HotHands Body Warmer and a Zippo Reusable Hand Warmer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd if you’re doing this prep anyway, don’t forget to prepare by having food storage with emergency water bottles, canned goods, and any food that is non-perishable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s also nice to have a safe way to heat up food. There are a lot of options with camping gear. You likely need propane ready and available for them but it is worth having. Canned heat cooking fuel is also a nice alternative to propane since it’s safer to use indoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One year in Texas we had a huge ice storm and it shut off the power and basically froze all the roads so the city of Dallas basically shut down for a few days. We had a generator so we could power our furnace, which generated its heat from natural gas. We also had a fireplace. I did my cooking outside in the cold on my propane grill and in my Dutch ovens using charcoal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, it turned into a fun experience while a lot of other people really struggled and had to go to nearby hotels that had backup generators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Use Your Fireplace <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you have a fireplace try to set up and retain heat in that room as much as possible. And you can use the fireplace for a lot of other things you’re used to including heating up food and water for meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can also get bricks or stones from outside and heat them up on the fire. By doing that, you can then put them around you in the room which will let off the heat for a long time. Just don’t set hot bricks right onto the carpet or other surfaces that can melt. It’s best to set them on a hot pad, towel, or some other surface that’s resistant to heat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are so many ways to be creative and heat up your home, but remember to just focus on one room. Trying to heat your whole home might not be feasible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your fireplace is in your living room then grab a bunch of blankets and have a slumber party with your family. Plus, how fun would it be to use all the pillows, couch cushions, and even the mattresses in the house to make a fun, comfortable, and warm environment for everyone to sleep in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Eat Hot Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You will need to eat, and opening your fridge and freezer is a no-go because you don’t want to let out the cold in it while it isn’t running. So what do you do? I like to start by using up anything in my pantry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, you can use a grill or camp stove to heat up your food. Warm food can do a lot to warm you up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you need a hot meal then you could try going into town as a lot of fast food places have their own generators so they can stay open even when the power is out. It can be hard to tell what is open but I like to drive around and look for which places have cars in the parking lot or drive-thru. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Do Active Things Together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When you are cold it is easy to want to huddle up and not move, but you can all make yourselves warmer and make the room warmer by doing something active. Try running in place, jumping jacks, or even playing active games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can also go out into the car and go on a drive with the heater on to stay warm. Whether you want to drive around aimlessly, or if you want to visit somewhere you haven’t been before it is up to you. It can be a great opportunity to do something in nature or to simply spend quality time together. And, if you have a family member or a friend nearby whose power has not gone out then you can ask to come over while your home is cold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. Find a Nearby Warming Shelter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In some areas, winter can be really bad, and it can even cause a power outage. And it can take the city a while to get power back on while a big storm is passing by. Depending on the situation, you may need extra help to stay warm during times like these. If the situation is dire, there may be a warming center available to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hospitals have backup generators to allow them to operate during emergencies, so if you have elderly family members or young babies, then come to the hospital if the city’s help is not enough. Remember that the hospital will be busy and possibly not capable to give everyone a room or a bed, so try to exhaust your other options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harsh winters have their negatives, but one of the worst things that could happen is a power outage. Aside from being cold and uncomfortable, it can also impact your home. Dealing with this is never fun, but if it’s happening…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":27,"label":"Getting Started"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Staying-Warm-in-a-Power-Outage-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Rick Kesler","author_link":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/author\/ricky\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":27,"name":"Getting Started","slug":"getting-started","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":27,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":12,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":27,"category_count":7,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Getting Started","category_nicename":"getting-started","category_parent":12}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1385,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions\/1385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantrypreparedness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}