phone outlet. This worked when power was out.
11. cast iron cookware
12. MRE's for serious situations
13. water in 2 liter bottles for flushing
14 bottled water
15. stockpile of food, tp and paper towels
16. medications kept current in bad weather
17. first aid supplies
18. pet food
19. sleeping bags and down comforters
20. games (lol) to keep our spirits up
21. matches
That's off the top of my head, but we have been in several power outages over the years. The hardest ones were when we had a baby in the house. (Make sure you keep extra diapers and formula).

[Judi Dial]

Another item, Madhen's post reminded me. If you expect to have "long-term" power outage and you use your freezer/fridge a lot, rather than shelf-stable foods, come up with an idea for an alternate. DH made one like what Madhen talks about above, a double-wide Rubbermaid bin, nestled in the snow, with its lid on. We lost a lot less last time because of that. My long-term solution for this will be something I'll get DH to make that's permanent, not sure exactly what.

In the Victorian era, people put a shelf inserted like a window air conditioner in a north facing window. Also, there's a California closet, I think they're called. See the Goldbeck's book about kitchen design.

Finally, re lights. I'd forgotten about this. We had two CFLs explode right after we started changing over to them. As we live in a log house, full of paper, DH refused to buy anymore, so we skipped CFLs and have been going straight to LED lights instead, even when they cost $60 for a bulb .

The new track light in my kitchen has LED lights. They run on 12v. We got a lantern battery and DH hooked up the track light to run on the battery. Worked great!

Judi

[sunshine]

So - we're facing losing power SOON (as in any moment) due to icing. . . then backed by a blizzard. We're as prepared as we can be (kerosene heater, generator, etc.)

[krbshappy71]

Yiiikes! Hugs to keep you warm.

[Daisygirl]

Thinking of you, Sunshine! I hope the power stays on - if not, keep WARM!

[Judi Dial]

ME news sent me an email last week, the Home Energy Diet book was on sale. Haven't been able to find a link, I think you may have to sign up for their email newsletters?

Judi