One of the main concerns preppers have is how to survive in case of black-out, no matter the cause. Canning and preserving provides long-term food for a family wise enough to think in advance about survival, when cooking can be a luxury
However another crucial concern is heating your house in winter without electric energy. Risks of developing hypotermia turns into a matter of life and death , especially for the people with heart disease or other chronic conditions.
Take a look at those useful articles about surviving without electricity we found for you, this week, on prepper websites and blogs.
1. Food Storage Without Electricity – Top 10 Foods to Stockpile
“One question that I’ve been seeing a lot in preparedness discussions is how to make real, “living” food a part of your storage plans. Many food storage lists include large amounts of heavily processed food items because they are cheaper, readily available, and have amazing shelf lives. That’s all well and fine, but you’re supposed to rotate your food storage items regularly by eFating out out your storage.”
Read more on My Family Survival Plan.
2. Surviving When the Heat Goes Out
“As the winter months approach, it is essential to get your heater checked to ensure it is working properly. A malfunctioning system can have disastrous effects when temperatures plummet.
Be prepared before the seasons change to prevent this from happening. If it does, here are some of the easiest things to do to stay safe, and keep your home safe as well. ”
Read more on Survival Life.
3. Firewood and Wood Stove Fire Basics – Five Lessons for Heating with Wood
“Firewood burned in a wood stove is our primary heat source – not just in winter, but year round. We regularly have fires going in the evening here until the end of May.
When we first moved to our rural property, I had so many questions: How much wood do we need for winter? What kind of wood should we burn? How do I prepare it? How do I clean the wood stove? Won’t it make a lot of smoke? ”
Read more on Modern Homesteading.
4. How Much is a Cord of Wood?
Knowing the size, volume and price of a cord of wood is critical for those who can’t or won’t cut their own wood and need to have it delivered to them instead. In this article, we’ll cover the most important things to consider when shopping around for large amounts of wood.
Read more on ElectroSawHQ
We have geothermal heating and have recently bought a “Nest” thermostat. The house is airtight and super insulated. Though the house is 2400 square feet, our heating bills are quite low. We have an automatic backup generator that kicks in when the power goes out. But if there is an EMP related event, my geothermal, the Nest and my gen set are toast so we have wood heat as a 2nd backup to the first backup. Though we purchased that fire wood we live in the woods and there is no shortage of fuel. We heated exclusively with wood for one winter just to learn from the experience. That didn’t save us any money because that winter was a rough one and we went through 13 face cords of wood. We learned a lot supporting the logic that it’s not good enough to just stockpile stuff; you have to use it and learn it.
One of the many lessons we learned was that without electric air circulation, the airtight house became problematic. Last summer we bought solar panels, batteries and an inverter to run the fan. Once again we learned important life saving lessons by actually using it because even though I configured the solar system to be 1/2 of what they were advertized at, we didn’t figure on how little light there can be in Michigan in the winter so that test failed as well. Now my pension was just cut by 80% (Detroit pension) I don’t have the money to just go out and bolster the solar system. Here I was thinking I was so smart and had everything covered but I forgot one very important item: Mr Murphy! I’ll keep working on the problem at the best pace I can manage but in the end “Unless the Lord builds a house, he who puts is up does so in vane.” (or something like that). I guess we just do what we can and trust Him for the rest.