Heating when the power is off.

[Mortblanc]

I vote that we go out and sit in the caravan, turn on the gas heat, and sit and play cards until the power comes back on!

All of the ideas we are throwing out are for the totally unprepared and none of us have these things as first line bits of our thought process.

My first line emergency heat is a Buddy Heater hooked to a 20# propane tank. I can run that for a week. With a propane light on top of the distribution tree I have 150 watts of light and 1500 watts of heat.

If the power cut is permeant the wood stove comes off the back porch and into the front room.

Also remember that rolling power cuts are not an accident, they are planned to conserve power for industrial use so they will be at the most critical use points of the day. 5-10 in the evening and 6-12 in the morning.

If you work, chances are the power will only be on when you are not at home.

I know that in South Africa they often cut power on a rolling schedule that is announced. It is the same in many countries but often the people are too absorbed with other things to figure out there is a schedule. They never plan anything and simply scream frantically when the juice is cut.