Seems tonight will be the coldest night so far. A who neighborhood in my city is without gas due to a construction crew breaking a line. I started to think, I have a gas furnace and no backup system, I am very unprepared in this area. How long will an average house stay warm in zero degree weather? What kind of backup system could you have in a city house? Is it safe to stay in a vehicle with the engine running? Etc. Anyone have thoughts there.
I had a close call last night, about 2:30 the blower fan in my furnace began to squeal loud enough to wake me up. Killed power to the furnace and pulled the blower out and it was hard to turn by hand. I used a plain old bendable straw to dip in a quart of Mobile 1 5w30 engine oil and drop a bit in the bearings and got it loosened up and running again, in fact its running better than ever.

A wood frame house with no insulation won't be comfortable after a 1/2 hour and won't be better than a tent after 2 hours in 0 Degrees F.

A wood frame house with superb insulation and double-pane thermal windows and lots of thermal mass in the right places and windows in the right places doesn't need a furnace to stay above freezing aslong as there is a few hours of sun each day.

The average house doesn't exist.

Don't sit in your car and keep the engine running! Carbon monoxide poisioning is truely a danger. If you are trapped in your car then run the car long enough to heat the interior and turn it off. Don't turn it back on until you are really cold again. Get out every now and again and knock the snow away from the windows and exhaust. A couple of tea-light candles can make a huge difference if you keep at least one window cracked open to let out the Carbon Monoxide. A bag of 50 is $1 at the dollar tree store. Don't need to burn more than 2 at a time tho.

Look into what you would want to have for a winter camping trip - sleeping bag, stove, fuel, tent, food, water, cook-kit, chemical hand warmers, down parka etc... Don't bother with the rope, crampons, snow shoes, ice-ax etc unless you are actually going out. Keep this kit in your car. If you need it in your house you should be able to get it from the car.

For the house heating problem you might want to look at the Alpaca kerosene heater which is available in many places - one being Major surplus and survival online - look under their stoves/ heaters link in thier online catalog. Doug has reviewed this stove and recommended it last I read. Use the Kerosene stove in a room with a window or chimney that leaks a bit to vent the potential Carbon Monoxide and keep that room sealed from the rest of the house with blankets hung on the doorways. Live in that room until things warm up.

I have a kerosene heater that works very well. A battery powered CO monitor is not a bad idea though. As stated before, think winter camping. You simply have a slightly more permanent tent. If if is going to be a significant amount of time that the heat is out, or it is seriously cold (<0F), think about turning off the water and draining the lines. Pipes can freeze and burst in unheated areas adjacent to heated living areas.

Good point about the pipes. The house next to mine had a pipe burst sometime over the past week. Unfortuneatley, it wasn't discovered until yesterday. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> The pipe that failed was attached to an outside spigot which is why it froze (according to the plumber). The amazing thing is that the thermostat was set at 65 degrees. This was sufficient to heat the room but not the pipe. The other contributing factor (again, per the plumber) was that no water was moving through the house. The lessons learned were to keep the thermostat up and have a faucet or two trickling water.

BTW: In my neighborhood it is quite common to lose power when its very windy or there is a an accumulation of ice. If either of these conditions are forecast I crank up the electric heat in order to bank as much time as possible if the lights go out.

Chris

As long-timers here know, I'm more prepared for this sort of thing than most, as some of my family have now been through week-long power outages in the cold of winter- twice. I have a couple of the full-sized kerosene heaters, the Alpaca stove and a couple of backpacking stoves that use kerosene, Aladdin kerosene lamps, lanterns, probably way too much kerosene, battery-powered smoke/CO2 detectors, etc, etc.

All of which might come in handy someday, in a widespread power outage, or in an ice storm where travel was a problem, or in a long-term situation if I were worried about the possibility of looting... but, really, it's worth keeping perspective on these things. If the furnace just broke, and I couldn't get it repaired in time, I'd just drain the pipes and check into a nearby hotel. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The lamps and the Alpaca came in handy after Isabel (warmth was not a problem). The Alpaca comes with very poor directions, and it does take getting the "hang" of it, but it worked well- I'd advise practicing befhorehand. However, I wouldn't want to rely on it for heating more than a small room by itself. It's also fairly primitive compared to real kerosene heaters (like Kero-Sun or Toyoset)- no wire guards, electric ignition, tip-valves, etc.... so it's inherently more dangerous. Being smaller, it would also be much easier to kick or trip over by accident.

This time of year I keep a down sleeping bag, foam pad, a down parka, ski gloves, balaclava, telescoping snow shovel and Sorel boots in the back of my vehicle, besides the usual gear. I also have some factory-sealed disposable oil lamps that I found in a hardware store, but real care must be taken when playing with fire in a closed vehicle. There's the ever-present CO2 danger, but also that of setting fire to yourself, the upholstry, or the head liner. You could easily find yourself, at best, in a much more urgent survival situation, now without your vehicle, shelter, and any gear you couldn't get out in time. I wouldn't use an open flame in a vehicle unless there was real need, and then I'd watch it like a hawk.

Instead of the oil lamps and the potential problems you might encounter with them, one might consider the single or multiple candle lanterns like those available from REI. Solid fuel, less likely to spill, easier to store.
They have a Candleir(?) consisting of three cadles. In a store exhibit, they have a metal cup on the upper heat shield. Not sure that it would be good enough to heat to the point of boiling, but it would keep liquids warm.

FWIW.

You crank up your electric heating?
The last flat I had was all electric - cooking, heating, lighting- everything. I don't know how much you guys pay for your power, but my electric bill was touching the equivelant of $50 a WEEK. The cost of running that place nearly bankcrupted me.
Before cranking up the heating I'd invite an expert round, to see if I could lag the pipes better,and insulate my home to the n-th degree.
I moved out of that place within year...
Martin