While living without power isn't something you likely have to worry about often, it's a good idea to make sure that you are prepared at home for long periods of power outages, whether due to extreme weather or an emergency of some kind. By investing in a few helpful resources for your household, you can ensure that you and your family stay safe, comfortable, and happy until your power source is restored. Here are three resources that will help keep your household running smoothly during a power outage of any length:
A Standby Generator
One of the best ways to protect your household from the loss of power is to invest in a standby generator. Your generator will allow you to power your HVAC system, refrigerator, and lights during the day. Look for a generator that will allow you to connect a deep cycle battery to it while in use. Your generator will then charge the battery while in use, and then you can hook the battery up to an inverter and use the battery to power a few lights during the night.
Never run your generator inside your home or garage, as they generate high amounts of carbon monoxide buildup which is not detectable by sight or smell. Carbon monoxide exposure can be deadly, so build a small enclosure out of plywood to keep your generator in and place it a few feet away from any doors or windows of your home.
A Well Insulated Cooler
Another helpful resourced to consider investing in is a well insulated cooler. Many coolers are rated to stay cold for at least five days, which will enable you to keep food fresh and safe to eat when you can't power your refrigerator. For example, you'll likely want to turn your generator off during the night so you don't disturb your sleep or the neighbors, and your cooler will come in handy as a backup fridge by keeping the necessities cold throughout the night and until you can get them back in the fridge.
An Entertainment Box
When the power is out, it can be tough to keep your family entertained throughout the day and evening when everyone is spending time at home together. Putting together an entertainment box that you can pull out during a power outage should help ensure that everybody has something constructive to do when the television and computers can't be powered. Fill a box with a couple of board games, a book of short stories to take turns reading, magazines, crossword books, and puzzles.
With the help of these basic resources, you and your family should be able to spend time at home without having to worry about things such as heat, food, and entertainment.
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