How To Survive a Power Outage during Wintertime

Photo credit: AcrylicArtist from morguefile.com

 

First Person Experience

Whether your power outage is a day or a week or more, it is not pleasant. It is a reminder of how you you should be thankful.  When you have a power outage, report it immediately to your energy provider.

Children

Since children like to play out in the snow,  it would be wise to not allow them to do so at this time. If there are any power lines down in your area, it could be deadly for your children. According to Consumers Energy, you should keep at least 25 feet away from a down power line, because even though you do not see sparks it can be live with electricity. Pets should be kept away as well.

We experienced the down lines during an ice storm. A tree limb broke the power line and our electrical meter as well. During this outage there were several counties affected including Genesee County with over 60,000 outages. It was horrific. I have survived a one or two day outage, but our power outage was for 9 days. This is not something that we expected. We did, however, get the refrigerator cleaned out earlier than scheduled. Although we always kept flashlights, candles, and canned goods in the event of an emergency, and outage in the winter time requires more. Also, the cable in our area went out right after the power did. So that eliminated TV watching for awhile.

Friends

This is a good time to call on relatives and friends to bring your extra food that you can salvage from your refrigerator and to charge your cellphones. Even though your landline may not be down, your cordless phones will not be accessible during the power outage. So be sure to have a phone that is not cordless that you can plug into your landline. Although cordless phones are convenient, it is wise to have a non-cordless phone for your landline. We have some friends affected by the power outage that opted to stay in motels during this terrible ordeal.

Generators:

We were truly blessed to have a gracious friend with a generator, which we were able to borrow during our time of need. To my surprise this generator provided us heat and lights for about 80% of our house. I was definitely saying, “Thank you Jesus.” A new generator can cost $599.00 and up. We kept 3 gasoline cans and would fill the generator in the morning and the evening with each filling lasting about 6-8 hours. You will want to keep the generator in your garage and beware of the fumes that will accumulate, so be sure to keep a window open in the garage. Fumes can be quite deadly. Remove your vehicles from the garage too or you end of getting the smoke scent in your vehicles, which is not very pleasant.

Heat

This ice storm occurred on one of the coldest days. Temperatures were ranging about 7 degrees. We had plenty of blankets and an electric heater. We could not use the electric heater, because there was no power. We did have a small Butane Propane heater which was insufficient, because it was so cold.    

Propane Cooker:

During a power outage you can cook on a gas stove, but if you have an electric stove that is another story. Propane tanks can be purchased for as low as $12.94. We finally purchased a Propane 2-eye gas cooker. It was decent enough to cook on. It really made me feel like I was camping out. We basically used 16-oz cylinders of propane gas to run it.

Propane two-eye cooker

House Insurance

You will need to refer to your house policy as everyone's will not read the same. You may qualify for reimbursement for damages to your house. Do not hesitate to call your Homeowner's Insurance.

Credit Outage:

In Michigan Consumer Powers states those that if you have a power outage longer than 120 hours
(5 days), service interrupted for more than 16 hours during normal conditions, or service interrupted more than seven times in a 12-month period, may qualify for an outage credit.

So remember the best thing during a power outage is to be prepared and do not hesitate to call family and friends. 

Source:

Personal Experience

http://www.consumersenergy.com/

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