[Jinxie]

I may have the wrong area and if I do my apologies!

In a situation of Sheltering in Place, and gas/electric is down, for those w/o fireplaces or wood stoves, what would one suggest a person heat with? (Other than LOTS of blankets and warm clothing!) Is there a way to do such a thing?

We are prone to frequent power interuptions here, and during the summer it hasn't been that bad, but with winter approaching, it's really got me thinking if something were to happen to knock out power and/or gas for a period of time.....

 

[WoodUSMC]

I have a monitor MP40 which is a forced air Kerosene heater. It will heat up to 1,000 sqft of my house. When winter comes I close off my office and storage rooms as they are not as well insulated as the rest of the house.It stays around 39 to 40 degrees in these rooms when they are closed off. Not cold enough to hurt anything in there but, a little too much to be trying to heat. I have portable kerosene heaters in my storage building I can put in these areas if I want to use them for any lenght of time. I have run the Monitor off of and inverter in the truck by pulling up close to the house and running a 12 Ga power cord through the window. This will keep the livingroom and kitchen around 70-72 degrees. In a power outage in the winter we also close off the bedrooms and all sleep in the livingroom. I have the military 3 bag sleeping systems for every family member. I have slept out in one of these inside a bivy cover in -20 with no problems during the blizzard of 93. so keeping warm is the least of my worries. Keeping the 8 yo daughter occupied is more of a worry.

Chris

Chris

 

[veganburgh]

We use a 20,000 btu kerosene heater, about $110 at Wal-Mart. We have a very small house, about 800 sq ft and the kero alone will keep it at least in the mid 50's even when it is down in the teens outside. We also have sleeping bags for everyone in the family, blankets, sweaters etc. We want a better long term solution, but until we get some land and have our own wood lot, we'll always be dependent on the system for fuel. :-(

 

[polar_bear]

I once sore a candle radiator set of plans on the internet. It consisted of terrocota garden pots of decreasing size speperated by nuts and washers hung over a candle. It stops the heat from going straight up and instead radiates it abit more. You have to used a candle in a glass though or the whole candle melts.

 

[Jinxie]

Thanks!

I never once thought about the kerosene and/or oil heaters I see at meijers and the like. Might be nice to have around just to help decrease the gas bill too this winter! We have 3 kiddos so I can relate on the "keeping them busy" ideas, but that's a whole other thread in itself!

The terra cotta pot heater sounds pretty neat, especially for say a bathroom or the like where it tends to get really chilly even in the cooler days we have had here lately!

 

[tapedeck74]

I went through the Ice Storm '98 here. It wasn't that cold (-5 to 0 Celcius) but I had no heat or power for 2 weeks. I had no trouble keeping warm at home. I even took ice cold showers every morning. If it had gone down to -15 or less I would have been in trouble.
My main concern at this point in my life , as a home owner, is keeping my pipes from freezing. Not sure if a kero heater would be effective for that purpose. I'd probably be better off with a generator and a couple of space heaters.

 

[Survival Helper]

The first thing is to trap the heat that is already there, like heat from appliances and lights, even body heat. Normally when we have a terrible winter storm we lose power for a week or more in my area, what we do is when the storm is coming we start closing all the doors in the house off with tape and plastic, same for the windows. Condense everyone and everything needed into one room, try to seal this room off as best as possible. To heat this room shouldnt be a major problem when you factor in body heat etc. Conserve heat rather than produce it. Normally you can cook inside a small space three or four times a day and it will heat the space.

We use our living room and kitchen because they are on the ground level, and are connected inside the house, we seal off the entire upper level.

To actually heat the space I use alcohol fueled lanterns and stoves, no major fumes and clean burn make it much easier to vent the small amount of fumes you do get. It also stores very easily inside the home rather than petrol products requiring outside storage.

 

[polar_bear]

Heres a linky for the candle radiator
http://www.heatstick.com/

Oh and dont forget, if your feet are cold put a hat on.

 

[veganburgh]

I went through the Ice Storm '98 here. It wasn't that cold (-5 to 0 Celcius) but I had no heat or power for 2 weeks. I had no trouble keeping warm at home. I even took ice cold showers every morning. If it had gone down to -15 or less I would have been in trouble.
My main concern at this point in my life , as a home owner, is keeping my pipes from freezing. Not sure if a kero heater would be effective for that purpose. I'd probably be better off with a generator and a couple of space heaters.

A couple of space heaters would be a hell of a load on the average generator. You'll use a tremendous amount of fuel to keep it running if it'll run at all under that kind of load. If it will run it, then you have likely spent thousands on a generator that you aren't planning to use very often. I'd say spend the hundred bucks on the kero, save yourself a lot of money on gasoline and equipment.

That and you're not ever going to get 20,000btu out of the space heaters anyway, the kero puts out a tremendous amount of heat. I'm assuming of course that you have a basement. I wouldn't of course try to put a kerosene heater in a crawl space!:

 

[smoothED]

I once sore a candle radiator set of plans on the internet. It consisted of terrocota garden pots of decreasing size speperated by nuts and washers hung over a candle. It stops the heat from going straight up and instead radiates it abit more. You have to used a candle in a glass though or the whole candle melts.

I don't understand, would'nt the same amount of heat be let out in the room without the pots on top?

 

[polar_bear]

I don't understand, would'nt the same amount of heat be let out in the room without the pots on top?

Instead of the heat going upwards in a thin coloum it gets absorbed by the pots and sent out a bit more horizontally I believe.

 

[smoothED]

Instead of the heat going upwards in a thin coloum it gets absorbed by the pots and sent out a bit more horizontally I believe.

