[getFOODnow]

I live in a small city in an apartment. I have no fireplace. In a long term power failure in wintertime, is there any way I can survive the cold? this is electric heat so if there was a long term power failure what could I do?
right now its -22 C, which is about -7 F I think. I turned the heat off this morning just to see what it feels like in here, how long it takes to get cold, and if I can find any ways to keep warm. Its been about an hour and its getting cold. but its bearable so far. I have a sleeping bag, so I could get in that. I have lots of survival candles. I have a camping stove but not sure i could use that for heating inside the apartment.
anyway just wondering if anyone has ideas about keeping warm.

 

[Robot]

How many neighbors around your apartment?, does the adjoining apartments provide much heat to yours?

My Mom's apartment is always warm, neighbors up, down, and all sides except one.

 

[neovenus]

I live in an apartment too, and have been thinking about those things. I know that in one apartment I lived in, our office window was leaking in a lot of cold air and making it very cold. I stapled a blanket up there to cover the window and that helped a lot. I would suggest some plastic and cover the window maybe? I would think that covering the windows and making sure the edges around the doors that lead to the outside are are not leaving gaping holes letting cold air seep in. Other than that, layer up your clothes.

 

[bluetrain]

I am not able to suggest anything, but as cold as it is where you are if you do not have a heat source of some kind, I could foresee an issue with frozen water pipes.......just saying...my wife and I were talking about that just the other day and it doesn't get nearly as cold as what you must deal with..........my suggestion.......move to Aruba.....lol.

 

[Alligatorgars]

Body heat from another human works great and a hot way to meet new friends. BTW-----When I doubt always go for the big boned one.

 

[stephpd]

Bundle up in layers of clothes. Think about getting a portable space heater and sealing off an area, the smaller the area the better.

 

[getFOODnow]

ya i dont see there is much i can do other than if this was the real thing, covering the windows as was suggested, and dressing warm. I am on the ground floor, which is not as warm as the upper floors where i used to live. I am also in the middle, surrounded by other apartments. I dont think any pipes will freeze, i wont leave the heat off that long, lol.

 

[Time Will Tell huh]

 

[Charlie Lucky]

I made a solar panel out of aluminum pepsi cans that produced from direct sun in 35 degrees weather about 180 degrees coming out the exhaust port..Go to youtube and type in search " soda can heater"..On a 40 degree day I was shoving around 105 degrees into my house using a computer cpu fan bolted to the solar panel powered by 2 d-cell batterys

 

[Moccasin]

I live in a small city in an apartment. I have no fireplace. In a long term power failure in wintertime, is there any way I can survive the cold? this is electric heat so if there was a long term power failure what could I do?
right now its -22 C, which is about -7 F I think. I turned the heat off this morning just to see what it feels like in here, how long it takes to get cold, and if I can find any ways to keep warm. Its been about an hour and its getting cold. but its bearable so far. I have a sleeping bag, so I could get in that. I have lots of survival candles. I have a camping stove but not sure i could use that for heating inside the apartment.
anyway just wondering if anyone has ideas about keeping warm.

A few questions: Do the windows of your apartment open? Gas or electric stove in the kitchen? What is your sleeping bag rated down to?

If your windows open, you can use the camp stove, or a propane or kerosene space heater, just crack a window an inch or two (or more) to let fresh air in and carbon monoxide out (have a battery operated CO detector to make sure you're not gassing yourself). A gas kitchen stove can be used as emergency heating, as well as to boil large pots of water for mobile, long lasting heat. Pitch a tent in the middle of a room (or build one by putting blankets over a kitchen table), insulate the sides, bottom, and top as much as possible and stay inside, this will contain much of your body heat and keep you from freezing. Dress warmly, bundle up, and eat and drink high calorie things to give your body enough energy to keep your internal thermostat cranked. And if your apartment gets too cold, and you have a car with a working heater and it's in a ventilated area, consider moving to it for a time...

 

[emclo]

You can use solar but you need a way to collect that heat over the cold night, if you could put one of these in your window or on your roof it might work?

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#1KSolarWater

 

[Omega Man]

I live in a small city in an apartment. I have no fireplace. In a long term power failure in wintertime, is there any way I can survive the cold? this is electric heat so if there was a long term power failure what could I do?
right now its -22 C, which is about -7 F I think. I turned the heat off this morning just to see what it feels like in here, how long it takes to get cold, and if I can find any ways to keep warm. Its been about an hour and its getting cold. but its bearable so far. I have a sleeping bag, so I could get in that. I have lots of survival candles. I have a camping stove but not sure i could use that for heating inside the apartment.
anyway just wondering if anyone has ideas about keeping warm.

