What do YOU do when the power goes out?

[englishteacha]

We lose power a few times a year for a few hours here and there. If it's cold and there's a risk that pipes might freeze, we stay put with the kerosene heater. We read, play board games, sleep. If it's during good weather, we go out and about. Usually if we lose power, the next town over does not, so we'll go to a movie or Walmart to kill some time. Last time, the power went out while we were at a movie, and we came home to a very dark and cold house (It went out 10 minutes after we left home, and it was very cold that day, around 10 degrees). Our power came on an hour or so later, but my SIL, a mile away, didn't get power for several more hours.

 

[LisaNJ25]

We had a baby boy 9 months after the last time we had a power outage in my home.

That happened to me after the furnace broke in the winter

 

[hereyago]

A generator helps so much. Hurricane Isabel came through and we got the generator a few days before-as you could blink and the power would go out here. The power was out for awhile and we had damage to our power on our house so even when the neighborhood had power, we still couldn't get any.

A couple months ago we had a Nor'Easter and the power was out for 4 and a half days. Once again, the generator was brought out. We had waited for several hours to see if the power would come on and the next morning, we started that puppy up.

We live in a funky grid, because after the 1st day, the areas one stop light over in the right and left directions had power.

 

[alexandria674]

I usually get a flashlight and some candles. I also try NOT to think of all the horror films I have seen where the electricity goes out.

 

[AKL_Megs]

DH and I usually go out for a walk... or order pizza to be delivered. We light candles and talk. Or go to sleep!

 

[C.Ann]

After our last experience here at DD's - with the power being out all around us for several days (and her DH being fortunate enough to borrow a work site generator from his boss after the temps dropped below 50 degrees in here), this year he purchased his own generator.. So for us, that's no longer a concern..

However - in the past - either here or at the lake - I would normally read until it got too dark to do so and then just go to bed.. I have to have very bright lights at all times, so portable lights or flashlights just wouldn't be sufficient for me..

As for keeping warm - layers of clothing.. Keeping cool (in the summer), my good-sized mister fan!

 

[sewer]

Whatever it takes to keep the beer cold!

 

[MIGrandma]

If it's summer: we basically just wait it out, unless it goes on over 12 hours then we'll start the generator up so the food in the frig/freezer doesn't spoil. We will read during the day, or play board games, in the evening we'll read by kerosene lamps, sleep, or start a bonfire and sit outside and roast hot dogs.

In winter: we'll wait a couple of hours or so, then start the generator so the house doesn't get too cold. Our DD and her DH and two kids usually come down to stay with us (they live a quarter mile up the road) during the outage.

Our power seems to go out several times yearly, and usually we don't even know the reason why. Sometimes it happens during an ice storm or severe winds so we know why, but I hate it when it just goes off for no reason that we can see. Sometimes it's only off a couple hours, a few hours, but sometimes it's off for a few days.

 

[daughtersrus]

My power was off from 4am-8pm and we abandoned "ship" at 11:30am for my dd's house about 20 miles south. The power outage affected about 10 homes due to some vandalism. I woek up around 6am and lit a few candles and fell back asleep. I woke up again about 1 hour later. Today was supposed to be cleaning day and I was very frustrated. I de-cluttered my room thoroughly including drawers, purses, jewelry boxes etc. When I went to my dd's I was still "in the mood" so I started on my dgd's room. She is just 5 and wasn't too happy about it. My dd was thrilled! After that we sorted though 3 boxes of pictures and had dinner. We are now home and the first thing I did was get on the disboards of course! Maybe I can get some cleaning done tomorrow after church.

You didn't fall back to sleep while the candles were lit did you?


Our power rarely goes out. All of our lines are underground so it would have to be something major at the main area and we haven't had that happen in YEARS!

If it did, depending on how long it was out and what the weather was like, we'd probably head to the mall. Of course getting the garage door open would be a challenge. I park my van under the opener so it would be difficult to release it so that we could open it manually.

 

[Colleen27]

We stay put. In the summer, power outages turn into block parties - everyone fires up the BBQs to cook meat that would go bad in the inoperable fridge and gathers in a community effort to drink the beer before it gets warm. We have a small job-site generator that will keep a few things running, so we don't have to worry about the refridgerator, but it is fun to BBQ and hang out outdoors anyway.

During the winter I think we'd just huddle up in the living room with the fireplace lit and read or play board games by candlelight. I've got so many candles around for decoration/mood/scent that I could keep this place lit up like midday without any electricity anyway! And the generator is enough to run the fridge and a space heater to keep pipes from freezing, so we don't really have to worry about damage from an extended outage.

 

[testifyoncruises]

Love love love our solar panel and batteries!

 

[Uuaww]

Hurricane parties.

 

[clovergirl5]

dh fires up the generator. Up until about a year ago, we would get out candles and just kinda do whatever(our electricity loss always seems to happen at night). About a year ago, electricity was out for 2 days--we scooped up one of the last generators at the Home Depot. Nice to know its there just in case