Cold Front Coming – How to stay warm without power

A severe weather warning has been issued for Western Canada, as a cold front is headed our way. Temperatures are predicted to drop anywhere from ten to twenty degrees below the average. The forecast is calling for snow and high winds, and it’s expected to last until Sunday. This Christmas, expect a cold, windy blizzard…

During a weather event such as this, staying warm means staying alive. Sure, you can buy a number of different heating systems but most of them use electricity. What do you do if the power goes out? What will you do if your oil tank runs empty? How will you keep warm? If you find yourself in this situation, here are some tips and tricks to stay warm without power. 

Keep your heat inside your home – Imagine you’re prepping for a hotbox

Preserving the heat you have is just as important as creating more. Prevent drafts from stealing your warmth by sealing your space like your would for a hotbox. To do this, begin by looking at your doors and windows.

• Check your doors for gaps and spaces. Stick on weatherstripping is cheap, widely available, and easy to put up. 
• Use towels or extra blankets to cover the bottom clearance of all the doors in your house.
• Heat the room, not the house, and keep it contained. If you aren’t using a room, shut the door. 
• Cover your windows. Draw your blinds and curtains. If your windows don’t have much on them, find something to cover them up. Back in the day, a castle would stay warm by lighting fires to create heat and hanging tapestries to keep it in. 
• Seal up any cracks and crevices around your windows and doors. Check your windows for rattling glass panes because it indicates a loose seal to the frame (easy to fix with a bit of caulking). 

Window Shrink Insulation Film

Single pane windows are made with only a single layer of glass. When it comes to preserving heat, they do very little. If this is the case in your home, try using window shrink insulation film. Extremely easy to put up and take down, you can find complete kits for less than twenty bucks. Window shrink insulation film is clear, easy to see through, and most importantly, effective. Once it’s taped to the window frame, you use a blow dryer to shrink it and smooth out wrinkles. Window shrink film is a fast and easy way to add insulation to your home.

Hot Water Heat Transfer – Shower, Bathtub

If you use hot water, transfer the heat to the rest of your home. If you have a shower, do not turn on the fan. 

• Open the bathroom door and let the heat spread into the home. 
• Rather than sending hot water down the drain, leave your bath water in the bathtub. Shut the door and keep your bathroom warm. 

Stay Warm Without Power by Using Terracotta Candle Heater

If you have tea light candles and terracotta ceramic pots, you can make a heater. Keep in mind, this method will not create more heat than the candle gives off. What it will do is trap the heat from those candles so that it can radiate throughout the room.

The number of candles needed and the size of the pot will depend on the size of the room. According to research, the heating power of one candle is 80W and the average space heater is 1600W. Therefore twenty candles are the rough equivalent of one space heater. For best results, use this heater in a small space. This heater can help you stay warm without power for quite a while.

WARNING – This method poses a fire risk and should be approached with caution. The ceramic pot will get hot, to the point of burning skin. If you make one, be sure to place it somewhere that it won’t be touched.

Alcohol Toilet Paper Heater: Another Way to Stay Warm Without Power

If you have 70% isopropyl alcohol (most stoners do), toilet paper, and a metal can, you can make a heater. In fact, you can make them ahead of time in case you need one in a pinch. To do this, remove the cardboard at the center of the toilet paper roll, place the paper in the can and pour the alcohol on top. Then, light the toilet paper. This method works best with 70% isopropyl alcohol. If the alcohol you have is a higher concentration, dilute it with water. 

Many types of alcohol are very safe to burn indoors but any flame will produce carbon monoxide. It’s important to remember to ventilate your space from time to time. Smoke detectors use battery power during an outage, so be sure that there is one in the room.  

If you were hoping for a white Christmas this year and you live in Western Canada, the chances are that you will get your wish. Stay safe and warm, no matter what happens.