Being prepared

birddude

Well-known member
I expect most of you guys in the western and northern states are prepared for these kind of weather events. But you wouldn't believe how many people down here are not prepared. I always thought I was prepared until I got caught in Kansas once in an ice storm. Long story short it was a bad deal. The house we were staying in didn't get power for 2 months! After that I installed the biggest ventless fireplace/heater I could find in the basement and traded my 500-gal propane tank for a 1000. Yesterday while sitting here blowing off on this site, my toes got cold. Yep, furnace quit. It was -4 with a sustained 20 mph wind. Fired up the Heater and called the repair man. I told him to get his emergencies first. He said he had a full crew out and he'd get there when he could. We have an open staircase to basement, so was getting decent airflow upstairs. The doorknobs frosted up but it stayed 57 degrees in here so thank goodness I was prepared. Tech. came by in the late afternoon and had it going in no time! We also have a gas stove/ oven and a fireplace with a couple cords cut in case the power goes we can still cook, and 150 gal. of water stored, and a generator. How do you guys who go through this all the time prepare?
 
Sonetime we rent a cabin near Hilger that only has a woodburning stove. One time we had elk grazing in the yard.We rigged up a TV in there.We only pay 25 dollars a night to this farmer.
 
We have ventless lp gas logs, underground tank, and lp gas stove. Underground tanks are important. If temps get cold enough lp won't work. I learned this from Mgr of LP company. Our house is foam insulated, crawl space encapsulated. We have a spring on the place so water is never an issue.
 
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I have a generator that will run most of my house. Many up here have the Generac generators that run off propane and will come on automatically when power gos off. Longest we have gone isba week without power. My main heat source is an outdoor wood pellet boiler and used to have a woodburner that i used beforevwe had a generator. Winter time the woodburner would keepbthe house comfortable and we woukd melt snow for the necessities ofbthe bathroom.

Many of the power companies are converting their overhead lines to underground to help reduce outages. Our worst times are early spring storms with wet heavy snows.
 
I have a generator that will run most of my house. Many up here have the Generac generators that run off propane and will come on automatically when power gos off. Longest we have gone isba week without power. My main heat source is an outdoor wood pellet boiler and used to have a woodburner that i used beforevwe had a generator. Winter time the woodburner would keepbthe house comfortable and we woukd melt snow for the necessities ofbthe bathroom.

Many of the power companies are converting their overhead lines to underground to help reduce outages. Our worst times are early spring storms with wet heavy snows.
Hey Tom, you got some snow up there, didn't you??
 
I've lived in MN since 1982 and not once have I lost power in the "winter" here.

The only time I lose power is in the summer when there's a thunderstorm, and even that hasn't happened in years. Mostly because we don't get very many anymore (drought).

That being said, its always good to be prepared. Having a generator or some other means of safe heat/power is a good idea living in the Midwest. And obviously have a winter survival kit in your vehicle from Dec - March.
 
Hey Tom, you got some snow up there, didn't you??
Yeah we got about 18" at my place with areas to the north and west getting upwards of 30 plus inches of snow. My late season grouse hunting is done for the year.
 
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