Suggestions for winter time grid outage for the >95% of people with no backup

There's a lot people who are just hours away from a dangerous situation should thier power go out in the winter. Many of them are friends and family who live in an all electric standard subdivision house or apartment building.

What advice do we give them? Keep in mind these people don't have the ability to build the power systems we do for a variety of reasons so there's no need to waste energy commenting on that. EG: Wood stoves and generators are off the table when you are already struggling to make rent.

Here's what I suggest they do to prepare and I would love to hear others thoughtful suggestions
First off, treat it like a camping trip in your own house:
-One gallon of water per person per day.
-2 set of "Hot Hands" hand warmers per per day (while they might not provide much heat physically they are mental game changers)
-Rechargeable lanterns that also serve as phone chargers
-Your choice of camping stove that takes the disposable propane bottles.
-Little Buddy Heater that uses the same 1lb propane bottles.
-<other ideas>

What else it worth mentioning?
-This assumes you already have plenty of blankets, hats and mittens.
-Of course you need to keep food that you can make on the camp stove
-Make sure everyone knows where your water shut off is so when the pipes that were broken from freezing thaw out they don't also flood your house.

I have been building used UPSverter systems that operate autonomous, important for the elderly who have no ability to operate or maintain anything complex. They often require CPAP’s or oxygen generators in order to survive.

My favorite is the 24V APC 1000/1500 XL-series that are pure sine and rated for continuous operation. Cheap to purchase used with bad batteries. They have 18AH internal batteries and I supplement with external Harbor Fright 35AH batteries. Enough grunt to start & run a full-size fridge.

Delmar said:

I have been building used UPSverter systems that operate autonomous, important for the elderly who have no ability to operate or maintain anything complex. They often require CPAP’s or oxygen generators in order to survive.

My favorite is the 24V APC 1000/1500 XL-series that are pure sine and rated for continuous operation. Cheap to purchase used with bad batteries. They have 18AH internal batteries and I supplement with external Harbor Fright 35AH batteries. Enough grunt to start & run a full-size fridge.

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That is great that you are doing that. So great I would I like to copy it. How does one find the these used UPS's?

Delmar said:

I have been building used UPSverter systems that operate autonomous, important for the elderly who have no ability to operate or maintain anything complex. They often require CPAP’s or oxygen generators in order to survive.

My favorite is the 24V APC 1000/1500 XL-series that are pure sine and rated for continuous operation. Cheap to purchase used with bad batteries. They have 18AH internal batteries and I supplement with external Harbor Fright 35AH batteries. Enough grunt to start & run a full-size fridge.

Click to expand...

Assuming some degree of handiness: For warmth, If it were an immediate survival issue, I would get an electric blanket, a UPS from Best Buy (or other), 2- 12vdeep cycle batteries, 10 ga wire, crimp terminals, and crimpers from NAPA. All of this could be locally sourced today.
sequester in the smallest room possible to conserve heat.

OzSolar said:

There's a lot people who are just hours away from a dangerous situation should thier power go out in the winter. Many of them are friends and family who live in an all electric standard subdivision house or apartment building.

What advice do we give them? Keep in mind these people don't have the ability to build the power systems we do for a variety of reasons so there's no need to waste energy commenting on that. EG: Wood stoves and generators are off the table when you are already struggling to make rent.

Here's what I suggest they do to prepare and I would love to hear others thoughtful suggestions
First off, treat it like a camping trip in your own house:
-One gallon of water per person per day.
-2 set of "Hot Hands" hand warmers per per day (while they might not provide much heat physically they are mental game changers)
-Rechargeable lanterns that also serve as phone chargers
-Your choice of camping stove that takes the disposable propane bottles.
-Little Buddy Heater that uses the same 1lb propane bottles.
-<other ideas>

What else it worth mentioning?
-This assumes you already have plenty of blankets, hats and mittens.
-Of course some food that you make on the camp stove
-Make sure everyone knows where your water shut off is so when the pipes that were broken from freezing thaw out they don't also flood your house.

Click to expand...

A 3000 watt 12v inverter hooked up to my car battery always served as our first line of back up. It can power a space heater or window AC unit. Obviously it's a short term fix but affordable, quick and easy to get going in a pinch.

Later I added 2 - 100 lbs propane tanks to give myself heating, cooking and generator options without worrying about how long I can store the fuel.

Mylar emergency blankets are cheap and compact. They can be used to cover doors and windows or zone off an area in your home to focus the heating.

I would add bathroom considerations to the list.

They always told people to have a plan in the event of a house fire. Most people have no plan to deal with a prolonged blackout in freezing temps which can be just as deadly.

Take frozen food from the fridge and freezer and cook it on the propane BBQ.

Edit:

• Bring stand-alone solar lights in from the balcony or yard, turn them upside down on a table so they turn on.

If they are in an area that is getting an extended hard freeze I recommend more than just shutting off the water. Certainly you want to turn it off, but if they have the ability to drain the lines it can save them the headache and expense of broken lines in the attic or walls. It's hard to get all the water out but if they have a low spigot on the outside they can open it and then open the valves on all the faucets. I have used an air compressor to blow water out as well, using the same scenario with the lower outside spigot and opening only one faucet valve at a time to blow back. Yes, I know, this still won't get all the water out but the goal is to minimize the risk and it has worked for me many times over the years. I have multiple backup options nowadays for our home, shop, barns, etc., but I still used this method for the lake house. Don't forget to close all the faucet valves when you're finished draining.

Edit: If you're looking at several days of below zero and no heat you may want to flush and drain your toilets to keep them from freezing and cracking. My wife told me about some folks using the RV antifreeze product for their toilets, which is supposedly safe to flush afterwards.

Preppers "Rule of Threes", always have 3 ways of doing something. All should be different and not relying on the other. For heat we have oil hot air, electric, woodstove, all available. But we also have kerosene heater (these work well for these situations and get great kero mileage. YES, many are now illegal to use in residences, but hey, is that your excuse to freeze to death?
Now we also have a solar potential, not very big or powerful yet, but we will add to it as we can.
I keep a full swimming pool (Intex - 15ft) all year for a water supply, we grow and stock our own vegetables, chickens, ducks, sheep and turkeys. We keep two years supply of canned goods and dry goods in the house and the barn. We have Hallicrafter shortwave, Uniden SSB CB, and scanners, with some Boafeng talkies on MURS. Each car carries a full "get home bag" in it with everything needed to camp out overnight if necessary, tent, sleeping bag, fire starters, clothes, hat, etc.

OzSolar said:

That is great that you are doing that. So great I would I like to copy it. How does one find the these used UPS's?

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I watch eBay for a XL with free shipping or is located nearby. They are rare so may take a while for the right unit come up:
Example #1 Example #2