It looks like an idea that can be expanded on ,like say, more candles,an alcohol burner,heavy steel pipe capped,could be worthwhile to be experimented on.:thumb:

 

[polar_bear]

It looks like an idea that can be expanded on ,like say, more candles,an alcohol burner,heavy steel pipe capped,could be worthwhile to be experimented on.:thumb:

Yeah maybe even a small fan from a computer, ran from a battery to force the heat into the room

 

[Sharpdogs]

A couple of years ago my furnace went out in 10-20 degree weather. I was worried about my pipes freezing. I still had power but no electric heaters were left in the stores. So I bought one of the few propane heaters they had left. It was a Mr. Buddy or something similary. Combined with a couple of candles and the gas stove on, my house was toasty warm. When the service guy for the furnace came by later that night, he started laughing the house was 85 degrees. I still have the propane heater and I just bought a 12 foot hose to connect to the propane heater. Now with the addition of the small propane tanks I can connect to my 20lb propane gas grill tank in case I run out of fuel with the small tanks.

 

[compboy]

Aren't you guys soem what concerned about CO2 and CO build up in your house this a pressing concern for my wife and I as it can get cold in Canada. This and water are the two things we worry about most the best I can do water wise is store some here if the water stops running I have a stream you can eat the fish out of and I plan on getting a filter soon for this and camping. I still can't fix the heat issue. Would a Kerosene heater be safe to use in my house?

 

[veganburgh]

Modern kerosene heaters are very safe in my opinion. I wouldn't do anything to endanger my family, including three elementary age daughters. We have an electric carbon monoxide detector with battery back up and the CO2 issue is resolved by simply leaving a window open about an inch to allow fresh air in. The small infiltration of cold air is minimal compared to the heat output of the heater.

A few tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/5052.html

Reduce your exposure to indoor air pollutants by properly operating and maintaining your portable kerosene heater. Although portable kerosene heaters are very efficient in the burning of fuel to produce heat, low levels of certain pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are produced. Exposure to low levels of these pollutants may be harmful, especially to individuals with chronic respiratory or circulatory health problems. To assure that you and family members are not exposed to significant levels of these pollutants, you should follow carefully the following rules of safe operation:


Operate your heater in a room with a door open to the rest of the house.
If you must operate your heater in a room with the door closed to the rest of the house, open an outside window approximately an inch to permit fresh air to effectively dilute the pollutants below a level of concern.

Always operate your heater according to the manufacturer's instructions, making sure that the wick is set at the proper level as instructed by your manufacturer.

Keep the wick in your heater clean and in good operating condition by following the cleaning and maintenance procedures recommended by the manufacturer.

Keep an outside window opened approximately an inch to insure adequate fresh air infiltration. This is true regardless of whether you use a kerosene heater or some other conventional method of heating, if your home is relatively new and tight, or if it is older but has been winterized to reduce air infiltration from the outside.

 

[compboy]

Thanks for the info we have been a little nervous about this I'll look in to the CO detector we have smoke alarms for the building hard wired and I doubt they have been upgraded to CO detectors yet. I should have one dang this list just keeps getting longer on me. : I think I'll look inot the price of one before winter hits with a CO alarm.

 

[Renegade Chipmunk]

Literally pitch a tent in the house! Open a house window slightly. Crawl in it, and close the door flap and make sure the windows are zipped shut. Heat the tent with a camping heater. Be sure to wear; insulated underwear, down filled pajama's, or cover up under down comforters-blankets. Have lots of blankets and pillows...use sleeping bags. Stay in the tent only leaving to go to the bathroom. You can cook in your kitchen with a camping stove until the utilities return...the other thing you could do is to operate out of one small room only...heat it with a camping heater,with a window slightly opened for fresh air. Stay clothed,warm, and cuddle close to each other for body heat.

We did this in the blizzard of 1977, and lived quite fine for a week without any utilities. We sponge bathed with warmed water out of a camping kettle. We ate lots of soups, hot cereals, sandwiches, and fried things out of a frying pan heated on our coleman stove...actually it was kind of fun! The snow was 4 1/2 deep + in the yard, and all streets were shut down. It was hunker down time! We read many books, played cards, told stories, took naps, made whoopie, and once in a while ventured out doors. It was so quiet!

 

[Maurepas]

I've been looking at aladdin lanterns. Think they may put out too much heat to use here in the deep south.... 2000 BTU's but might make a good addition for you, giving you light and supplementing heat.

 

[smoothED]

Literally pitch a tent in the house! Open a house window slightly. Crawl in it, and close the door flap and make sure the windows are zipped shut. Heat the tent with a camping heater. Be sure to wear; insulated underwear, down filled pajama's, or cover up under down comforters-blankets. Have lots of blankets and pillows...use sleeping bags. Stay in the tent only leaving to go to the bathroom. You can cook in your kitchen with a camping stove until the utilities return...the other thing you could do is to operate out of one small room only...heat it with a camping heater,with a window slightly opened for fresh air. Stay clothed,warm, and cuddle close to each other for body heat.

We did this in the blizzard of 1977, and lived quite fine for a week without any utilities. We sponge bathed with warmed water out of a camping kettle. We ate lots of soups, hot cereals, sandwiches, and fried things out of a frying pan heated on our coleman stove...actually it was kind of fun! The snow was 4 1/2 deep + in the yard, and all streets were shut down. It was hunker down time! We read many books, played cards, told stories, took naps, made whoopie, and once in a while ventured out doors. It was so quiet!

How did you keep the pipes from freezing?