Dress in layers of insulated clothing (Long johns are great).

I have a pair of military surplus 100% wool blankets, they are thick and heavy, and when wrapped around me, over top of my clothing, they do a fairly good job of keeping me warm.

The shiny "SPACE" blankets are supposed to keep body heat in and they are usually very affordable. You may wish to check the camping section of your local department store to see if any are available.

Rubberized hot water bottles can be very nice in the cold.

The camping section of our local walmart has hand and foot warmers, for use out in the woods (away from electricity). Just "pop" them to activate them and they last for hours (read instructions for use as they vary by manufacturer). Check to see if any are available at your local stores.

Many camping manufacturers that make camp stoves also make propane heaters. Check you area to see what is available and don't forget to stock up on additional propane fuel tanks to keep it running.

Is your stove electric or gas? If it is gas, it should still be functional during a power outage and could serve as an emergency source of heat for your apartment.

Make a few phone calls to your Emergency services and find out if there are any heated shelters available in your area, in the event of an emergency crisis. Better safe than sorry.


And you could always find someone special to snuggle up with. :thumb:

 

[WSierra]

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/subcategory.asp?CategoryID=3000

 

[getFOODnow]

wow, what a lot of good ideas and advice! thanks everyone!

 

[cranky1950]

If it's only for a day or two a heat buddy will work. If looks like you'll be without power for a week or so a radiant kerosene heater is the way to go. 5 gal of K-1 will provide 10000BTU of heat for 4 days, a 20lb cylinder of propane lasts about 2 1/2. Both cost about 20 dollars.

 

[Time Will Tell huh]

If it's only for a day or two a heat buddy will work. If looks like you'll be without power for a week or so a radiant kerosene heater is the way to go. 5 gal of K-1 will provide 10000BTU of heat for 4 days, a 20lb cylinder of propane lasts about 2 1/2. Both cost about 20 dollars.

Good point cranky. Are you talking about this type of heater?

Amazon.com: Sengoku OR-77 HeatMate Omni-Radiant 10,000-BTU Portable Kerosene Heater: Kitchen & Dining

 

[MikeK]

You might be able to install a wood stove without any permanent modifications. I don't know if this will work in your situation, but here's how I did it at my last house. It's not normally very cold here, so I don't usually even use the heater. In fact, I just used it last night for the first time this winter, because it hit 0 degrees. So I didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of a permanent wood stove.

I bought a large folding "wall tent" wood stove. This can be folded flat and stored in the upper shelf in a closet or something. I cut a piece of plywood the size to replace a window and installed a chimney passthrough in it. I then rounded up the chimney pipe, elbows and fittings needed to route it from the stove, through the passthrough and up to the roof. Since it was my house, I installed the chimney brackets on the house and left them there. But you don't have to do that.

Basically, in an emergency, I could remove the window, install the plywood with the passthrough and start putting together the chimney. It would take about an hour or so. I don't know if that's helpful to you, but it might help you to think up a system that would work for you.

 

[bighanded]

plus 1 on the Buddy heaters..easy to store, easy to take with you...short term solution of course..but for a storm like we've had this week where power is at risk for maybe another week...easy enough to keep one of those heaters, and a regular 20lb bottle like you get for outdoor grills.

I own one and consider it a staple of my preps.

 

[cranky1950]

Good point cranky. Are you talking about this type of heater?

Amazon.com: Sengoku OR-77 HeatMate Omni-Radiant 10,000-BTU Portable Kerosene Heater: Kitchen & Dining

Those put out about 20000 BTU, you'll find that a bit over powering. I recommend this type.

They throw about 10000 btu, if you need more get another that way you have a rudimentary form of temperature control.

I'm sorry looking at the link the one you mention is 10000 btu, that that will work fine.

But! Miles Stair mentions that there is a design flaw with those heaters.

You'll notice that the controls are in a neck that sits on top of the fuel sump. The heater uses a normal radiant heat wick which is just barely able to reach the fuel when the sump is full and the wick will burn out too quickly. One guy mentioned that he took the bottom of a second wick and stitched to his heater wicjk and the heater worked fine after that. I also like the square ones because they have a removeable fuel cassette which I never remove, refil and replace while the heater is burning

 

[rule4]

I have put a lot of thought into this question. I have a small home with oil heat and no fire place. I would love to install a wood stove but have been holding off because we are looking to buy a farm in the spring.

My temporary solution is to set up my tent in the bed room. I have some sleeping bags rated for -30. I suppose it would be like winter camping but inside the house. This isn't an ideal solution but in the event of a power outage this would suffice for the time being.