What do you do if your power fails in arctic conditions?

[StevenK]

I'm seeing the news from America and it's saying there's temperatures as low as -45C and a million people without power.

What happens when your power dies in conditions like that? Won't everyone just freeze to death? Do you just sit in your car until the fuel runs out?

 

[SML]

We remember Valley Forge.

 

[@M]

Those extreme subzero temps that make headlines are often wind chill factor, not the actual temperature (i.e., I think it was five below here the other day, but, -20 with the windchill).

I've experienced winter without heat/power here in Upper Michigan, you:

(1) Let your tap water run, so the pipes don't freeze.

(2) Wear a winter jacket, hat, gloves, etc. inside the house and bury yourself under blankets. Living heaters (cats and dogs) help.

 

[Neodogg]

Whole house generator…

 

[Dr Shroom]

Their excessive body fat will protect them from the cold.

 

[LoneSage]

Been there, done that.
Thermal wear and stay in bed.

 

[BIG BEAR]

Kerosene heater(s) which you have to be very careful with and candles.
BB

 

[herb]

Hobo fires

 

[ggallegos1]

Drain your pipes, call a plumber, and go to a hotel. It will prob be the cheapest out of every other option (pipes bursting, food going bad, etc).

 

[lithy]

When the power goes out, it will take a while for any half modern house to fall below 40F inside even if it's below 0F outside. Just find some blankets, layer up. If you have a fireplace, use it, hang sheets to make the smallest area possible and just set up an indoor camp if it really starts to get worrying.

FFS, humans lived for thousands of years without electricity.

 

[StevenK]

When the power goes out, it will take a while for any half modern house to fall below 40F inside even if it's below 0F outside. Just find some blankets, layer up. If you have a fireplace, use it, hang sheets to make the smallest area possible and just set up an indoor camp if it really starts to get worrying.

FFS, humans lived for thousands of years without electricity.

They lived without cars too, but I'm still going to complain if you tell me I have to ride a horse in to work for a week

 

[neo_moe]

Timely thread.

We lost power on Friday night.

Took the family to a hotel.

Crisis averted.

 

[StevenK]

Timely thread.

We lost power on Friday night.

Took the family to a hotel.

Crisis averted.

Does america have hotel rooms on a 1 for 1 basis?

 

[skate323k137]

We have our house wired for a generator since we live where it can snow quite a lot. It's only enough to run the furnace, refrigerator, and a room or two of entertainment, but it's peace of mind if nothing else. No stove or microwave (I wish we had a gas range but it's electric) but we can get by. Thankfully it's been very rare that we have needed it.

 

[city41]

My gas fireplace works without electricity, so we just plan to crowd around it should this happen to us. We also have an EV and for a longer term solution, I'm looking into tapping into its battery pack. But I doubt that will happen this winter.

 

[@M]

Slice open your Tauntaun, crawl in and sleep in its' hot guts. I remember, in the old MAD magazine ESB parody, Han Solo asked the medical droid if the cold did any damage to Luke and it replied, no, but some idiot stuffing him inside Tauntaun guts did considerable damage.

 

[neo_moe]

Does america have hotel rooms on a 1 for 1 basis?

Not siren I know what that means...?

If it’s just my wife and kids we can get by with one room with 2 kings or 2 queens and a sleeper.

If my mom is with us we usually get a suite or 2 adjacent rooms and my daughters stay with her and my son with my wife and I.

 

[skate323k137]

Well fuck, I wish I were kidding, but I got word that someone I knew from my home town just died from sleeping in their car. I didn't even know he was homeless, but apparently he had been sleeping in his car behind his place of work. I'm not sure if the exhaust got obstructed or precisely what happened to cause the car to fill with monoxide, but he passed in his sleep from monoxide poisoning.

Death by homelessness, essentially. Fucking tragic.

 

[StevenK]

Well fuck, I wish I were kidding, but I got word that someone I knew from my home town just died from sleeping in their car. I didn't even know he was homeless, but apparently he had been sleeping in his car behind his place of work. I'm not sure if the exhaust got obstructed or precisely what happened to cause the car to fill with monoxide, but he passed in his sleep from monoxide poisoning.

Death by homelessness, essentially. Fucking tragic.

That's shit all over my plan

 

[mainman]

I don't live in arctic conditions but my area always experience power outages, this ryobi power station with 8 battery packs has gotten me through 2 days. Don't recommend it if you want to run a heater as those are power hogs.

 

[egg_sanwich]

Just light up my wood stove and chill the fuck out. Wood heat for the win every time suckas.

 

[LoneSage]

Timely thread.

We lost power on Friday night.

Took the family to a hotel.

Crisis averted.

That'll make a good Christmas story later on.

WTF happened bro? Glad you and your family are OK.

 

[neo_moe]

That'll make a good Christmas story later on.

WTF happened bro? Glad you and your family are OK.

Thanks LoneSage, all is well.

I wish it was a more interesting story, but just very high winds and cold temps. If it had happened during the day we would have probably gone out to eat at restaurant or a mall or something...but it was getting late.

Given the news reports and outages we were aware of, we didn't know how long it would take for the power to come back on....so figured rather than wait at home hoping it comes back soon, just went to a hotel and got the kids some dinner and lived it up for a night eating dinner in bed while watching tv late into the night.

By the time we woke up the next morning power was back, so al was good.

 

[LoneSage]

Wow, moe, I was completely wrong, that story is gay as fuck.

Regardless I hope you all made the best of it and some time down the road will look back at this and smile. Something different to experience, right?

Wish you and your family good health and fortune in the new year to come.

edit: actually no that is a cool story, it is I who is gay as fuck

 

[heihachi]

burn your aes inserts and manuals for warmth