9-2018 Severe Winter Preparations

Since this past summer was so unbearably hot, we can expect a bitterly cold winter. Just the opposite of our 2018 summer.

I’m including preparations for ice storms & long power outages as well as being stranded in a car during a blizzard, under water escape issues, what to do if locked in a car trunk, converting to all electric, avoiding frozen gasoline, emergency car supplies, winter supplies, Converting appliances, etc. Anything which I thought might be helpful in emergencies or preparation.

Especially along the jet stream path across the northern US states, Canada, New England & Nova Scotia. Also, the UK, northern Europe & northern Russia. There is a plastic window covering product which is taped to the window trim & shrunk to firelight by a heat or hair blower. It works really well on windows which freeze & allow frigid wind to enter. This is inexpensive & fairly easy to do It blocks the freezing cold from old windows in an old house. Cut to fit. The difference in cold air is unbelievable. Even better than new windows. The downside is you cannot open your windows until the plastic sheets are removed. If you use flame heating or gas or wood or kerosene, etc.; the CO2 would kill you since you need to keep the windows open a crack for oxygen.  So only use this product if you have electric heaters & no gas applies. Otherwise, use heavy drapes & blinds to keep out the cold.

Be prepared with protective clothing, food, water & necessities in case you have an extended power outage. Just one ice storm will wipe out the power lines & telephones. I’ve seen ice on trees & branches & lines on power poles nearly an inch thick after an ice storm.  I’ve had my sidewalks like sheets of ice, my doors frozen shut & unable to leave the house and my car encased in ice, unable to leave work or home. You might want to keep spare emergency food & beverages & a blanket & spare clothes at work as well. If I worked in the top of a high rise I would check into whether a parachute, would work. For height calculations, figure 15 ft per floor. 10th floor would be 150 ft high. 100th floor would be 1500 ft high.

The weight of ice encasing the power & phone lines is too much for the lines which fall to the ground & the power is lost for millions. It takes weeks for the crews to repair. Even your satellite internet & TV go down if snow or ice gets on the dish.

If you can, stay with friends, relatives or hotel suites & kitchenettes which are quite reasonable a week at a time for commuters. They are quite nice kitchens, living areas & multiple bedrooms, multiple baths, etc. This is a much better option than trying to rough it. Use your vacation time. Or send your family to live with out of state relatives if your work requires you to stay.

Please remember not to use open flame heaters like Coleman or kerosene or gas if you have no central heating or power during an outage. These open flame heat sources burn up the oxygen inside the house & produce carbon dioxide. This includes your gas oven. It is deadly. Entire families have died. My nephew died with his friend while sleeping in a trailer at an antique car show using a coleman heater. He did not leave a door or window partially open for oxygen. I came close myself with gas wall heaters in a rental house which burned up all the oxygen. I was 21 and didn’t know any better. If you have to use these, please keep the windows open an inch in each bedroom & location of the heaters.

Better yet, use those portable radiator style, oil filled sealed electric heaters on wheels for heat.  Requires no fuel. Just electricity. They have no open flame & safe around pets. They can be bought at Lowes  quite cheaply. About $60. Some as low as $32. Buy one for each room but don’t run all of them at once. 3 max would be enough at the same time in different rooms on separate circuits. I used them to heat my aviaries as well as heating the house because I couldn’t use the gas heat. I used De’longhi brand from Lowes. Here are multiple brands.

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Carbon Dioxide detectors (CO2) are needed in any home heated by flame or wood stove, fireplace, gas, kerosene, coleman heaters, etc. Also, keep in mind that natural gas causes migraines. Even a single pilot light such as a water heater. I believe it is from the added scent. I live in an all electric house & have not had a migraine since  moving here 15 years ago. My electricity is cheaper than gas.  Don’t be  swayed by Propaganda. Those who use coal, oil & gas should convert to electricity. Consult an electrical expert. The outside compressor for a central heat & air should be able to be used with the new electric heater & A frame. Call Sears. Don’t use a  small private Company. Use a larger store. Lowes, etc. Get price estimates from more than one. If you have migraines, stay at a hotel for a week or two which has electric heat & and see if your migraines improve. If so, you may want to convert your home appliances to electric. Your central heater,  portable heater, hot water heater, stove, oven, dryer, etc.  Also, new electrical wiring, breakers, breaker box, outlets, etc.

Don’t use Trane. Their prices are outlandish. Be sure price estimates clearly state installation prices separate & itemized appliance prices & brand names so you can see where to cut costs by comparing prices & brands & reusing  the outside compressor. I did. It saved $5000.  If you replaced all the components of an outdoor compressor for central heat & air, there are only 3 components. Compressor, fan & capacitor. None more than $350 each. About $1100 total max for all 3 including installation. Plus cost of refrigerant if needed. That’s a heck of a lot cheaper than $5000 for the outside compressor unit alone. This does not include the inside Central heater unit, blower & A frame..

