Heating during a power cut?

[PositivelyGlowing]

I have no fireplace, what's the best heating option in the event of a prolonged power cut during cold weather?

I can't help with a good heating option but my basic plan is warm clothes and a heat pad each powered by a power bank.

If its very cold or prolonged I'd be putting a tent or gazebo up in the house and encouraging everyone to stay in it. And hot drinks with my storm kettle.

I do think healthy people have little to worry about in this situation as long as you have sufficient warm layers. Sick and older people would be a worry, I'd get a small generator and electric heater for inside the gazebo if in that situation.

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

To expand on my original post, I DO have a fireplace but it's a small one and there's no chimney (it was removed a few years ago) but the chimney breast is still there, just cut off a bit below roof level in the attic

Perhaps a candidate for a wood burner?

How safe are they? (in terms of fumes, any partticulates, etc)>

You don't actually need a chimney for a Woodburn. https://www.directstoves.com/our-blog/how-to-have-a-wood-burning-stove-without-a-chimney/

A wood burner would be great but if the chimneys not all there anymore it would be costly.
Calor gas heaters are useful, I prefer the catalytic ones, over £100 to buy though.
Cooking is easy. Can use a bbq (outside use only) or camping stove. A two ring stove with grill is about £40 and then there’s the gas bottle to buy. Not for use in the house but fine in green house or shed.

As @Autumn1990 says above. Then have 1 hot water bottle per person and really good thermals. If you’re in the UK and not ill or elderly this would suffice.

What used to be called a Calor gas heater, though make sure it has battery ignition

Put a hat and scarf on and get in bed

We use our camping gas heaters to warm 1 room well.

We have a calor gas heater for emergencies.
Camping stove with burners and a camping oven (use the little butane gas canisters). Use outside.

You need to heat the person so layers, hot water bottles and hand warmers.

Then, focus on one room, keep doors shut. It is impressive how much heat is kicked out by candles. We use lots of tea lights in Gu pudding glass ramekins which generates a fair bit of light as well as heat. I have a great camping gas lantern which is very bright and also generates heat.

Then before bed slip the hot water bottles in to beds to warm them a little.

We're lucky as we have an open fire. We had a stove in our previous house and they are great. I know a few people with stoves that have an oven and hotplate too so they can cook in a power cut (no mains gas here so most have electric hobs and ovens). Our old stove could be a liability in a power cut because it did the water and heating but without the electric pump working to divert the heat from the water tank once it got hot it would actually like a giant kettle and boil over! We had to remember to turn the hot taps on and drain the hot water every so often!

How warm is your house with no heating? Not every house is the same.

Personally I go for merino wool thermal base layers, woolly jumper fleece, snood/cowl, hat/hoodie and fingerless gloves/wrist warmers, warm socks. Slippers when walking about or feet on floor sitting.

Woolly blankets, duvets on the sofa.

Ds on the other hand is in shorts and t shirt.

I've got gel hand warmers for emergency. You can get battery powered heated jackets.

Cooking :BBQ outdoors. Or Kelly kettle. If you have somewhere outdoors to store it a camping stove and gas bottles. You could warm water and put in flasks. Food flasks for soup/noodles/cous cous

Light from solar lanterns and battery lanterns.

Power banks. ( Bog standard Asda ones)

My mum's house would require a tent in one room as it is less well insulated.

I run cold. Ds runs hot.

Long term. Insulate your house. Loft insulation, including the hatch. Thick curtains. Draught excluders.

(live in a flat so no gas /open fires allowed )

You can get body warmers/coats that you can plug into a power bank. They're useful.

Tea light heater: https://www.amazon.co.uk/tea-light-heater/s?k=tea+light+heater

Heated body warmer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=heated+body+warmer

Had a few power cuts over the weekend but we have a log burner and plenty of USB lamps and head torches so wasn't an issue. Didn't even need to fire up the generator as the camping batteries covered our needs.

We've got a wood burner in the living room now, and power banks and such like.

In my old flat that didn't have anything other than electricity, and I was quite hard up, I heated water on my primus stove and filled hot water bottles and got into bed with them wearing hats and finger less gloves. I love my primus, its cheap, easy to use and readily available. I also made hot drinks, heated soups and fried cheese sandwiches on it.

f you are worried about fumes, just use it in a room near a window that's cracked, I have never had a problem with using it for cooking and heating water. I would not use it for space heating.

For me, a basic prep kit would be a primus, matches, tinned food that you can just heat and eat, hot water bottles, torches and batteries, and a wind up radio. I also always have dried milk for tea and hot drinks.

Close the doors to any rooms you don't need to keep the cold contained. Try to live in as few rooms as possible for the short term.

Hot water bottles, blankets, thermal layers all help.

Hot food (cook outdoors as others say on BBQs or camping gas stoves) helps warm from inside and also satisfy you so less inclined to feel the cold.

Get people moving around to keep blood lowing - so have a dance around singing, or do some jumping jacks together or built a blanket fort (both for the activity and to make a smaller space that will hold heat better). And have distractions like board games or cards or books to read that mean people won't be thinking about the cold.

We use candles as part of our emergency lighting plan (in the rooms we are physically in and safely held in proper containers so no chances of fire). They can be surprisingly effective in taking the chill off a cold room. But only use properly and safely!!'

Gas heater is a good idea also if you don't have a stove.

consider that you need ventilation if you use open fire indoors!
do not run a camping gas stove indoors.

We are fully electric and our heating packed up when we had -10 degrees. Usually we use blankets and thick socks but that year we couldn’t warm up.

I dread having power cuts or our system going wrong again.