October 2011 - A Goddess of Frugality

Laura is currently without power due to a bad winter storm in her area. If you are trying to contact her, please be patient, she will get back to you as soon as possible. Those bloggers concerned about the Black Friday event, she can get to wifi tomorrow morning at work and will get you the form and verbiage.

And now, while I have hijacked her blog.. *evil laugh* ..I want to do a guest post to cover the important items everyone should have on hand in the event of a power outage. I know, I know, it is easy to think that you are prepared as long as you have candles and a flashlight or two. But have you ever really thought about it? Being without electricity means no internet, and no television which stinks in it’s own right, but it also means so much more that many don’t think about until in the situation.

In the event of bad storms, it may affect your entire town and it could take DAYS or even weeks before power is restored. Is your household up to the challenge that this could present? When entire towns are down, it is likely that stores are closed. There is no running to the corner walmart to pick up what you might need. If a nearby store is open, your neighbors have already had this idea and you could find the store out of stock of the essentials.

Most gas powered stoves and ovens today use an electrical ignition instead of pilot lights. Most, if not all, gas powered furnaces need electricity for the fan or blower to push the hot air through the heating ducts. Thermostats use electricity to tell the furnace when to power up. There are many things to consider having on hand so that loss of electricity is merely an inconvenience and not a state of emergency for your family.

Heat
Obviously a necessity in winter months for most areas.

Mr. Heater is the back up heater that we have for our home. It is small, easily stored, and sits right on top of a propane tank. You can buy propane at just about any store, our corner gas station even carries it. On average, propane will cost around $50 for the first purchase due to a heavy deposit on the tank. If you already have a tank it generally costs $20-$25 to refill.

Apartment dwellers don’t often have the room to keep a propane tank on hand. When I lived in an apartment, I had a kerosene heater very similar to the one pictured to the left. Kerosene is also fairly easy to come by, again our corner gas station has it. It’s usually served from a pump, much like gasoline.

This is a nifty little guy that sits right on top of a Coleman gas bottle. An excellent option for apartments. I just ran across this while looking for kerosene heaters, so can’t say one way or another about it other than I’m highly considering getting us one. Looks much more convenient than lugging propane tanks around, tho I would bet the full propane tank probably lasts longer. I really can’t say from personal experience.

Eating

OMG the microwave doesn’t work! This is one among many kitchen appliances that we take for granted on a daily basis. The can opener is another. Do you have a hand held manual can opener floating around in a kitchen drawer somewhere? If not, make sure that you get one, they are essential and fairly inexpensive. But don’t just buy a cheap one at the local dollar store, it can be very frustrating when they don’t work well. It does no good to stock up on canned good in case of an emergency, only to find that you cannot open the cans. It sounds obvious, but I have done it.

Coffee! I need it, you need it, we all need it. Ok so some aren’t overly addicted to coffee and can actually function without it. If you are one of the ones who need it, like I do, here’s what you can do for a fairly quick fix without having to pay Starbucks prices: heat water either in a tea kettle, or a saucepan in a pinch. Put filter and coffee into your coffee maker like normal, pour the hot water over the filter and grounds. You will need to stop and wait for the coffee to filter through into the pot, don’t just dump entire kettle of water at once.

But wait, you have an electric stove you say? That makes things a bit trickier.

This is the stove that I have at home. It is tiny and inexpensive but does the job when necessary.

Here is a handy two burner version for those with the room to store it. Why be forced to resort to a single dish just because the power is out? With this model you can cook both your main dish and a side dish as well. Or cook your breakfast on one burner while heating up water for coffee on the other! Again, I might have to look into getting one of these bad boys for my home.

I have an ancient gas stove, so cannot say for sure if newer models do not have a pilot light for the oven or an electronic device. If in doubt, don’t risk using the oven. You can still use the stove top, you will need to light it manually though.

Let there be light!

Unless you plan to go to bed as soon as it gets dark, which is quite early in the winter, you are going to need some light in the evening hours. Candles are good for emergencies but when faced with extended loss of electricity, you’re going to need something that lets off a little more light than a candle.

	This is what I use at home. My daughter scoffed at the old-timey object, but when we needed it, it lit up the entire living room. The lamp itself is fairly inexpensive. The wicks last forever and are also easy on the wallet. The oil can be found at Family Dollar, surprisingly enough, for under $5.
	Coleman has got to be the leader in supplying camping equipment. Pictured to the left is a battery operated lamp which runs for 28 hours (low) or 18 hours (high) on 8 D batteries (not included). As always, make sure you have plenty of necessary batteries on hand in case of emergency.
	Here pictured to the left is the regular Coleman lamp which uses the Coleman fuel bottles. Always a reliable fallback.
	These handy little lights are an improvement on the convenient tap lights. You can put one in assorted rooms throughout the house and not need to carry the flashlight or lantern around the house.

Ok, this has gotten way longer than I expected and this takes forever, I don’t know how Laura does it every day, several times a day. I will end with one last point to be made…

Entertainment

We are an electronic generation. We have tons of gadgets that entertain us: gaming systems, BluRay players, big screen tvs, computers, expensive stereo systems. Whatever entertains you on a daily basis will probably not run during a power outage. It wasn’t until we had lost power for a considerable amount of time that I remembered how much I used to love to read before the internet was invented. Always be sure to have a good book on hand if you are a reader.

	Laura sent me this booklight when our power went out, and I LOVE it! You can clip it to your book, or I have been known to hang it on my shirt collar so I can crochet in the evening without the need to sit right under a lamp. Very handy little item. I use this light almost every night and the 2AA batteries last probably at least a month if not longer. If you are a reader, I strongly suggest you have one of these in the house in case the lights go out.
	We have this mp3 player at home. It isn’t flashy and we keep it around for one reason: it is powered by one AAA battery that lasts much longer than your typical mp3 player that is charged by USB. Plug this into a cheap pair of computer speakers that don’t require electricity, and you have family entertainment.
	This is another player that we have used to entertain my daughter during loss of electricity. I loaded it up with videos etc. at work and brought it home for her to play with. She loved it so much that I bought her one of her own for her birthday. It has it’s own speaker, 4GB of memory, plays or records videos, plays FM radio … tons of features for only $40. Keeping an 11yo entertained without electricity after her DSi dies is not easy.
	This handy little guy not only recharges AA and AAA batteries when placed in the window, you can plug any USB device into it to charge it with batteries. I really need to get a couple more of these and they are fairly inexpensive.
	I highly suggest this device. Granted I bought it for it’s solar capabilities and frankly we don’t get enough sun here in Michigan to charge this solarly, however after I charge it, either through USB or plugging it into the wall, this will recharge two of my phones, mp3 players, my daughter’s DSi, my kindle, the list goes on and on. It comes with its own adapters and is definitely on my list of devices to buy more of.
	When in doubt you can count on the old family favorites. I remember back when Laura and I were roommates and we’d lost power for a week. We thought we would go nuts from internet withdrawls. Instead we hauled out the monopoly board and managed to keep our sanity in tact, well … most of it.