My new inside central heat & air unit only cost $1200 compared to Trane’s $8000 & they wouldn’t reuse existing compressor.  I also included a UV light and April air filter system for another $1000. Ten times too high price but very effective for allergies, dust, mold & bacteria control. Keeps the unit fins clean as well.

A private electrical contractor company will use the existing compressor if the refrigerant matches  & they think you will go elsewhere. Also, don’t replace an air conditioner in the heat of summer. They will gouge you. Do it in cold weather & get confirmed installation dates in writing. Name brands like Trane won’t  use existing compressors. Don’t use mom & pop, one man contractors. A bigger private company with a half dozen techs. Sears appliance repair has been best but Lowes is my second favorite.

An ice storm will also freeze your car encased in inch thick ice. You cannot open doors or the hood under the ice. Ice removal tools & plastic scrapers don’t work. I have resorted to using lukewarm water to remove the ice but the door, trunk & hood locks remained frozen. They also sell ice melting sprays for cars.

When I was working in Chicago around the winter of 93-94  (?), the 70 degrees below zero actually froze the gasoline & the cars had to be towed to the dealer to thaw. However, one of my engineers used shamrock gas (now Valero) which was 10% alcohol & prevented his car gas from freezing. We were all staying at hotels, thus our cars were not protected in a garage. So be sure to use Valero gas in the winter.

Also be sure to have ample salt products for melting ice on your sidewalk & porch plus kitty litter in your car trunk to use for traction if your wheels spin on ice.

Snow shovels & snow blowers for northern & NE states.  A snow shovel for the southern states. Pay someone to shovel your snow if you are over 40. It will kill anyone older who may have unknown health issues. Don’t take a chance. Don’t use decongestants either. They shrink the blood vessels inviting clots. Use a nose spray for sinuses & expectorant like guafinesin for congested lungs if you are over 40.

Pay a teen to shovel your snow.

Make sure you stock up food, water, batteries, flashlights, battery lanterns (not kerosene), blankets, sleeping bags, emergency generators installed by a licensed electrician which has a shut off for commercial power feed while the generator operates so you don’t accidentally electrocute a power company employee with your generator. You will also need to safely store extra fuel for the generator in a ventilated area. Gas fumes pool about 18 inches on the floor of a garage. Any spark or pilot light will ignite it. Including your car, water heater pilot, central air heater, chest freezer, dryer, power tools, cigarettes are all examples of spark producing items. Especially below the 18 inch height.

You need food which doesn’t require cooking. Some MRE’s have self heating options. Also have an outdoor grill. Be sure to have extra charcoal or gas & lava rocks to last for weeks & a butane lighter for cooking food outside. Make sure food is thoroughly cooked & hot enough to kill germs. Have extra ice chests to store food if you lose electricity. Store ice to keep it cold in garage in ice chests during winter. Buy extra chests for emergencies. They are cheap. I can tell you it costs about $1000 to restock a refrigerator full of food. Ice chests & ice are much cheaper. So is one of those small chest freezers about $149.  But don’t let the food thaw, If it does, you must cook it right away.

Keep your car filled with Valero gas in case you encounter an emergency or traffic jam.  Never let your vehicle gas tank go below half full. Consider the weather & temperatures if you should run out of gas. I also recommend emergency blankets in the car and extra pairs of heavy socks & gloves as well as graham crackers for emergency food. Also water stored in glass not plastic for drinking. Heat inside a car will release toxins from plastic containers such as gallon water & milk containers are sold in. Thus, the water would be only fit for the car radiator. Not drinking.

Replace food & water & batteries every 3 months. You never know when you might get caught in a blizzard or snow drift. Especially in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Pennsylvania, Idaho, the Dakotas, Illinois, New England, etc.  You may also want to keep a portable CB radio in the car, in case your cell phone doesn’t work. Make sure it has a cigarette lighter plug for optional power since batteries would be dead (remove them before plugging into your car lighter but keep fresh batteries aside in a ziplock bag in the trunk in case you get locked inside). Your cellphone & onstar may not be working.

I use windex for windshield washer fluid but it will freeze so you may want to mix standard washer fluid with it to prevent freezing. The windex is excellent to use on insect splatters during the summer. It prevents smearing. I use it year round in Texas. Be careful not to damage windshield wipers on ice or trying to extract them from ice because you will need them to see to drive in bad weather.

