Our “Lights Out” Checklist

preparing for lights outThe lights go out. What do you do? Let’s assume you’ve already sat there for a few moments, possibly in the dark, and they haven’t come back on yet. Do you know what you need to do in a power outage? Do you know what you need to get? Do you know where everything is located? And, the biggest question, does everyone else in your family also know your plan?

This is our plan, specific to our home. I’m providing it as an example of the items you may want to cover in your own plan. (It’s easy to procrastinate, I’m just now writing down our plan after we’ve been living in this house for over two years.)

LIGHTS OUT CHECKLIST

Is the power really out?

    • Check the fuse box to be sure everything is turned on correctly, and none of the breakers are tripped.
    • Look around the neighborhood, is everyone’s power out?

    Light

    • Get a flashlight and/or headlamp, located near the door in the mudroom.
    • Turn on the battery bank‘s inverter, if necessary reset the inverter (the manual is hanging on the side of the bar refrigerator).
    • If the battery bank doesn’t work, use the 800 amp inverter with the truck’s battery(s)(it’s located in the truck box) — connect it directly to the battery, and run extension cord into house.
    • Unroll the extension cord that’s already attached to the battery bank, it’s located on the wall beside the utility sink in the laundry room. This will be your central power outlet(s).
    • Get the lamp out of Sarah’s office, and the other lamp from the rec room, and put them in central locations.
    • Get the battery-powered lanterns out, located in the black box under the pool table, and put the batteries in them (stored with the lanterns). Put the small red one in the bathroom, keep the larger two available for use where needed.
    • Use caution when choosing to use fire for light. If candles or kerosene lanterns are used, place the fire extinguisher nearby. Long burning candles are in the cupboard in the workshop, kerosene lanterns are on the shelf in the bar.

    Heat

    • Unplug the furnace from the wall and plug it into the battery bank extension cord (this will power the blower, the furnace runs on propane).
    • If the battery bank is depleted, the furnace can be plugged directly into the generator.
    • Get the Buddy Heater (and it’s batteries), and a small propane tank, from the barn. Put the batteries into the Buddy Heater (for the blower). Attach heater to tank and turn it on, once running turn on blower (follow directions).

    Food

    • The microwave, plugged into the battery bank, can be used for short periods of time to heat food. The microwave can also be plugged into the generator as needed.
    • Propane grill, on the patio.
    • Propane stove, in the barn.
    • The Volcano Stove can be used with propane, or charcoal (outside, or in the garage/barn with door open).

    Water

    • Remember once the power goes out the well no longer pumps, there is less than 25 gallons of water in the pressure tank.
    • Bring in the 5-gallon yellow Igloo jug from the barn, also bring in a 5-gallon water jug. Put the Igloo on the kitchen table and use for drinking and cooking.
    • Only flush when “needed”; refill toilet tank with 3 gallons of water from the rain barrels or the pond.
    • Use hand wipes/disinfecting wipes for cleaning as needed.
    • The well pump can be plugged directly into the generator; the plug is near the pressure tank (use 220 volt cord).

    Entertainment

    • Board games.
    • The battery bank can run the TV and the DVD player.
    • Reading.
    • Electronic devices can be charged with the battery bank.

    Other things to remember

    • Open the refrigerator and/or freezer as little as possible.
    • Keep outside doors closed to maintain heat.
    • There is additional drinking water in 2-liter bottles on the top garage shelf.
    • Keep cell phones charged.
    • The landline phone will work, but only the one in Sarah’s office.

    Again, this is our list. We’ll test it next weekend when the girls are here; we’ve done this before, in suburbia, but it’s been a while and a lot of things have changed. Afterward, we’ll make changes as needed,  print it up, and post it where it can be found.

    make_a_listMake your plan. As we know, power outages tend to come during the worst of times. You may have a plan in your head, but what if you’re not home? Creating a plan doesn’t cost you anything — just innumerate the things you already have.

     

    (Note: The items highlighted in red are links to previous posts I’ve written on those topics)

    And We’re Back…

    we're backAfter not writing, at all, for 15 months and only writing five times since we moved into our new house/property/homestead/”The Farm” over two years ago — I’ve decided it’s time to start writing again.

    I stopped writing, in a large sense, because we were now “doing.” When we lived in suburbia, it was easy to wax eloquently about the virtues of prepping, while imagining what we’d do if we had a homestead and acreage. In suburbia, we were some of the most prepared people around.

    Then we moved to “The Farm,” and quickly realized, 1) there was a lot to be done, and we were no where near our preparation goals, and 2) we really don’t know shit about any of this.

    I hardly felt qualified to tell people about prepping when everything I needed to do I had to Google first and/or watch, sometimes numerous, YouTube videos to figure out how to do it. Nothing in our past, other than a desire to do so, qualified us to be able to live this life. Both Sarah and I had grown up in middle-class suburbia, and since we don’t have any (physical) community or relatives to teach us, everything we learned had to be self-taught.

    Fast forward two years: We’ve sorta figured some things out. Trial and error have become our constant companions. Our mantra has become, the best way to learn about something is to just do it. At this point I feel qualified to discuss our experiences and what we have learned.

    In addition to writing new posts, I’m also going to revisit some of my old posts, adding commentary and updates now that we have “real life” experience.

    As a side note, my web address is now tracemypreps.xyz (no longer .com). Our domain registration expired, and by time we went to renew it it had been bought by some overseas company (who were willing to sell it back to us at an outrageous cost).

    P.S. Switching web addresses caused a lot of things not to work, especially pictures and some links. Also there are things that are just outdated and need to be redone. We appreciate your patience while we get everything back up to speed.

     

    15-8 kids by barn

    the kids, in front of the barn, with a sampling of the animals we now have