Earlier this week the kids were running around outside without coats on. That changed drastically yesterday. The temperatures plummeted while the wind blew. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal in and of itself, however about 5:30 yesterday evening the electricity went out.
Enter the fact that we live in a rental house that is all electric and then suddenly being without electricity is a bigger deal. Even though we didn’t have a way to heat food we had plenty to eat with so many jars of canned goodies. I had thought before that we would just use the BBQ grill to cook if the electricity was out. The way the wind was blowing last night I’m not sure we could have even kept it lit if we had wanted to use it to cook. So that got me to thinking about alternatives to our dependence on electricity. Do you have suggestions for other ways to cook food besides the BBQ grill? (It would be much easier if we owned the house because we would have wood heat etc. )
By the time the electricity came back on 5 hours later our house had already dropped to 57*. Since we don’t own the house we are pretty limited on what we can do to heat it in a situation like that but it got me to thinking about what if the electricity was off for 5 days instead of just 5 hours.
Another problem that became apparent was that we would not have enough water to last for very long. We drink well water but without electricity the pump won’t work. So I am going to be storing up more water in the coming days.
On the positive side we had the kerosene lamp filled and ready to use. The flashlights had good batteries and the candles the kids and I made were put to good use.
All of this has made me very aware that in spite of the fact I have been making small steps toward being “prepared” for the unexpected, I have much more to do. This year I am going to make every effort to be more prepared! I want to feel confident that we can take care of our family if for some reason it became necessary to do without the modern convenience of electricity.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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It’s not a great option, but you could get a gas powered generator. It would do in an emergency.
I know how you feel Jennifer. I struggle with the same fears. All we can do is plug along, taking the small steps of progress toward that goal. It sounds like this little power outage really gave you a great opportunity to figure out alternatives to electric heat and the water pump. I need to get better prepared myself. I live in California where you don’t own the right to even put in a well on your property if a water district exists nearby, the water district does. So, wells are out, bottled water only lasts so long… If the power goes down, our water and power are out too, but we are not allowed to capture water in a containment system or well so I am very frustrated. I think we’ll be leaving this state upon retirement…
Theresa- We have talked about the generator idea. We may end up investing in one yet. We hope that at some point we can move to our own house so that we can add wood heat.
Heidi- Wow I’m glad we don’t have so many restrictions here in the midwest!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by!