Heating and power outages

[Bootstrap]

What do you use for heating during power outages?

We have an ancient kerosene heater. I am considering whether a newer model would be safer indoors. Propane is also a possibility. Our power is out, it's not terribly cold, but we would like to be better prepared next time ...

[Sudsy]

Cuddling.

[QuietlyListening]

We have a generator and can use space heaters. We have one of those oil space heaters which I feel is safer for leaving on even when asleep or out, have other types for when we are awake and present.
If the sun is shining could also hook up to the generator so our hot water solar panels work and we circulate that water thru the floors.

[Neto]

Don't use a kerosene heater in an enclosed space, unless it is vented somehow. (I'm mostly familiar with the type that is portable - probably noy what you have.)

We have a small gasoline generator, but too small to do more than run a few things at once, definitely not large enough to power the water heater, which is electric. We used to have both a wood stove (basement) and a wood-burning fireplace insert (family room), but the wood stove burned out so bad that it was difficult to control, and my wife wanted a gas fire place in the family room, so I pulled the insert out. The gas fire place has a blower, and is controlled with a remote, but the installers told us that we can put a battery in the fireplace itself, and then it will operate without electricity, just no blower.

The last time we had no power for an extended period of days was in June of 2022, when we had a "straight wind" storm here in Holmes County. What do they call it? 'Derencho', I think. That was a different situation, as we had to keep the freezer and ice box cold. So we avoided opening the freezer, and I alternated with the fridge and other appliances for the first day, then our daughter & her husband got their power back right away (they live close to the hospital), and then he brought his much larger generator here, and my son made an adapter cable to connect in through the electric dryer receptacle. During that time, since it was summer, and we didn't have the wood stove anymore anyway, my wife cooked outside, on the gas grill. (Back in 2005, when our power was off for days due to an ice storm, we cooked on the top of the fireplace insert, and just used oil lamps for light - we didn't have any generator at all then. This house was originally all-electric, then the previous owner put in natural gas, to run a furnace that heated just the main floor. And also added the second chimney, for the wood stove in the basement.) I do have an old style Warm Morning gas stove that a neighbor up the street gave to me, but we would have to run gas over to where the wood stove was, in the basement.

In some ways, life was easier when we lived in the village "off-grid", with no refrigerator or need for heaters. None of these worries.

[Josh]

Pellet stove powered by a small generator.

Not ideal, but the pellet stove cost $250, it goes through maybe $5 of pellets per day when it’s pretty cold. A small used Honda generator will run you $200-$1,000. The gasoline for it is minimal (a gallon a day).

Also have a tow behind camper trailer that can be easily dry docked. Needs a generator to run more than 30-40 hours on batteries, but it runs in propane and heats up easily. When our power was out for 5 days last year, we used it for a kitchen to cook in and used the fridge which could run on propane. We could have slept in there too. A suitable camper will run you $2,000-$6,000.

I did not bother running my well since it is 240V and I didn’t feel like hooking up the generator. I had some water stockpiled in 5 gallon containers and just used that. You could find an old office water cooler type of dispenser for that.

I think power outages will become more frequent and plan to eventually get a proper cast iron stove that can run in wood or coal and also have a water heater option on it plus cook on it. In the summer, just use an induction plate to cook on.

[Grace]

Tank top propane heater works great in emergencies.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tank+to ... d=uvpv-713

[mike]

Tank top propane heater works great in emergencies.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tank+to ... d=uvpv-713

That's the only emergency heat I would have access to. We haven't ever needed it. My business, which is next door to my house, has a 160kW backup generator, so I suppose we would all have to move in there if it came down to it. However it really likes propane, and would probably only last about 4-5 days.

[RZehr]

Wood stove and propane generator.

[Ken]

We have two gas fireplaces that will work in the event of a power outage as long as there is gas coming to the house. And natural gas supply is rarely interrupted by normal power outages.

[Josh]

We have two gas fireplaces that will work in the event of a power outage as long as there is gas coming to the house. And natural gas supply is rarely interrupted by normal power outages.

Unless you're in Texas