Arctic Blast Coming, What Can You Do If The Electricity Goes Out?

[Cheryl Nelson]

If you are caught with no electricity and no other way to heat, remember earth temperature is 50-ish.  That is well above freezing.  You need to dig down below the frost line in your area (here it's 24 inches).  The wind is a killer, so that's another reason to get underground.  You'll need sleeping bags, warm clothing and all that. 

If you can't dig down, maybe the ground is frozen or you don't have the tools or the strength, remember the Eskimos live on the surface in structures made of block of ice.  You might not have a way to get blocks of ice, but you can make snow igloos.

http://www.primitiveways.com/igloo.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-an-Igloo (adds carving longitudinal lines to channel melt so it doesn't drip on you; has video which talks about the quality of the snow)

http://www.benmeadows.com/refinfo/tips/Article1.htm

Print the instructions.  Make sure you have the necessary tools.  READ the instructions.  Make sure you understand them.  Practice, perhaps by making a styrofoam model.  Once you work through this, it will be easier to do it live, especially if doing it under stressful conditions.

Let's hear other ways to survive the cold if the electricity goes out.

[Cheryl Nelson]

I know, Pat.  It's on the list.

[pat staley]

 Nice stove Kim.  I love our wood stove. Not as pretty as yours. You can cook on them to if you have to.

 Wow...ten dollars for a wood stove. Good for you Rosemary.

Cheryl, you need to get you one.

[Cheryl Nelson]

Nice one, Kim.

[Rosemary S]

I bought a wood stove this summer at an auction sale. I payed $10. for it. Mind you the doors needs lubricating and the fire bricks needs changing. Just looking at the picture made me dream about the cracking of the wood and the warm dry heat coming from the stove.

[Kim B]

It's little, but it surely does a good job. ( Was taken with my cell phone, not a good quality photo.)

 

[Cheryl Nelson]

I had one in the basement of my prior house, but this one doesn't have a basement and I didn't want a woodstove as the primary cookstove.  *sigh*  Compromise.

[Kim B]

We have propane too, but the furnace won't run without electricity so the propane would just sit in it's in ground tank.  I convinced my husband to put a wood stove in 2 years ago (in our basement).  That cut our heating bills in half.  We have had wood stoves in the previous two homes we've lived in (and built).  We went without a woodstove for 8 years, I was sooo glad to have one back!

[Cheryl Nelson]

You are lucky.  We have propane, wall heater, oven, dryer running on propane.  The heater and oven don't have electronic ignitions.

[Kim B]

Luckily we have a wood stove and more than enough wood cut to keep our house warm (most importantly keeping our pipes from freezing).