Power Outages... How Do You Prepare?

[noobiechickenlady]

If you are trying to a little stuff on the cheap, scrounge up some soda bottles or juice bottles. Wash well & store water in them. If you don't fill them all the way full, they can freeze without bursting, which means you could store them in your shed. Put in a little drop of chlorine only bleach to help keep them pure.

You can also store them in your freezer to help keep your goods frozen. When our power goes out (usually less than a day or three) I pull all the bottles from the bottom of the freezer, put them on top of the foods & then wrap that baby up in every blanket I don't need at the moment.

Home or even storebought canned goods are easy to heat & eat if you want something simple. You can cook almost anything on a wood stove that you can cook on a gas or electric. It will take a bit more fiddling maybe. Practice cooking on it now, before the power goes out, so you won't be pulling your hair out when it does go out Pretend your power has gone out to add a little realism.

We have kids so every couple weeks I flip the breakers off in the house (except the freezer & fridge). The kids are now trained to stay right where they are until mom or dad comes with the flashlight or lantern to get them. Then we have a full day of "lights out". It's not as much of a shock anymore.

I keep both candles & oil lamps. I prefer the oil lamps, in a pinch you can burn almost any liquid oil and the light is adjustable. Get some of the hand crank flashlights. They are cheap & you don't worry about batteries running out.

 

[ChickenToes]

Store as much water as possible, esp. for toilet flushing. We used those big 5 gallon water jugs. They hold plenty of water without being too heavy to lift. An attic is a great place to store the water.

A natural gas stove for cooking. If it gets very cold, you can turn the oven on and it will heat the room up a bit. As for meals, anything that doesn't use much water to prepare.

We have a wood stove in the basement that keeps the house warm even when there is no electricity to run the blower.

In the winter, I don't much worry about cold food storage. Our power went out for 3 days a few weeks ago and I just parked my car near the front door and put all the food from the fridge in the backseat.

Oil lamps and flashlights are good, and I use a lot of candles. If you use storebought candles, don't throw them out when you get to the last little stump of wax! Store the wax chunks in a coffee can and melt them back down to make new candles. I melt the wax and pour it into jars.

 

[TanksHill]

First off welcome!!!

Second do you ever browse Craigslist? Not sure where you are but you can find great bargains on those needed items. Broken fridge, water storage, canning supplies..

So do you can? I usually store any leftover soups or stews in canning jars in the freezer. All you need to do is thaw and heat. There quick. Or you could pressure can them.

I don't think milk jugs are recommended as water storage containers. I think the plastic is too thin. Maybe that's why you had leakage issues. The soda bottles work well. I like Bee's idea of canning the water. I use 55 gallon drums, but we don't freeze here.

One thing that might seem kinda funny. We actually had a power outage a couple months ago. My flashlight I keep near my bed was dead. My oil lamps were in the kitchen, but he oil was in the garage. duh!!! Little things like that are fun.

For cooking you could always try to find an old camp stove cheap, Like a Coleman. Then just pick up a couple of those small green propane tanks as finances permit. At least that way you could heat a can of soup.

I also practice cooking in a dutch oven with coals when camping. It's fun and who knows maybe someday it will come in handy.

Just a few ideas

ps I live on a hill too!!

g

 

[i_am2bz]

You mentioned water jugs leaking & ruining your floor...I keep about 30 gallons of spring water in cabinets in my storage room, which I rotate thru. I check them regularly, but once one sprung a leak, which I didn't notice until the shelf had actually started to mildew.

Now, all the shelves are lined with puppy pee-pads (white lining, blue plastic backing). About 1 week ago, I was rotating my "stock" when I noticed, sure enough, another one had leaked a little - but no wet shelf!

Toilet-flushing water I keep in jugs in the bathtub (we use a separate shower).

 

[modern_pioneer]

I store water in 5 gallon buckets for cleaning and have several food grade buckets for water. Its important to place the non working freezer on the shade side of the house. I do now have a whole house generator that I saved up for after loosing power for 15 days, because I and a few folks around us are on a different grid, folks over the other side had power. I know Debbie (justusnak) has a wood stove she cooks off in the winter when power goes out, and I was raised on a farm that had a wood cook stove.

On the cheap side of food and SS remember a few words, bulk, on sale and can it!!! The past 3 years running I have increased my canned food evry year. Hunting and gather for food has been tough at times. Last year I gathered over 3 pounds of shelled hickory nuts, I earned every one of those nuts! They were great in baked goods and sheesh my hands were sore.

I have been looking for sheep heads, but its late in the season. Mark brought me over 6 pounds of the free fungi, which I froze in small packages. He also brought over some deer sausage he made last weekend. I have some fish that I caught on a fishing trip recently in the freezer.

I had also purchased a few recipe canning books to be able to learn different recipes. Some one might be along and post a link to a free popular canning site on line, I don't have it book marked on my laptop.

My number one SS meal in canned deer meat/gravy over homemade bread.... I can also say that in Feb or March this year, when I opened my freezer, everything inside was food I put up myself. I was filled with such great joy and felt really proud of myself.

Also visit here often and look for other members free recipes, skr8pn has a awsome salsa recipe which we bartered together so I got to try it myself.

Welcome to SS

ETA I also started with a small generator to power a small part of the house ( 110 outlets only ) and with a gas water heater. I also tied in the well pump. The water isn't safe to drink so it has to be boiled. I also have a spring water outlet down stairs, but I have never used the water or had it tested, I should to find out if it is safe to drink.

 

[modern_pioneer]

I also practice cooking in a dutch oven with coals when camping. It's fun and who knows maybe someday it will come in handy.

Gina, did you know that there is a cookbook for that to?
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Dutch...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290214431&sr=1-4

 

[freemotion]

Use mirrors, shiny pans, anything shiny or even white things if you run out of shiny things to put behind candles/lamps. It makes a huge difference by multiplying the light.

We could easily live for a couple of weeks (or more, hope I don't have to test that!) without power now that we have a better woodstove. Everyone I talk to (here) asks me why I didn't get a pellet stove, as they are "cleaner and easier." Well, I'll be warm and well-fed if the power goes out, and my pipes won't freeze. That's why.

 

[Beekissed]

Power outs to me are kind of fun unless one still has to go to work...then the real fun begins.

Trying to fix your hair in any kind of an attractive style without the aid of your usual tools is nearly impossible. Washing out clothes by hand is a pain.

Back when I lived off grid , we had that all figured out and it was all routine, so I know I could get back into it....but it would still get old real quick. :/

 

[Denim Deb]

Does anyone own one of these washing machines? I've thought about getting one, but don't want to if they're not any good.

http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=MC W100

 

[Beekissed]

I've heard they are virtually worthless. Don't hold very much clothing...not enough to warrant buying one. One could wash out by hand quicker and larger loads using an old wash board or just friction against the clothing itself.