Alternatives in a power cut

[strawberrysea]

Hi all,

I've been on MN for a while now but I'm new to the prepping community. It's going well so far and I'm following the 'sane prepper rules' in terms of buy what we use, use what we buy.

My main concerns in terms of scenarios that will realistically affect me in my country (UK) and location are:

Power outage
Fire (we live on the 10th floor of a building)
Civil unrest (given location of our building)

In terms of a power outage, how would you recommend prepping for this? I have found lots of articles via google but the women on MN are generally very clued up so thought I'd ask for your advice.

So far to prep for power cuts I have:

small camping stove (I mean very small, one of the ones that is about three inches tall)
two gas canisters to enable use of stove
blankets
x2 Oodies (knock off ones from amazon, they are amazing)
hot water bottle
baby wipes
lighters
matches
candles

Can you think of anything else? Thanks in advance :)

A power bank maybe? You can get them from Argos for £20 and they charge up your phone. I have one for camping and I'm going to keep it charged in case of a power cut.

Camping lanterns that run off batteries are also great.

And a solar panel to charge up both power banks and camping lanterns. Decathlon do camping versions that work well.

Torches and batteries

And if you have the very small camping stove and fuel for it, do you have pots that work well on it, and have a lid?

And a flask to fill with any "spare" hot water after you make your tea or whatever from the pot/kettle, to use for tea or washing up or HWB later?

Food which you can heat up quickly or food which just requires hot water, noodles, cous cous etc. If you are planning on using your stove in the flat you really need to have windows open as a minimum, if you have a balcony that would be much better also a fire blanket and fire extinguisher for emergencies. As others have said look into emergency power banks. Head torches are great as it means that you can find your way around or multi task hands free. If you are worried about civil unrest try and keep a few days supply of food and water in your flat and ensure that your door is fully locked at all times. Be very careful about opening the door to anyone, in civil unrest during emergencies even people who we would normally trust cannot always be relied on. Also make sure that you have a good first aid kit and a supply of OTC medication plus supplies of any prescribed medication. A wind up or battery radio would be useful too so that you dont have to rely on your phone/laptop to listen to the news or have background music.

If you have a camping stove , can you use it outside - garden/yard/balcony. You need to use it in a very well ventilated area
In what I hope is the unlikely event of protracted civil unrest , you'd need to make sure you weren't making your preps visible to passers by.
Look at getting a wonderbag, or dig out an old duvet to wrap a heated pot in . It works as an off grid no power slow cooker once your stew/soup is brought up to heat.
During WWII they used a contraption built from hay bales to do the same thing. I reckon you could fashion something better than hay bales if you can't afford a wonderbag.

Also hats. It's a drag wearing a beanie indoors but it's a good heat trap.
Think of ways to keep spirits up too. In again what I hope is the unlikely event of no heat and extreme cold, think about making a sleeping den in one room. A couple of days indoor camping with kids might be a laugh (relatively speaking) anything more would be grim.

If you can afford one the big lithium power banks are good as they have at least one 3 pin socket so you can plug a large electrical appliance in & have usb & USB c sockets for charging phones, tablets & laptops. Some also come with solar panels so you can keep charging them up.

If there's a power cut, how will the water supply be maintained 10 floors up? And waste removed, if you can't flush the toilet.

Solar lanterns.
Head torch.
Batteries.
Reusable hand warmers.
Flask and homemade flask insulation (sleeve off a kids old coat)
Blankets, hats, scarves wrist warmers,fingerless gloves, snood, slippers, wool socks,wool jumpers.
Food you can eat cold. (Tinned fruit, tuna, spam)
Blankets/duvet to chuck over your fridge/freezer
Cool box for your milk. (Buy some more rather than open fridge)
Power banks,
Insulated drink cup/food flask.
Water/pop/fruit juice to drink.
Outdoor space for your stove. (Mates garden?)
Disposable bbq?

Fire evacuation plan(especially if other people are using candles you are reliant on everyone in the block being careful)

apparently you can live in a tower block with no electricity. There was one in the local town where residents refused to be rehoused while the leccy was turned back on after a fire. Took a few days as water got in the leccy and it all went off)

Fire grab bag. (Documents,meds etc,)

Somewhere else to go(Mate the other side of town? ) Heat up a flask of water and some food.

