Wisdom and foresight come from experience. I’m the type of person that tries to learn from an experience one time and deal with it better the next. I have been through my share of power outages and usually when the bad storms hit I don’t want to leave my house. It doesn’t matter how old you get you will learn something new from every outage, or learn what you don’t have at home. I wanted to share some tips on staying prepared for the unexpected events that sometimes creep up on us. Although we can’t predict what will happen or when it will happen, we can keep the essentials on hand so we don’t panic and ride out the storms.
1. Alternative Power Sources
The first thing we should have when the power goes out is backup power! There are so many options for home backup power and camping now and most of it is affordable. Everyone’s needs are different, these are our usuals we keep on hand.
- Portable Generator : Having a reliable generator has saved us many times when we have had unexpected power outages. We have used it to run the refrigerator, the air conditioner, my coffee maker, and my electric stove burner ( not all at the same time, take turns). It pays for its self just to save the food in the refrigerator. Always make sure you have extra gas in the gas cans!
- Batteries: I make it a point to never run out of extra batteries. Amazon has bulk boxes a lot cheaper than in stores. I organize them in a tackle box to make them easily accessible.
- Power Bank: I have a small portable power bank that I have used many times to charge my phone. It comes in handy anywhere.
2. Lights When The Power Goes Out
There are many ways to bring light into our homes these days. From oil lamps and candles to rechargeable lanterns and solar lights the options are becoming limitless. These are the items I use when the lights go out.
- Candles: I always keep candles for backup lighting if the power goes out. I don’t buy scented candles because I normally light more than one and too many different scents can be overwhelming.
- Lanterns: I do have oil lamps but I don’t use them anymore because I have battery power lanterns. I bought a couple of battery power lanterns for my bathroom and I love them! Recently the power went out while I was taking a shower, I just reached around the shower curtain and turned the lantern on that was hanging on the wall. It was nice since it was dark and I couldn’t see anything.
- Flashlights: I have rechargeable lights but I also like to keep lights with alkaline batteries because if the power is off for several days and you can’t charge anything, alkaline batteries are the way to go.
- Solar lights: I bought cheap outdoor solar light that stick in the ground to to use in the house in case of an outage. They have to set in the sun all day to work but they are a safer alternative for kids and pets than candles.
3. Alternative Heat Sources
Heat sources come in many forms and when it’s below freezing outside they all can make you feel a hundred times richer.
- Propane gas heat: We use a propane gas heater to heat our home now so even if we lose power we still have heat. This has been my favorite form of heat because it’s reliable and there isn’t a lot a work involved to keep it going like cutting wood for a wood stove.
- Indoor wood stove: Wood stoves take a lot of wood and are a lot of work but they do have advantages over our gas heater that miss. I remember the wood stove growing up in my parents farm house, whenever the power went out my mom cooked soup and everything else on it. we boiled water for coffee and oatmeal and had hot water for washing our faces. Always look at the pros and cons when making a decision for your heat source.
- Electric heaters: We used electric heaters for many years before we got our gas heater. Whenever the power went out we just plugged the heater into our portable generator. It worked when we needed it to.
- Kerosene heater: For a more temporary heat source that doesn’t require the use of a generator, a kerosene heater works great too.
- Extra blankets: If you are a blanket lover this is your time to bring out all the extra blankets your husband says you don’t need!
4. Cooking Without Electricity
- Outdoor grill: I love food cooked on the grill! From power outages, big cookouts, to simply cooking dinner, a outdoor grill is always a great asset to have.
- Campfire: For power outages in the warm weather, take the heat and cooking to the backyard fire pit. Roast some hot dogs and enjoy the night under the stars.
- Electric stove burner and grill: For rainy or cold power outages I like to plug either my electric stove burner or my electric grill into the portable generator.
- Pour over coffee maker: You can use a portable generator to use your regular coffee maker or if you have a way to boil water just use a pour over coffee maker. You can buy one for as cheap as 20$ on amazon.
5. Food Preparation For Power Outage
- Canned food: Canned food should always be in stock in your pantry. Soup, ravioli, fruits, vegetables, chili, the list goes on and on. And they keep for a long time!
- Sandwiches, chips, and crackers: I always try to keep things in the house that don’t need to be cooked for a quick lunch each week, like chips, crackers, and sandwich stuff. This way if we lose power and can’t cook, we can just grab something until we make other arrangements.
- Bottled water: We use a water filter connected to our kitchen sink but in the case of a power outage it becomes useless. I always keep a few cases of bottled water handy.
6. Other Power Outage Essentials
- Toilet water: If you have a well you will need some water on hand to flush the toilet. If we had to we could get buckets of water from our creek or collect rain/snow for this. However, I started keeping one gallon jugs filled with water and stored them in the bathroom.
- Paper products and plasticware: Paper products such as paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, bowls, coffee filters, and plasticware cutlery are all important to stockpile for unforeseen events. I usually buy these items when I catch them on sale.
- Medications and first aid supplies: Like everything else I buy I try to buy medications and first aid supplies when I see them on sale, on clearance, have a coupon, or all of the above. It’s important to always have first aid supplies handy in case of emergencies. Also it’s good to have medications on hand in case someone gets sick (because no one feels like going to the store for medications when they’re sick).
- Pet products: Keeping an up dated first aid kit for your pets is essential too. Planning to stay one or two bags ahead of buying their food will guarantee you don’t run out. I usually order another bag of dog food after I open a new bag so I never run out.
- Books to read and games to play: When the tv doesn’t work and you want to conserve your phone battery what better way to pass the time then by having some good books on a shelf or board games in a cabinet. Make the best of your time with those around you.
These are things I do or have done to stay prepared for the unexpected. I hope this was helpful as a simple reminder to plan ahead.