In addition to kitty litter and a small foxhole shovel, keep 1 or 2 gallons of water for the car in case you break a hose or spring a leak. You will need large plastic tywraps to serve as hose clamps or tailpipe brackets plus a sharp knife or box cutter for damaged hoses. Also, duct tape for temp repairs.

You also need a hammer or special tool inside the car compartment to break windows if you end up in water. Windows are hard to break. The power windows will work under water for a short time if the ignition key is turned. Car doors wont open until water equalizes at chest height inside. But wont open if the doors are jammed by impact & you must use windows to escape.

If upside down, you may need knife or box cutter to cut seat belts which won’t release when under pressure.  Do not cut yourself when the seat belt suddenly breaks & you drop. Also to cut away deployed air bags.

You may also need some 18 -20 gauge wire & electrical tape, screwdrivers (flat, Phillips, etc), wire cutters, needle nose pliers, channel lock (slip jaw) pliers, regular pliers, lug nut wrench, jack, etc. A small emergency tool kit for each car plus anything it doesn’t include. Keep these items in a bag in the trunk so they don’t spill.

Also, at least a dozen road flares & emergency lights to warn other drivers who may not see you.  These burn hotter than fire so follow directions & handle carefully. A manual air pump. A wrench kit appropriate for your vehicle. Metric, standard, both. Adjustable wrenches. You can buy these kits cheap. These are to remain in your car so don’t use them at home. Buy another, better set of tools for your home. Get a cheap set of tools & nut wrenches for your car in case you become stranded. A head band flashlight allows you to see without using your hands to hold it.  spare batteries recycled. I also have jumper cables, a portable battery jump device in case another car isn’t available. Canned air & tire repair kits or sprays, headgear flashlights, extra batteries (recycle every 3 months with fresh batteries.) I even have a portable heater which works off the cigarette lighter & a DC to AC converter which allows you to use AC power devices like a computer or cellphone charger, etc. About the size of a coffee cup. Maybe keep sealed tea bags & sealed instant coffee and packets of powdered INSTANT milk. Plastic utensils. Plastic drinking cups. Paper Bowls for soup. MRE’s, cans or packets of soup & Chef boy R dee. Some MRE’s can heat the meals.if stranded. You will also need a butane lighter in case you need to create a wood fire outside to keep you warm. You need it to light the campfire.  Don’t forget how to build an igloo & lay out branches to alert helicopters you need help. You could be trapped for days in a blizzard. You shouldn’t drive anywhere in such weather.

Keep a CB radio with spare batteries & a flashlight in the trunk of your car in case you get locked inside. Don’t keep the batteries inside the radio where they would leak & go bad. Recycle these batteries every 3 months with fresh ones. It could save your life. Also keep a “Help, call police” sign on fabric with 2 inch letters which you can hang out the trunk after you get it open for the cars behind to see without alerting the perpetrator. Use a piece of leather or plastic for a help sign it must be readable from 20 ft away.  Not paper. It would tear in the wind or rain.  Visible in Daytime or in headlights. White 2 inch letters on dark background. Or reversed. Keep the sign inside the trunk under the lining, where it can’t be seen.  It needs to have extended handles you can hold on to or secure from inside trunk. Also, a box cutter & wire cutters hidden in the trunk in case you are bound.  Drinking water. Remember, you don’t want the perpetrator to see these when they look inside. They will likely remove anything they see in the trunk.  It is imperative for you to become familiar with the trunk latch & how to open it from inside.

There are emergency channels on your portable CB radio which the police monitor. But any active channel will contact help. Don’t talk too loud & alert the perpetrator inside the car. Be sure to install the spare batteries you keep inside a ziplock bag for the CB radio.  Extend the antenna & search the channels.  Channel 9 is for emergencies. Truckers monitor channel 19.  So learn to open the trunk latch, hide the CB radio, knife, cutters, batteries & help sign under the trunk liner where you can access it while bound. Be sure your entire family knows how & understands not to tell anyone about it. Anyone can end up locked in their trunk. Your life depends on these items.  If you still have your phone, you can be found by GPS tracking. Be sure to know your license plate number. Write it inside the trunk. If you are inside the car, you can dial 911 with the phone hidden out of the perpetrator’s sight & volume turned down so the police can track & listen without the perpetrator hearing. 911 is trained to deal with silent calls where the victim cannot talk. Remember Laci & Stacy Peterson. Their perpetrator was their spouses.

Sleeping bags, full body winter jumpsuits used by motorcycle sides, extra jackets, blankets, extra heavy socks. A couple rolls of Viva thick paper towels. Hand cleaner. Wet ones, toilet paper. Place these items at the back of your trunk in fabric bags & out of the way of your groceries.

Complete your preparations before November. Some places were already getting freak snows in Aug & early September.