Not flashlight-related, but I’ve got a hunch that some people on here share my interest in preparing for severe weather events. What do you guys do for backup home heating when the power goes out if your home uses electric heating? I know you could get a generator large enough to power the electric heat, but that seems wildly inefficient because the generator mostly just creates tons of heat outside. Any ideas?
Sleeping bags rated to the 99% design temperature (the lowest temperature your heating equipment should be designed to handle in your location).
Not trying to be obtuse, but in your area are heating systems actually “designed” and with values/numbers like that? In the UK, most houses have a central heating system, we mostly have an x Kw-sized boiler for hot water/heating and a radiator in most rooms… No real design calculations or design temperatures…
For staying warm, it’s most efficient to heat a person Vs a whole house/room. Most logical power-outage warmth is warm clothes followed by a woodburning stove, if funds and house/location are suitable.
Heating systems are supposed to be fitted by size to the home/building they are installed in.
Here in Canada we have a standard called CSA F280, in the USA its called a Manual J calculation.
The idea is that the home is evaluated by a complex calculation to determine its peak heat load, usually in BTU. Equipment is ideally sized to satisfy this plus a 40% reserve.
There are various standards in regards to building above minimum code for consultation such as R2000 in Canada or Net Zero or Passivhaus which is popular in Europe and comes from Germany.
Your only other option is to burn something, there are many ways and methods, but with everyone of them, you need fresh air intake.
Mr. Heater I use the Big Buddy with fan. As long as I have fuel I can get warm…ish.
Thoughtful, well-heeled people have a lot of top-notch solutions to being prepared for a long winter blackout, comfort and safety are easy with a large budget, but for those who can’t.
People need to learn how to turn off their water and drain the lines, which includes removing the water from the toilets if it is going to get like Texas did in February 2021.
People should have a plan to protect all their canned goods and liquid items, (cleaners, makeup, wine) in a big freeze.
People should have a room for the last ditch stand for canned goods and family members, a room they can heat with little camp stoves, and propane stoves, candles, even if it is just to keep it above freezing.
If you have an elderly granny or little kids, 12-hour hand-warmers under the blankets/sleeping bags can guarantee their survival, and remember that everyone needs to be well hydrated in the cold, so drinkable water is necessary. Cold-weather campers know that a drink and a snack make for better cold-weather sleeping.
1 Thank
A lot of suggestions around propane, but wouldn’t that only be suitable for outdoors?
I’m in the fortunate position to be planning this out now when the power is on and there are no storms in the forecast 
Sleeping bags are certainly an option from a survival perspective, but I’m hoping for something more comfortable. My best plan right now is a LARGE generator which would absolutely work but be thermodynamically inefficient.
I do like the wood burning stove idea. I’ve never had one, but I understand they can produce a lot of heat. I wonder what the installation cost would be on a house that’s not set up for one.
[quote=mrstealyourgains]
Many propane heaters are made for indoor or tent use, Mr. Heater for instance, or a regular piped-in wall heater that a contractor can install.
My suggestions are for the broke or the apartment dwellers, if you can do things right with a little money, then the other guys will offer up wonderful ideas about generators and such, but propane is a great fuel with no shelf life limitations and it can be bought in the convenient BBQ sized tank or the even safer and more convenient 1 pound little camping cans.
A 90-dollar Mr.Heater and a few 1-pound cans of propane, and a propane camp stove can keep someone above freezing, and cooking in a small space such as a bedroom. Mr.Heaters can also be fueled by the regular home propane tank with a few fittings, for those who need electricity to run their propane home furnaces.
[quote=mrstealyourgains]
Here are some links to articles and videos on installing or buying a wood stove, the installation seems easy enough (cheap enough) for a handyman as long as one has the space to devote to it and can accept the odors, cleaning, and ash removal.
https://www.google.com/search?q=installing+wood+heater&oq=installing+wood+heater&aqs=chrome..69i57.5928j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
i’m not familiar with transfer fees, what are they and who collects them?
If it’s any consolation, we have same awful system in UK, called “standing charge”. Includes costs passed on to consumers for “free” smart meters and green initiatives. 2018 to 2019 my electricity standing charge went from 18p/day to 29p/day. I’m still livid because it almost doubled my bills in that house as I used very little electricity.
Current government imposed cap for electricity is 46p/day standing charge then 34p/kWh.*
I wish they’d lower the standing charge and bump up the unit cost, as least it would make a difference to most normal people’s bills as they could easily reduce the units used…
*Edit to add: in retrospect I don’t think the standing charge is capped, we have a stupid system whereby the government sets “energy price cap” which is an “average use case” (with set number of units) for an “average” property. Specifically, units of electricity aand the standing charge, are not capped per say but the overall price is…. It’s a complicated mess.
[quote=brad]
I see, it’s mainly getting a chimney installed, good to know!
[quote=brad]
Indoor propane heaters sound like they would be convenient for temporary use, but the top review for the Mr Heater on Amazon about CO is a bit scary:
https://smile.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Safe-Portable/dp/B002G51BZU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1X8W247MFFKAU&keywords=mr%2Bheater&qid=1666891684&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjEyIiwicXNhIjoiNC40NSIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTgifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mr%2Bheater%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840&th=1
We’re experts: The most stupid people in the world, deliberately getting rid of every reasonable energy source or making it as expensive as it can possibly get. Masters of deliberate shortage, worstperformer in OECD’s view on the coming years.
So, what do we do? We open our houses to terrorists that glue themselfs to the floor. If you can find enough of those idiots, they’ll heat your home. But you need ear protection: They cry when it’s getting cold or they get hungry. But make sure they’ll have access to a pisspot, else … Oh - store all your paintings in the attic!
Worked well for my power outage. Plus they have tip over and low oxygen sensors. Do keep a few bottles on hand they disappeared days before the freeze. I also used a few multi wicked candles to light up and slightly heat the bathrooms. Just stick them in the bathtub and they’ll never get knocked over.
Propane forced air heater, kerosene wick heater, pellet stove with generator.
+ Four 20 LB. propane cylinders
