Most of us are pretty resilient about some things.
Reaching out to you guys for advice.
I have a freind who’s in Georgia and she’s terrified of this oncoming storm.
Everything is electric…. If she loses power she won’t have heat because she lives in an apartment.
She’s on a fixed income so she’s not able to afford an emergency kerosene heater.
Any ideas on what she might be able to do to stay warm if the power goes out??

One nice thing about the South is that our cold doesn't last long and rarely drops into the single digits, though this one is expected to do both in some areas.

Clothing and insulation will get us through most winters even without heat. Have her cover all windows if not already. Stop all drafts around doors and windows. Our houses aren't as well sealed as northern houses. Dress warmly in layers with head covering, we call it a toboggan or just boggan, and gloves. Sleep with head covered. Close up unused areas of the home. If she has candles or a kerosene lantern she can use them if she closes up the room. They can put out small amounts of heat for small areas though as in all thing flame there's both fire and carbon monoxide dangers.

I know it's hard to describe but as someone once winter trained in the snows of germany I came to realize cold is very survivable if dry and enough layers. Speaking of dry, wool is the best next to skin layer as it wicks while cotton soaks. Synthetics if wool not available.

She should also try to up her caloric intake as the body burns calories to generate heat and to stay hydrated as you don't get thirsty like you do when sweating in the heat of summer.

Depending on area many of our localities are setting up warming stations available to all.

What part of the state is she in?

She could make a rubbing alcohol lamp. Just put the alcohol in a jar, with a hole in the lid for the wick to hang down, put in the wick and light it. She can adjust the heat and light produced by raising and lowering the lamp. When I was a kid I had a lamp like that for my chemistry set. Alcohol burns pretty clean, but she will still need some air flow because oxygen will be depleted.

Most cooking oils work too, but burn dirtier. A friend of mine makes olive oil lamps when camping, by just floating a wood disc, with a wick put through it on oil, in a glass or bowl. She puts water in first, so if they get knocked over, the fire goes out. The oil is lighter and floats on top of the water. They're pretty.

Keith

Kerosene heater, LP heaters of all kinds out there. I can run my wood boiler off of my generator to run the pumps for heat I keep a couple big bottles of LP around for emergencies along with 15 gallons of gas when problems are coming I keep 5 gallons at all times.

Buddy heater with a 20# tank.

^^^^^ this would be a great idea …. Be certain the whatever heater she gets has a carbon monoxide shut off ….

start by turning up the heat now

you are trying to save money but having it a few degrees warmer buys you degrees if you lose power.

fill contianers with water , pots pans , water bottles , whatever she has , not sure if her water is also tied to the electric but can't hurt to have clean water in containers you can drink from because you could just as well end up with a water main break and no water

food that doesn't need cooking as a backup

she may have to go someplace else should power be out long enough I am not sure what part of GA but Atlanta is looking at above freezing temps part of each day it looks like

then layer up
Boco used to talk about the REZ snow suit being 3 layers of walmart fleece pajamas then a track suit over the top

layers , hat , mittens even if it is oven mits
blanket over that

Problem is in the upper part of the US with no heat water lines can freeze and burst. We have two fireplaces which would help. But, in weather like now -24, depending on how long the heat is out it doesn't take long for water lines to freeze.

Fill the bathtub with water and it can be used for flushing the toilet. Poptarts and cans of chief boyarde, couple buddy heaters which have a low O2 shut off and a battery powered CO alarm.
We have been through a few winter outages with 2 teenage girls and it has been fine. Keep your phone and any extra power sources charged. Maybe a small supply of candles and a case or two of water. We left a 3 wick candle going in the bathroom for light while in use and just used a pot of water from the full bathtub for flushing the toilet.

Two cheap Walmart sleeping bags one inside the other will allow you to sleep warm, dress warm during the day and head back to your sleeping bag nest if you get cold

Great idea filling the bathtub with water to flush the toilet.

For you folks with the CO alarms, make sure your getting the high dollar alarm that tells you the different levels of the CO. A metered alarm. its a few dollars more. The one with a green light is only telling you the battery is on and by the time you are breathing the CO the alarm hasnt detected it yet.

You don’t run kerosene in a house co poisoning is nothing to not take seriously. When I lost power in 06 for 9 days I pulled the furnace wire from box and wired a extension cord to run off a generator but that’s propane it takes both to operate it

Be care full with any type of heater. Make sure if you are on city water or have a well to let the water run, both hot and cold because they will freeze if it stays cold for a long time. Harbor Fright have great little Lanterns that run on 3 double AA battery's they are cheap and give out a lot of light for a long time.

They make kerosene heaters rated for indoor use.....

Foxkidd.... tell her to check the local FB page for her town. I just saw on mine that they have opened two "warming centers".... no food or beds provided, but a place to get out of the cold.....

We got one of these and keep two gallons of kerosene on hand at all times actually love the lil thing , use it a lot of days to just knock the cold down real quick before the electric heaters kick on . Thing warms up a room nice and toasty like in about five minutes. Only issue is finding kerosene. Know you can get it from a pump in some places but we're stuck buying the stuff from Wally Mart when they have it


Just make sure you buy a carbon monoxide alarm . Never had it go off though but our house is kinda drafty so that might explain it lol

Candles and a couple clay pots.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/1RjewmfIbbw

It’s amazing how much heat a candle can give off but a person still needs to be careful of CO2 poisoning.

I read into this a bit. Modern thoughts on staying warm during a grid down event have changed slightly. Instead of how to store large amounts of heating fuel supplies , it has shifted to maintaining heat loss with minimal heat resources.

As many have posted , multiple layers of clothing and sleeping bags doubled up and the like , are on the right path.

Here is the Basic no frills way to deal with this. Very little to no cost. Almost zero prep. Something almost anyone can do with limited materials at hand.

You may have heard setting up a free standing tent inside a structure and just heating that small area instead of an entire room. It works. Very efficient. But not many people are going to have a tent , and a decent one will run $200+ for this purpose.



The cheap , non-prepper version.

Build a ' fort ' like you did as a kid. Drag some chairs , sofas , whatever close together. Drape a blanket , tarp , cardboard anything you got to make a small place to make a spot in it for one or a couple people. Make it very tight , as few cubic feet as possible. Cover it with all your blankets or sheets. Use anything in place of that , all your clothes from your closet , anything that will insulate and stop heat loss. Even straw will work in a pinch. No style points. Will look ugly. Doesn't matter , what matters is staying alive.

With a very confined area like this , and using multiple layers of clothing , doubled up sleeping bags and the like , will keep you warm. A heavily monitored small heat source like a 7 day religious candle in a glass jar can provide heat. Again , very heavily monitored , CO risks and fire risks.