How to Make a Power Outage Bearable
Consider the type of emergencies your particular home is most likely to face., Cook perishable foods., Have stable foods that don't require refrigeration., Have a back-up method of heating food and water., Have a back-up method for heating or...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Consider the type of emergencies your particular home is most likely to face.
A blizzard-prone area will be different from one in a tropical area that commonly faces hurricanes.
Urban areas face different challenges than rural areas. -
Step 2: Cook perishable foods.
If the temperature rises, take anything out of the refrigerator that might spoil and prepare to cook it or consume it before it warms up.
Eat perishables before spoilage can occur. , Those that do not require cooking are even better.
Canned meats, fish, soups, vegetables, and juices will work, and can be kept for months at a time.
Crackers, cookies and snacks for the kiddies are a necessity.
Eat these items after the perishables are eaten or are unsafe to eat.
To make perishables last longer, avoid opening the fridge unless absolutely necessary.
The air in the fridge will remain cold for a limited amount of time, even after the power goes out.
But the more you expose it to room temperature, the faster it will warm up and the faster your food will spoil.
You can also minimize heat gain by packing everything in the fridge tightly together. , A camping stove is ideal (and be sure to know how to use it safely — see warnings).
A barbecue grill will work quite well, but do not bring it into the house. (You don't want carbon monoxide poisoning.) A gas stove can often work if you have matches for ignition.
Remember to have plenty of fuel on hand for your camp stove or barbecue in case your adventure lasts several days.
Water is actually more important than food, and if your water supply is pump-driven, it may give out in a power failure.
Put aside many gallons or liters of drinking water.
Fill your bathtub or pails with water for flushing the toilet, washing, and so on.
Read the article titled How to Get Emergency Drinking Water from a Water Heater. , Do you need to stock up on wood for the wood stove? You should consider buying portable fans, and cold water rinses to stay cool.
If your home runs on natural gas or propane, install a gas fired fireplace that has its own thermopile electronic ignition.
Should you get a gas-powered generator? , Many of the commercial style emergency lights look pretty bad on the wall of your kitchen or living room, and they typically only last 90 minutes
- day or night.
Try to find power failure safety lights that sense darkness before going on.
Otherwise the batteries will be dead before darkness comes.
New power failure safety lights just hitting the market deliver light for long periods of time because of the improvements in LED brightness and battery life.
Look for power failure safety lights on the web and find ones that you can install in any room of your home without being an eyesore.
Start with the kitchen and bathrooms
- the two most used rooms of the house. , Go to the mall, or take in a movie.
Have a few good meals at a nearby diner or at a fast food restaurant.
Unless you are snowbound, or ill, there is no reason to stay indoors and be uncomfortable.
There's plenty of time for that when it gets too late to stay out. , A few basic necessities can be plugged into these.
Think lights, fans, laptops, cell-phones and radios.
Don't expect to power your whole home off of one of these.
Some portable power generators can even power your refrigerator. , Turn on your flashlight only when you need to move about.
You can make up your own games, sing songs, or practice the ancient art of talking with one another.
Be playful if possible.
Read a book to pass the time.
Remember, this can only be done during the daylight hours.
At night, the best thing is to go to sleep.
Time passes faster when you sleep, especially when there is nothing else to do but wait. , These will light a room better than a flashlight.
Also, keep a "manual" can opener handy to open animal food cans as well as other preserves. , Cell phones will also lose their charge quickly, so having a battery powered cell phone charger is also a good idea. -
Step 3: Have stable foods that don't require refrigeration.
-
Step 4: Have a back-up method of heating food and water.
-
Step 5: Have a back-up method for heating or cooling your home during a blackout
-
Step 6: depending on your climate's needs.
-
Step 7: Prepare by equipping your house with automatic power failure safety lighting so that it does not go dark when the power goes out.
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Step 8: Power outages can mean 'get out of the house' during the day if it is safe to do so.
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Step 9: If you can afford it
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Step 10: get a powerful Portable Power Outlet like ATOM or a Portable Power Generator.
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Step 11: Remember that there will be no TV
-
Step 12: no light
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Step 13: and games that need reading will not be able to be played.
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Step 14: Keep a battery powered camping "lantern" available.
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Step 15: Keep a battery powered radio available to monitor local news and emergency developments.
Detailed Guide
A blizzard-prone area will be different from one in a tropical area that commonly faces hurricanes.
Urban areas face different challenges than rural areas.
If the temperature rises, take anything out of the refrigerator that might spoil and prepare to cook it or consume it before it warms up.
Eat perishables before spoilage can occur. , Those that do not require cooking are even better.
Canned meats, fish, soups, vegetables, and juices will work, and can be kept for months at a time.
Crackers, cookies and snacks for the kiddies are a necessity.
Eat these items after the perishables are eaten or are unsafe to eat.
To make perishables last longer, avoid opening the fridge unless absolutely necessary.
The air in the fridge will remain cold for a limited amount of time, even after the power goes out.
But the more you expose it to room temperature, the faster it will warm up and the faster your food will spoil.
You can also minimize heat gain by packing everything in the fridge tightly together. , A camping stove is ideal (and be sure to know how to use it safely — see warnings).
A barbecue grill will work quite well, but do not bring it into the house. (You don't want carbon monoxide poisoning.) A gas stove can often work if you have matches for ignition.
Remember to have plenty of fuel on hand for your camp stove or barbecue in case your adventure lasts several days.
Water is actually more important than food, and if your water supply is pump-driven, it may give out in a power failure.
Put aside many gallons or liters of drinking water.
Fill your bathtub or pails with water for flushing the toilet, washing, and so on.
Read the article titled How to Get Emergency Drinking Water from a Water Heater. , Do you need to stock up on wood for the wood stove? You should consider buying portable fans, and cold water rinses to stay cool.
If your home runs on natural gas or propane, install a gas fired fireplace that has its own thermopile electronic ignition.
Should you get a gas-powered generator? , Many of the commercial style emergency lights look pretty bad on the wall of your kitchen or living room, and they typically only last 90 minutes
- day or night.
Try to find power failure safety lights that sense darkness before going on.
Otherwise the batteries will be dead before darkness comes.
New power failure safety lights just hitting the market deliver light for long periods of time because of the improvements in LED brightness and battery life.
Look for power failure safety lights on the web and find ones that you can install in any room of your home without being an eyesore.
Start with the kitchen and bathrooms
- the two most used rooms of the house. , Go to the mall, or take in a movie.
Have a few good meals at a nearby diner or at a fast food restaurant.
Unless you are snowbound, or ill, there is no reason to stay indoors and be uncomfortable.
There's plenty of time for that when it gets too late to stay out. , A few basic necessities can be plugged into these.
Think lights, fans, laptops, cell-phones and radios.
Don't expect to power your whole home off of one of these.
Some portable power generators can even power your refrigerator. , Turn on your flashlight only when you need to move about.
You can make up your own games, sing songs, or practice the ancient art of talking with one another.
Be playful if possible.
Read a book to pass the time.
Remember, this can only be done during the daylight hours.
At night, the best thing is to go to sleep.
Time passes faster when you sleep, especially when there is nothing else to do but wait. , These will light a room better than a flashlight.
Also, keep a "manual" can opener handy to open animal food cans as well as other preserves. , Cell phones will also lose their charge quickly, so having a battery powered cell phone charger is also a good idea.
About the Author
Frank Wells
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow cooking tutorials.
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