Record Freeze

[London]

I heard a meteorologist report this may be the worst winter freeze in TX history, and to expect blackouts. Are you ready? Do you have enough off-grid heat and light to get by? If not, now is the time to stock up on kerosene, propane, or white gas heaters. (Forget gimmicky candle heaters made of clay pots. If they worked worth a damn we'd all be using them already.) What about off-grid cooking?


Of the three, kerosene heaters are the easiest to find and cheapest to run. Home Depot should have large units which can heat an entire house. Offer up still has plenty of used ones. I recommend at least 25 gallons of fuel for the next week. 5 gallons of diesel mixed with 5 ounces of gasoline make a very good and cheap kero substitute.


Of course, natural gas and fireplaces should get you by as long as they can be fed with fuel. You have 2.5 days to make sure you'll be OK before your preparations are put to the test of a lifetime!


As for me, all I needed to stock up on is beer! Cheers to the week-long Ice Age!

 

[Jarine88]

I have a dual fuel genny with both gasoline and propane at the ready. We have space heaters and a gas fireplace for warmth. I may look into a kerosine heater for the future.

 

[Jigo23]

I have plenty of booze and can break up furniture to burn in the fireplace...good to go!

 

[robertc1024]

Hmm, only have about a half cord of wood. Can probably survive.

 

[kbaxter60]

This has made the wife and I realize that we need a wood stove or other second heat source. We use mostly space heaters and if we lost power here, we'd be in a bad way. We each survived many winters in WA state, so it's ironic that we are getting frozen out here in TX.

 

[TreyG-20]

Dogs make good heaters when it's cold. Just have be at the bottom of the pile.

 

[skfullgun]

Record Freeze?
I have all my albums and records stored in a nice, warm place!
Seriously though,
I have a small generator and a couple of propane heaters if the need should arise.
Meanwhile...BRRRRR!

 

[robertc1024]

Dogs make good heaters when it's cold. Just have be at the bottom of the pile.

I've got three. Hope I don't have to go through Jack London's "Call of the Wild"

 

[Riksors]

Looking like the movie Revenant

 

[baboon]

What’s the price on pre freeze cord of wood? I burned most of the wood the previous owner left the night the power was out.

My buddy who helped me move is headed to Palestine to help out our old friend who has a water leak. Hopefully its a quick fix. He might be able to get some wood for me and not hurt Ralph’s supply.

 

[rman]

What’s the price on pre freeze cord of wood? I burned most of the wood the previous owner left the night the power was out.

My buddy who helped me move is headed to Palestine to help out our old friend who has a water leak. Hopefully its a quick fix. He might be able to get some wood for me and not hurt Ralph’s supply.

I paid $270 for my last cord and it was meh. A little short and some green.

Before that it was $300-320 for a nice cord of seasoned oak.

This is in Fort Worth. Gonna use the original guy next time. Still have about 1/8-1/4 left of the gaywood.


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[benenglish]

I have plenty of booze and can break up furniture to burn in the fireplace

That was a funny old Paula Poundstone bit. I looked but I couldn't find it on YT.

 

[mitchntx]

Saw this nonsense on Facebook last.

Went to ERCOT.com and saw that there was 4400Mw of rolling reserve.

The weekend has lower demand because of schools and many businesses are closed.

If demand approaches capacity, nonessential loads will be shed before residential. In most cases, high use customers can negotiate better rates if they are cayegorized as nonessential.

Weather could certainly create outages. Thats different than rolling brown outs.

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[London]

if

This has made the wife and I realize that we need a wood stove or other second heat source. We use mostly space heaters and if we lost power here, we'd be in a bad way. We each survived many winters in WA state, so it's ironic that we are getting frozen out here in TX.

It would be worth it to look into kerosene heaters. They are portable and waaaay cheaper to buy and run. Kerosene has much more energy per ounce than any wood so it also stores much easier. I use a special blend of diesel and camp fuel to make a substitute which is even cheaper to run than electricity and has a hair more energy than kero. It even smells much better.

I only burn wood I get for free!

 

[kbaxter60]

if

It would be worth it to look into kerosene heaters. They are portable and waaaay cheaper to buy and run. Kerosene has much more energy per ounce than any wood so it also stores much easier. I use a special blend of diesel and camp fuel to make a substitute which is even cheaper to run than electricity and has a hair more energy than kero. It even smells much better.

I only burn wood I get for free!

Oh, it's good advice. We had an insert in our last place that was AWESOME. It would almost heat the whole two story home. I like burning wood and we have an ample source of firewood on our property. But a heater using fuel would be simpler.

 

[striker55]

Living in Katy when we want a fire it costs about $1 per stick for firewood at the supermarket, grandson said "you have to buy wood?". He lives in Hill Country.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

2 Months ago I paid $200.00 for a cord of split, seasoned oak.

Paula Poundstone was quite the popular comedian until she flamed out on booze.

I think she got re-habbed, she tried a comeback that apparently didn't work as I don't she her on tv any longer, though I suppose she could be hitting the clubs doing live stand up?

I liked her even if she is a rug muncher and I'm generally not a fan of them.

 

[Vaquero]

I reckon we'll see how good this Jayco is tomorrow.

 

[Coop45]

if

It would be worth it to look into kerosene heaters. They are portable and waaaay cheaper to buy and run. Kerosene has much more energy per ounce than any wood so it also stores much easier. I use a special blend of diesel and camp fuel to make a substitute which is even cheaper to run than electricity and has a hair more energy than kero. It even smells much better.

I only burn wood I get for free!

Burning all that wood is just causing more global warming.....oops, sorry.

 

[gll]

I have a 9kw grid-tied and battery backed up solar system, but my battery backup is not deep and solar production will be low this week... Yeah, solar isn't a complete solution, so I checked and started my 10kw Miller Bobcat, just in case I need it for power. I have plenty of gas in stores.

I've wrapped every pipe and bibb I can, but there is still a chance something can freeze. I have two wells, so hopefully one will keep working.

I have heated with wood, exclusively, for more than 20 years, and though I ran my cut wood supply down, hoping I wouldn't need it anymore this season, a few hours work got enough wood cut to get me through this.

I'm most concerned for my sheep and goats that all have lambs and kids, many born this week, and twin lambs born just last night. Yeah, they have sheds for shelter, but the temperatures being forecast really are brutal.

All in all, I guess this will be a good small test of my preps.