Frustration is a gentle way of describing the feeling you get when your power goes off. Last night I had the pleasure of coming home to a powerless block and confused neighbors huddled outside. To add insult to injury, it turns out the downtime was scheduled and we were never informed. We've already filled you in on some important tech gear to have in an emergency, but I figured now would be as good a time as any to share some tips on how to cope with your loss of power.
Have flashlights on hand
Coming into a pitch-black apartment can be a little disorienting. It's important not only to keep a flashlight (with working batteries) in the apartment but also helps to put it in a logical place. The two best places to store the flashlight are near the front door or the bedside. This way you're not fishing around for a flashlight when you come home or wake up to no electricity.
Talk to your neighbors.
If you live in an apartment building like I do, it is helpful to glean information from the neighbors. In my case, I quickly learned that the electric company was doing repair work outside and I needed to expect my power to be off from 7pm to 5am the next day. Of course, the more people you speak to the better chance you have to create an accurate portrait of the situation.
Talk to your landlords.
Supposedly, the person whose name is on the meter was informed by mail and by phone that my power would be suspended however, that warning was never passed down to the tenants. If you have any doubt about the quality of your landlord, it might be smart to speak with them about this very situation and stress that it is necessary they contact you whenever they hear similar information.
Deal with your perishables.
Taking care of your perishable food items in the refrigerator and freezer are a necessity if you believe you'll be without power for an extended period of time. Here is the USDA’s information regarding how long food lasts in a refrigerator and freezer after the power goes off:
Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.
Take your work elsewhere.
If you have homework or other work you need to take care of that requires your laptop (or the very least, electricity) it would be best to scoot out to a bookstore or a coffee shop. On weekdays, many chain bookstores are open to around 10 and some coffee shops even later.
Have a backup place where you can stay.
Having a good friend or partner near by is really the best option when the power goes out. Thankfully, my girlfriend and I decided to stay at her place for the time being. I packed up my bag with all of the food in my refrigerator and headed to her apartment. A backup place to stay is especially important if you have a pet and your AC is out of service during those scorching summer days.
Take in the downtime!
If you don’t have any immediate tasks you must fulfill or pets that require electricity, you have a perfect opportunity to enjoy the silence. Catch up on the day’s newspaper, play a board game with your friend, or maybe invent a brilliant flashlight game to play with your cat.
[1st image via Mike McGrath and 2nd image via David D'Amico thanks to the Creative Commons license.]
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I will take the downtime, kthnx.
A few years back I was living in Miami during a horrid hurricane. I ended up not having power for a MONTH. Imagine a bunch of geeks without power?! Needless to say, I was the only one enjoying it.
Power outages are now a common occurrence in my burb of DC. When I come home to a dark house, I grab a warm soda and sit down to watch some TV. D'oh!
I bought some LED wind up flashlights (Target). They are totally awesome and the girl loves them. I put my cell on power saving mode, and my alarm clock has a battery back up (Target once again). I also keep an analog phone, since my digital cordless doesn't work w/o power.
After that, I go low tech and have a candle light dinner w/ the girl!
queenofthefall.blogspot.com
The first thing you should do when the power goes out is call the electric company and report it!
It's easy to think "oh, someone must have called to report it" but if everyone thinks the same thing... Always report it. Besides, often the company can give you an idea of how long repairs might take, so you know whether to deal with the fridge or just leave it closed.
Also the picture is making this firefighter's daughter break out in hives - don't go overboard with the candles! Treat them like the fire hazard that they are. Good thick candles like those are great, since they're much less likely to tip over. However they can be forgotten and burn down to catch stuff on fire, so ALWAYS put them on something nonflammable like a simple plate.
I grew up in a very rural home where the power went out at the smallest storm - we spent one Christmas without power for two weeks! It's not a terribly big deal as long as you're careful to be prepared.
If it's dark, I listen to a book on my mp3 until time to sleep or light some candles and play cards. If it's more than a few hours, I go to a relative's home. We've had power out for as long as 6 days. I left town.
My husband and I moved to St. Louis, MO in the middle of the summer. Six weeks after we got there our power went out for eight days! It ended being one the best things that ever happened to us since it was the middle of a heat wave it forced us and all our neighbours out of doors. Those same neighbours became like family to us and friendships that we will never lose. It wouldn't have happened if our power didn't go out. Sometimes the best thing to do is grab and drink and get to know your neighbours!
I love how there is a photo of scrabble in this post! I haven't suffered from winter power outage in a long long time, but when I was growing up in a very wooded area of New York - it was a yearly occurrence. My family always played scrabble... it was the only time I ever remember playing as a kid!
No power for 12 days after a hurricane in Va taught me a lot of things about not just getting by, but making it nice enough to function there. One thing I added was hooks around my house and crank or battery-powered halogen lanterns that can hang. Having some ambient light higher up (as opposed to just candles on tables) makes a lot of difference. I also added several of those puck stick-up halogens under my kitchen cabinets and in all the closets.
Last power outage was only one night but my fiance and I just embraced it as much as possible. We own several small lanterns that run off batteries and tons of candles. We filled up the coffee table with candles, made "beds" on the floor with blankets (it was hot and the coolest spot in the apartment was the floor!), turned on the lanterns, and did a lot of quality reading.
When we lived in Africa, this happened at least once a day. Luckily our stove was gas, so we learned to cook before the sun went down. Candles were a must, and we always kept a spare, charged battery for our laptops so that we could work/watch movies :)
Our power hardly ever goes out in Detroit but the last time it did a few years back we did exactly like the picture. We pulled out a game of Scrabble and a bottle of wine. Lucky we had fire going in the fireplace. We were all set.
Pic reminds me of the "Wrapped around your finger" video (and its subsequent Family Guy parody)
I keep flashlights (no candles), batteries, and battery radios, and check my stock yearly. Keep a flashlight in the bathroom. Label the button to push to silence the UPS alarm fast. Keep an ice cube on a saucer in the freezer. If the ice cube is found as a puddle, whether liquid or refrozen, then discard the food. If there's sufficient notice, then launder.
Disarm the security system so it won't start wailing when its battery dies. Unplug delicate equipment. Open window treatments to keep aware. Insurance may cover staying elsewhere. After a post-hurricane power outage of one month many years ago, I still don't take hot showers for granted.
rechargeable flashlights. i have some along these lines. have at least one in every room, and they come on automatically when the power goes out. they're good for ... 10 hours, i think, before they need another charge, and if it ever comes to that, i'll use them judiciously to make them last longer.