[ka5siw]

Talk about a TEXAS sized mess! This has been an eye-opening event! I have been prepping for 10 years and still not prepared for a mess like this. I can remember several Texas ice/snow storms but we never lost power. We did lose power in hurricane Carla in 1961 (Houston). Our home in New Mexico is total electric so if this happened here we would be in for a hard time. Here are the basic preps I am thinking.

1. Drain the water lines and water heater, save this water. (prevent freeze damage).
   
2. We would move the garage propane heater inside the house and use it to chase the night chill. (use only when we are awake)
   
3. Bring the sleeping bags inside the house and use them for additional insulation.
   
4. Bring the gas grill inside the garage and use it to cook food.
   
5. Use the Colman stove inside to boil water or make coffee/tea.
   
6. Use the camping water filter to filter pond water, river water or melted snow.
   
7. Melt snow in the bathtub to flush the commode.
   
8. Use the generator to operate a convection space heater. (the generator would stay outside the house).
   
9. Place the partial filled water jugs in the igloo ice boxes (in the garage) to catch the water if they froze and broke.
   
10. Any use of a generator would require the garage door to be locked open about 1 foot to prevent carbon monoxide gas build-up.
    
11. Consider adding insulation to the garage doors and ceiling.
    
12. Consider adding a supplemental heat source to our home. (wood stove)
    

Things we are doing right.

1. We have 9 grill sized propane bottles
   
2. We have about 20 gallons of gasoline stablized and stored
   
3. Our generator will run on gasoline or propane
   

 

[neophyte]

ka5siw: Sir, adding.
some of “TNPIRATE“ blankets; covering all windows - exterior doorways - rooms not in use doors closed 😇

 

[Junction15]

Some things you might want to review:

You might want to revisit draining your water tanks and look a freeze prevention instead (extra insulation, exposure to at least some warmth to keep it above 32 degrees) They could provide a little more water for you.

Make sure you have battery powered CO detectors in various locations in your house. Keep in mind that most of those are designed to trigger at 325 ppm which means you need to go outside immediately. You can buy handheld detectors that read low levels so you can determine if you are getting low levels - that could become high levels- but gives you time to troubleshoot the source.

Coleman stoves (any kind of fuel) are best used outside. CO generators.

Be careful with your gas burning appliances - those too can generate carbon monoxide. If you use gas for heat, consider installing a non-electric, gas burning heated designed for use in the home. Woodstoves are great too.

Gas grills are notorious for CO generation. I would keep and use it outside the structure. Plus, if you had a hose bust, you would have a big problem inside the garage. (Happened to a friend of mine - porch burned off the end of his house but the fire dept saved his house. Relatively new hose coming off the tank split open. He could not get near the grill to shut off the gas.)

Chain and padlock your generator. Run it off the end of your house so prevailing wind blows exhaust right past.

Once you have weathered a few outages, you will know exactly what works for you.

 

[Rocky7]

x2. Using propane-fired appliances inside a building is sketchy, at best. I would never do it. Far, far better to install a wood-burning airtight stove if you can swing it. A good stove will throw so much heat when the flame gets boiling that you will need to stand back.

 

[ka5siw]

Thanks for several good points. We are on a small water coop, if we lose power for more that 12 hours we would lose water.

 

[jedwil]

We were lucky in only losing power twice fro a total of 7 hours. Food was never an issue and we had adequate drinking water for quite some time. We did lose water here for about 3 days. Used melted snow for the toilets and that was about to become in short supply. I will rethink my water supply and address the heat issue in case we lose power fr an extended period.

 

[SUBMOA]

Thanks for several good points. We are on a small water coop, if we lose power for more that 12 hours we would lose water.

In the early stages of a water issue , stock pile water in food grade containers. I don't know how large your coop is but you might bring it to their attention and they might address the issue to make it more reliable in another event . I hope that you found comfort in many of your preparations . It is something that I have come to appreciate and learn from with even small events.

 

[Dragunov]

Talk about a TEXAS sized mess! This has been an eye-opening event! I have been prepping for 10 years and still not prepared for a mess like this. I can remember several Texas ice/snow storms but we never lost power. We did lose power in hurricane Carla in 1961 (Houston). Our home in New Mexico is total electric so if this happened here we would be in for a hard time. Here are the basic preps I am thinking.

1. Drain the water lines and water heater, save this water. (prevent freeze damage).
   
2. We would move the garage propane heater inside the house and use it to chase the night chill. (use only when we are awake)
   
3. Bring the sleeping bags inside the house and use them for additional insulation.
   
4. Bring the gas grill inside the garage and use it to cook food.
   
5. Use the Colman stove inside to boil water or make coffee/tea.
   
6. Use the camping water filter to filter pond water, river water or melted snow.
   
7. Melt snow in the bathtub to flush the commode.
   
8. Use the generator to operate a convection space heater. (the generator would stay outside the house).
   
9. Place the partial filled water jugs in the igloo ice boxes (in the garage) to catch the water if they froze and broke.
   
10. Any use of a generator would require the garage door to be locked open about 1 foot to prevent carbon monoxide gas build-up.
    
11. Consider adding insulation to the garage doors and ceiling.
    
12. Consider adding a supplemental heat source to our home. (wood stove)
    

Things we are doing right.

1. We have 9 grill sized propane bottles
   
2. We have about 20 gallons of gasoline stablized and stored
   
3. Our generator will run on gasoline or propane
   

I have a stack of fire bricks, and a fire pit.
I placed a 24"x24" sheet of 1 1/4" plywood in the middle of my living room floor, stacked two layers of fire bricks on top of that, built a fire in the fire pit, and heated up 20 granite blocks, that were around 10 lbs each. I transported 10 of the hot blocks from the fire pit into the house, with a small, leather tarp. I stacked ten bricks at a time, on top of the fire bricks. Even at 2 degrees, and no electricity, it got so warm in the LR, I had to remove a couple of them from the house. I swapped them out, once a night. We stayed warm and toasty the whole time. No worries about fire, or carbon monoxide.

I filled five, 10 gallon water jugs, and took them in the house, so I had water to cook, sponge bathe, and drink for a while. We melted snow to flush the toilets, as the back bathroom plumbing froze, and broke. One small pipe, five minute fix, when the weather broke. We put tight plastic garbage bags on the living room windows, and tarped off the hallway. We slept in sleeping bags in the living room, and used the hot, granite blocks, and fire pit, to cook meals, and heat water for cocoa, coffee, and soup.

My electric bill for the month of February, was $100.

Not a problem.

 

[JamesAPrattIII]

Yes it was a mess. I had on and off power for a day and a half, no water for 8 days. No cable TV for 5 days.

 

[Wicked109]

I did enjoy reading the posts and things you all did to stay warm. Some great ideas. I would add buying some inexpensive solar LED lights and charging them through the day to use at night to save your batteries.
I changed the electric range to a gas range (plumbed the gas line and ran a dedicated 20 amp 120v line), also bought several packs of the extended butane lighters. We can cook without electricity as long as natural gas is flowing.
I also extended a gas line to the morning room to install a gas vent free heater/stove as a backup heat source. Also have a kerosene heater and 10 gal of kerosene as reserve.
We have a 3500 watt generator that really only needs to run a couple of hours per day to keep the fridges and freezers working to keep things frozen or cold, charge cell phones, run a fan if needed, and the TV for the news via over the air antenna.
I also plumbed in a drain at the lowest part of the house if I ever need to drain the lines...added a bunch of cutoffs to isolate every water line if necessary.

Thanks again everyone,