Lights & Electric

• Leave a light turned on so you’ll know as soon as service is restored.
• Unplug most appliances and sensitive electronics while the power is out. Once power is restored, plug in and turn them on one at a time to avoid overloading your circuits or damaging your items.
• Be overly cautious with candles, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves.

Food Safety

• Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
• Keeps Only For a Few Hours: Meats, eggs, many dairy products and items with those ingredients (mayonnaise, pizzas with meat, cookie dough) are especially risky.
• Keeps For A Few Days: Butter and margarine along with fresh fruit and vegetables, hard and processed cheeses, and opened jars of condiments and sauces.
• Frozen food can be stored outside, but watch for temperature changes.

Using a Portable Generator

• Be overly cautious with them because the exhaust fumes can be deadly.
• Don’t set them up inside and make sure there is plenty of ventilation.
• A carbon monoxide detector in the room nearest the generator can warn of dangerous fumes.
• Let generator cool before refueling.
• Keep the generator dry.

Plumbing

• Without Power for 1-2 Days: Let a few faucets drip water to keep pipes from freezing.
• Without Power for 3 or More Days: Drain your plumbing system. Shut the water off at your home’s main valve. Then drain water from all faucets on all levels of your home.
• Be sure to flush toilets twice to get water out of them. Then add a small amount of RV anti-freeze to the bowl. Use only RV anti-freeze.

Pets

• Bring pets inside.
• Keep your pets with you. If you evacuate your home, take pets with you.
• Beware of antifreeze and rock salt. Antifreeze smells and tastes good to pets, but is poisonous. Rock salt irritates animals’ footpads. Rinse and dry your pet’s feet after they’ve been outside.
• Pets may need extra food to keep warm in cold weather and extra water to stay hydrated. Keep an emergency stock of food and other supplies for your pet to last a few days.

Insurance

• Insurance should cover damages from fallen trees as well as for removal of the tree. Insurance won’t cover removal of fallen or damaged trees that don’t damage anything.
• Insurance probably won’t cover the cost of food spoiled by a power outage, but check with your agent.
• Insurance may pay for a hotel room if you are forced out of your home by damage. If your home wasn’t damaged, but you’re forced out because of power outage, insurance probably won’t pay for living expenses. Keep your receipts and check with your agent just in case.
• Keep records of your conversations with your insurance agent or company.

Winterizing Your Home for an Extended Leave

Be it a second home you close up for the winter or leaving your home unattended while on a winter vacation, here are tips to keep your home safe and healthy while its unoccupied.

• Turn off the hot water heater. It will need to drain when you drain the water pipes. Leaving it on will burn out the elements when there is no water.
• Blow out or drain the water pipes. Open up faucets so air can get in and let the water out of the pipes. Make sure you turn the water off before doing this.
• Turn the water off at the meter in addition to any shut off valve you may have.
• Flush toilets twice to drain them as much as possible, then put some antifreeze in the bowl because you can’t get all the water out. Use only RV waterline antifreeze that costs about a $1.99 a gallon.
• Empty the refrigerator, clean it, unplug it and leave the doors open. Cleaning it now will prevent mold from growing.
• Remove anything (food, plants, etc.) that might attract rodents.
• Put all towels and linens in large plastic containers to keep them clean and odor free.
• Cover mattresses with plastic or cheap tarps to keep mice from nesting in them.
• Shut off all electrical items, but not the main breaker.
• Leave the drapes open on windows that receive full sun. This helps warm the house naturally.
• Get to know year-round neighbors and ask them to keep an eye on your place. Make sure they have contact numbers for you. Also, make sure the local authorities have contact numbers for you.

Related posts:

1. KMOX – January Home Maintenance Tips

Learn the Art of Living at CallMosby.com.

Tags: power generators, surviving a winter power outage, winter power outage

This entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 11:41 am and is filed under repairs & advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.