Practice what you Preach:What We Learned during a Power Outage

During my 31 Days of Emergency Preparedness series we had a power outage. It was a short 4 hours, but it was a good chance to put in place some of the things I have shared here that last month.
Ironically, this happened on the night we were going to watch American Blackout

What We Learned

Flushing the toilet takes A LOT of water
We had the “If it’s brown, flush it down…If it’s yellow let it mellow” rule AND The Principal adjusted the water level.
Since I have always re-filled milk jugs JUST for toilet water, we had plenty, but still I was amazed.

Dishes Take A Lot of Water, Too
Thankfully the dishwasher had just been emptied. We did have the milk bucket that needed to be washed between goats. That plus the pitched we use to measure and the funnels for filtering. It was 1/2 gallon for one milking. That is something that would have to be adjusted if we had a storm that knocked us out for more than a day or 2.

Candles Stink
My cool soy candles were fine. It was the lamp oil in the ones I made using Mason Jars. (I haven’t blogged about them yet)

We didn’t notice the odor until we left the room and came back. That said, they did give off heat.
I am re-thinking my desire to not stock batteries for lamps. Of course we should have more than one light source.

It Was Quiet
There wasn’t tv on or kids watching YouTube videos.

Girl Child went and read by the fire in the family room, Boy Child sat at the table and read by candlelight, and The Principal read by headlamp.

House Stayed Warm
We have a doorway fan in the corner of the family room door where the wood stove is. It help pull the heat out of that room and push it upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised that the house was able to stay warm without that fan. That room got quite hot though, so I’m not ready to quit using the fan just yet.

What Do I Need To Stock Up On?
Out of convenience the headlamps were great! While they didn’t illuminate the entire room, they were great for individual lighting. I get them in 3 packs, including batteries, at Costco. You get what you pay for though, so know these aren’t the top of the line.
I will re-think about battery powered lanterns. Maybe a solar charger for the batteries. An investment, but the flames on the candle honestly made me worry a bit.
My Mason Jar candles need some tweeking and then I will share about them.
Hand sanitizer for the bathroom might be a good idea. I have baby wipes as well, but I would ‘feel’ cleaner if we used sanitizer for our hands.

Are you prepared for a power outage?

5 Level of Preparedness
Acronyms
Apps
Bug Out or Bug In
Communications
Cooking
Dictionary
Family Plan
Farm Animals
First Aide
Food
Got Power
Got Shelter?
Kids or No Kids
Op Sec
Practice What You Preach~Power Outage Practice
Resources
Sanitation
Skills to Have
Tools
Urban vs Rural
Water

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