3 Days, no power.

[sleepyguy]

Was hit with current Toronto Ice Storm.... power just went off 12/21 and was back on late 12/24.  My GF and 2 kids left and stayed with relatives but I stayed put.  Just to give you an idea how it was (is still)...

https://www.google.ca/search?q=toronto+ice+storm+2013+pics&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pJK7Uva7Ncr22gXwu4DYBQ&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=674

Honestly besides getting kinda cold at night (10-11c) it was pretty nice and I was able to catch up on A LOT of reading :)  Basically this is what I did to stay comfortable.

- kept fireplace going... walked around neighbourhood with small axe and took any tree branches that were down due to storm... there were TONS.
- always kept 2 small LED flashlights, cell phone, pocket knife on me.
- cooked everything on small propane cooker, I have a basic coleman unit.  I cooked outside on side of house... a couple ran a generator in their garage and died of monoxide poising during the icestorm, so serious stuff.
- i have about 4 small UPS in the house so had plenty to charge my cell phone and keep communicated with love ones.
- layer clothing, so if too hot i just removed a layer without losing too much heat.

It was pretty much a walk in the park and pretty fun experience.

[kc_justin]

Kind of liked reading this...
Back in the college days, we had lost power for about 4 days.  Friends came over and we basically did the same things you did (kept fire going, cooked cans of soup in the fireplace, etc.).  I remember thinking that it was kind of fun.  We never could figure out why most people flipped out the way they did.  Obviously it's different for the elderly and disabled....but a bunch of college kids?!

Glad your power's back on and the family is safe, by the way!  Stay warm!

[2527]

Our furnace broke yesterday and won't get looked at til the day after tomorrow.  We are in Philadelphia and so far the temp in the house is holding at 60 deg F, and the finished basement is probably about 66-68. 

[annaraven]

Consider picking up an indoor-rated butane burner. You can cook on it indoors, with ventilation, and not worry about CO.

Glad you made it through okay.

[lackofstache]

Sounds like a good time. I do similar things anyway through most of the winter; keeping the fireplace going w/ found/scavenged wood. It seems there's always somebody getting rid of wood for free.

[jba302]

Excellent job!

As a minor suggestion, try to stay ahead of your wood use. Freshly fallen wood has high moisture content and doesn't burn as efficiently as seasoned. It's still a great idea to collect fallen branches, just don't use them until next year if at all possible.

[GuitarStv]

We don't have a functioning wood stove in our house . . . fortunately the outages didn't affect us for more than a few hours.  It made me really wonder what could be done to keep the house warm and pipes from freezing if power had gone out for 4-5 days at really cold temperatures like what happened to many around here.  Losing power's not usually a big deal, but in the winter when your furnace requires power to operate it could be a real catastrophe.

[AJDZee]

Friends of mine live in an older home, went without power for 9 days. Unfortunately had pipes burst even with the water on low flow. So much damage!

My building was really lucky - didn't lose power at all, just no internet for 9 days. The whole neighborhood, and even the major intersection, where I live on the corner of, was without power for 8 days.

Me thinks we're in for quite a winter...