Washing facilities. (Flannel/wet wipes for bits and pits) (modern deodorant means you can get away with no washing for a few days if it is applied daily)

Change for the launderette.
Cash in small denominations.

Toilet: bucket, bin bags, cat litter, or pottette plus and bags. Or camping toilet,

If you get a powerbank check it monthly as over time they loose charge.
also do not advertise your preps/noise/music etc, if anyone figures out you have something they don't, they will visit you.

Eating cold food in your flat would be better than getting mugged for food heated up in the grounds or carbon monoxide poisoning from using your stove indoors.

Windows open for cooking and you are going to lose heat from your flat. Balcony only if it is suitable. If you are south facing, maybe a solar kettle or oven to warm water for washing. I have not tried it out. I accidentally melted a hole in a plant pot with sunlight shining through a bottle of water so be careful.

Thanks for all the great ideas :)

In terms of the camping stove yes absolutely we have a balcony I would never use it indoors!

Batteries we definitely need a better supply of too.

Have you considered working your way through an average day, and working out the way each of those scenarios would impact you? It's a way of looking at it systematically and making sure you only plan to mitigate things that are credible for your situation.

So for loss of power: What would be the effect of a loss of power on each of the things in your home that uses power, and how would you mitigate that?

Freezer. Consequence: You can't open it to access food without it defrosting. Mitigation: Cover in insulation and do not open. Organise other sources of food until the power returns.
Then do the same for cooker, heating, Wifi, lighting, fire alarms, computer/phone, kettle, washing machine, shower, access controls. All the electrical goods in your house. And (importantly) the lift that takes you up 10 floors.

By the way, I would never cook with an outdoor instant BBQ anywhere near my home. Even on a balcony. They are far too dangerous, and give off carbon monoxide for a loooooong time.

Hello @bellinisurge and @BlackeyedSusan and everyone.

Has anyone got any bright ideas about storing medicines that need refrigeration for someone that doesn't have a vehicle to plug a camping fridge into? Specifically it's Adalimumab injections ("store at 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C)").

It's a very expensive drug and very necessary for me so I would hate to see it wasted if there were an extended power cut. I've googled battery fridges but all I get it camping fridges that you can basically plug into your car battery / power supply.

Would a powerbank / battery pack thingy work if I bought a regular mini fridge for emergencies?

@SpinCityBlues , that would be what I would do. But I would need to research wattage. I don't think a mini fridge is too draining. But I'd want to be certain I could get sufficient charge from solar in the winter.

Most camping type power banks have three pin plugs so you can use them. But I would make that its sole use.

I have a wind up torch so we don’t have to worry about batteries.

These are ones I've looked at but only a superficial look.

Thanks @bellinisurge - I think that's the answer. And yes to sole use, when needed.

Get a max min thermometer to check it's been stored at the correct temp?

Sorry, I've not looked at the big power blocks, just mobile phone ones, as keeping ds on line is the most important thing here. I can't justify a big power station yet. But needing it for expensive important meds is a bloody good reason. There was a thread a while back discussing this topic. Possibly with power station in the title.

I think I found it, thank you. About mini generators? I think my issue is that I wouldn't know what to do with one. A powerbank seems much more manageable for someone like me who's buggered disabled.

Exact same issue here, not got a solution yet… am considering keeping the needles in a cool bag within the fridge to try and buy as much time as possible if the power goes out. If we do end up with planned outages I wonder if medical settings that presumably won’t lose power will be able to store medications? But I suspect that’s me hoping for a better level of advance planning than will actually happen…

Funnily enough @FoodSchmood I've been thinking the same thing - that local hospitals with the massive back-up generators might be able to offer a fridge in the relevant departments (Rheumatology, Endocrinology, Dermatology etc) so that all the injections don't get wasted.

I know mine are £££ even though they're actually biosimilars that the NHS gets a 'good deal' on. Plus, I need them! I'm supposed to have a minimum of a month's worth in my possession, available to me.