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Keeping my house warm without power?

D

daishi5

Golden Member
Power is out to my house, many of my neighbors have power, but there are still thousands in town without power. I am not sure if the power company will get to my house tonight, and it is supposed to get down to 2 degrees, and have a high tomorrow of 6.

Any ideas on how I can keep my house at least warm enough that my pipes do not all freeze?
 
One of those standalone diesel or kerosene heaters if you don't have a wood stove or fireplace. Although, the stores are probably cleaned out of them by now.

That running the water all night thing will work I guess, but my well pump requires electricity...do people on town water have water when the power is out?
 
Originally posted by: PingSpike
One of those standalone diesel or kerosene heaters if you don't have a wood stove or fireplace. Although, the stores are probably cleaned out of them by now.

That running the water all night thing will work I guess, but my well pump requires electricity...do people on town water have water when the power is out?
Click to expand...

If you have a bladder tank you will have water pressure until the tank empties (20-40 gal?). Water in softeners, neutralizers, etc. can freeze too so beware of that. With outside temps that cold it will go below freezing inside fast. Town water from wells is usually stored in towers. Gravity never fails but if a hydrant gets ruptured the tanks can be emptied in hours. Hopefully they have backup gennies with large fuel tanks...
 
If it makes you feel better, there are folks in central/western MA and NH who haven't had power since the ice storm last week (8 days) and now this snow storm will delay it longer.
 
Gas stove? Put that bitch on self clean then open the door. ok seriously, put it on like 300 or so and open the door. Turn on the burners too if you have a gas range.
 
Originally posted by: Specop 007
Gas stove? Put that bitch on self clean then open the door. ok seriously, put it on like 300 or so and open the door. Turn on the burners too if you have a gas range.
Click to expand...

carbon monoxide build up
 
Two birds with one stone: Find a chick in a similar predicament and have hot sex all day and all night long. You'll get heat and keep a few pipes from being frozen if you get my drift.
 
Originally posted by: Turin39789
Originally posted by: Specop 007
Gas stove? Put that bitch on self clean then open the door. ok seriously, put it on like 300 or so and open the door. Turn on the burners too if you have a gas range.
Click to expand...

carbon monoxide build up
Click to expand...

Actually, I have a gas stove, and the burners are on, I also have a several smoke/CO detectors that are battery powered, with fresh batteries.

I think I need to look into a kerosene heater. Yes, water pressure is still good here in town, neighbors have power across the street, so hopefully the power company will get us working here soon as well.
 
Originally posted by: Specop 007
Gas stove? Put that bitch on self clean then open the door. ok seriously, put it on like 300 or so and open the door. Turn on the burners too if you have a gas range.
Click to expand...

Couple of things:

Gas will put out lots of heat BUT you MUST open a window slightly to provide a source of fresh air. Once the O2 level drops below 12-15% the amount of carbon monoxide produced becomes dangerous. If the house is completely uninhabited, this may be acceptable but remember that you cannot smell CO and it's deadly.

The oven temp is regulated by the cycle of the main burner so whether it's on clean or set to warm, it puts out the same amount of heat. Clean just means it runs a lot longer raising the temperature inside to as high as 900 degrees F to burn off organic deposits from cooking flesh, etc.

Finally some stoves need electricity for ignition. This will prevent the oven from being used. The burners can be lighted manually with a match by turning on the knobs BUT remember if the flame goes out from reduced gas pressure or an outage then comes back it will fill your house with gas! If the electric power comes back on and something sparks you house could be blown to kingdom come. This is one of the many hazards of using this method for heating.
 
Originally posted by: Rubycon
Originally posted by: PingSpike
One of those standalone diesel or kerosene heaters if you don't have a wood stove or fireplace. Although, the stores are probably cleaned out of them by now.

That running the water all night thing will work I guess, but my well pump requires electricity...do people on town water have water when the power is out?
Click to expand...

If you have a bladder tank you will have water pressure until the tank empties (20-40 gal?). Water in softeners, neutralizers, etc. can freeze too so beware of that. With outside temps that cold it will go below freezing inside fast. Town water from wells is usually stored in towers. Gravity never fails but if a hydrant gets ruptured the tanks can be emptied in hours. Hopefully they have backup gennies with large fuel tanks...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a bladder tank...no idea how long that would last though.

However, running water isn't the greatest idea for me when the power is out. I have a mound septic system so I risk backup when there's no power to run the dosing pump or whatever.

I have a wood stove though and I can piss outdoors. Its fucking boring as hell when the power goes out though.
 
Originally posted by: daishi5
Power is out to my house, many of my neighbors have power, but there are still thousands in town without power. I am not sure if the power company will get to my house tonight, and it is supposed to get down to 2 degrees, and have a high tomorrow of 6.

Any ideas on how I can keep my house at least warm enough that my pipes do not all freeze?
Click to expand...
You can keep the water running to reduce the chance of frozen pipes. Or, turn the water off at the source , such as shut off the water where the pipe enter the building by the PRV or us the same method after shutoff water at meter (open all valves in house). Or, shut off the pump disconnect (prevent flooding when power come back), and drain the piping at the pump house (open all valves in house).

A fire place or stove will keep the house heated if you have them. Other wise, get a room at a hotel is a better solution if you don't have a mean to keep warm at home.


 
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