Whether you love winter, hate winter or are indifferent to it, the novelty of the first few big snow storms wears off quickly. It’s winter now. We expect the cold, and we expect the snow. We just aren’t always prepared for how much it can interrupt and affect our lives.
Ice formations on the trees may be beautiful to us, but for the trees they can mean snapped-off limbs and even death. The same goes for the power lines. Ice and high winds can cause faults and failures, leaving us in the dark. If you thought it was chilly in the house before the power went out, be prepared to be even more uncomfortable.
Would you be ready for for a power outage if it happened? What if it was out for more than a day — or a week? Would you be able to keep warm? Would you have enough food?
[See: 7 Ways to Cut the Dry Air in your Home This Winter.]
As uncomfortable as this may be to think about, it will be much more uncomfortable if you find yourself unexpectedly in the dark with no plan of action. Use these tips to get prepared for a winter power outage.
Have a light source. Find and inspect the flashlights in your house. Make sure they have fresh batteries so they shine at full power. If you don’t have enough flashlights, start your shopping list. Put your flashlights in several places around the house that you can easily find in the dark. Don’t rely on one flashlight for the whole home. Have at least six.
Candles are beautiful, and they smell nice. Keep a good supply of them, as well as lighters. You can use your flashlight to find your candles. Lit candles in a dark room create an ambiance you may appreciate in spite of the power being out. That might be the only fun part.
Avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Every year, you hear of people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s usually the case they were just trying to keep warm. The first thing you want to do is make sure you have one or more carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup in your home. Change the batteries at regular intervals, especially as winter approaches.
If you are burning anything indoors, you risk carbon monoxide exposure. Fuel-burning space heaters, inadequate venting of gas appliances and charcoal grills are often the culprits of carbon monoxide poisoning.
If you are fortunate enough to have a fireplace and a good supply of wood, this will give you a heat source. Just be careful of burning embers that may pop out, and be certain your chimney flue is open.
[Read: 7 Ways You’re Making Your Furnace Work Too Hard.]
Invest in a portable generator. A generator is a valuable investment, especially if you live in a rural area, live by yourself or live in an area prone to power outages. Most portable models can run from 11 to 15 hours, which gives your enough power to keep your home warm for extended periods and operate key appliances. Generally, a portable generator will keep the lights on until your power company can come fix the problem.
However, be careful to not run your generator too close to the house. The exhaust from the machine can cause carbon monoxide to enter your home, which has been the cause of more than 20,000 emergency room visits since 2005, according to a 2013 study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Make sure you have proper ventilation, and follow the steps previously mentioned to avoid carbon monoxide exposure.
Stock up on food and supplies. Winter is a good time to purchase a week’s worth of canned goods, bottled water, toilet paper, batteries and gasoline, especially if you live in a food desert. Keep a manual can opener or two with your supply of canned goods. The canned food won’t do you any good if you can’t open it.
Keep your car’s fuel tank as full as possible with increased trips to the gas station. Keep five gallons or so of reserve fuel in the garage, just in case. For your snowblower, make sure you have an adequate supply of both gasoline and two-stroke oil additive. If you have ever gone to a home improvement store after a big snowstorm, you know the shelves are often bare of these items.
In this high-tech world we live in, we rarely think about radios anymore. It’s a good idea to own at least one radio that runs on batteries. It may end up being your only source of information when the power goes out. You can find radios that operate using solar power, too, but without sunlight, they won’t work. You can instead opt for a hand-crank radio, which operates off of human power.
[See: 8 Cold-Weather Hacks for Keeping a Cozy Home.]
Disconnect electrical appliances. Sensitive electrical appliances can be harmed by power surges when the electricity comes back on. Unplug computers, televisions, printers and the like, even if they are attached to surge protectors.
If you have a garage door that opens automatically, you aren’t going to be able to open it unless you disconnect the garage door from the opener. Learn how to do this before you have a power outage. Models may vary, but usually, there is a red handle hanging down from a rope. You pull it, and will hear a popping sound. This is how you know it’s disconnected.
Just be careful — the garage door will slam to the ground when it’s disconnected. Back your car out, then slowly let the door down.
When the power is out, it doesn’t usually mean the phone lines are out. But your cordless phones won’t work without electricity. If you have a landline, have at least one corded phone in the house that connects directly to the phone line. At least know where it is if you don’t want it installed at all times. Eventually, your cell phone batteries will exhaust, and this may be the only way you can communicate.
Other than reporting the power outage to the electric company — which probably already knows — there isn’t a whole lot you can do but make the best of it. Stay home if you can. Play cards or board games with the kids. Eat whatever perishable food you have before it goes bad. Learn to appreciate all those sweaters you never wear. Enjoy a book by candlelight with a glass of wine or spirits and wait out the outage.
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How to Prepare for a Winter Power Outage originally appeared on usnews.com
