After some rather uncharacteristically cold weather, things have stabilized into a more normal range of temperatures. Still cold, especially by the standards of people from states where “y’all” is considered good grammar, but tolerable.
Whether it’s sitting out a power outage from an ice storm, or you just happen to live in a hermit shack where the BTU’s come from whatever fuel you brought with you, staying warm is a priority in the winter. I live in a decent house with forced air heat from a gas furnace. Double whammy…in a power outage there’s no electricity for the blower (although the Honda EU2000 could be made to work in such a situation), or something may occur that disrupts the flow of natural gas (say, foreign hackers getting into the system that controls the distribution system.) Being me, I try to keep several options on hand. The most notable of which is the old standby – kerosene heaters. No fuel puts out as much heat as kerosene. And it’s remarkable stable and safe to handle. You could drop a match into a 5-gallon bucket of the stuff and…nothing.
I also keep one of those smaller Mr Buddy heaters around with a few dozen bottles of propane, as well as the 20# bottles out by the BBQ, but I find them not as efficient as the kerosene. Theyre nice if you want to justhear one small room, which is pretty much how to deal with a heat problem in a really bad situation…you retreat to one room and heat that room. but, I prefer the kerosene.
Of course, once its time for bed, you can crank the heat down considerably. Wool blankets are nice, but for keeping yourself comfortable warm when the temperature in the house is only a few degrees above freezing there is nothing that beats a big down comforter, and if you throw a heavy wool blanket on top of the comforter you’ve pretty much made yourself impervious to cold. Im one of those freaks that sleep better in a cold room and I often turn off the heat to the bedroom, shut the door, open a window, and sleep with my head right by the window when its below freezing.
The only reason a stunt like that works is because your bod has fuel to burn to keep your dumb butt warm. Going to bed hungry is a great way to not stay warm. Eat a good meal, go to sleep, stay warm.
Staying indoors, even in a house that is hovering in the low-50’s, is a far sight better than sitting out in the 5* weather. On the few occasions when we’ve lost power here in the winter I’ve managed to barely be inconvenienced…kerosene heaters and lanterns, along with judicious use of closed doors to isolate various rooms, kept me warm and my pipes unfrozen.
I mention this because, as I was straightening a few things up today I came across a stash of military wool blankets I forgot I had. Theyre not very attractive, and perhaps a tad scratchy, but I’ll take warm and slightly itchy over cold and frostbitten any day.
My cousin told me that a couple of squares of a Hershey chocolate bar eaten just before bed when sleeping in cold conditions provides enough calories for about 6 hours of warmth. Sleeping on top of a good foam pad (NOT an inflatable air pad) also helps insulate yourself from the cold ground / floor. The foil lined emergency blankets help hold warmth, but their impervious nature causes moisture to form which will eventually soak your sleeping bag.
It gets to -30 to -40 around here regularly. If spending the night in a sleeping bag / tent under such conditions, make a large cup of hot chocolate or cocoa (think canteen cup) and add an entire stick of butter or margarine. There are enough calories of fat there to keep warm all night.
During last season’s polar vortex in Minnesota one of the major natural gas suppliers (Excel Energy I think) stated that they were having supply issues and people needed to conserve their usage. Yes, temps were cold even for Minnesota. I saw a couple comments on new articles that another major supplier (Centerpoint Energy) wasn’t far behind them.
This is just to demonstrate that outlier weather events can mess up your plans as easy as anything else.
You probably should have checked out the reviews on link to Mr Buddy.
“… causes moisture to form …”
That’s not exactly correct. It collects on surfaces from the air. One of the common problems is the occupant breathing into the sleeping bag due to covering their head with part of it, or pulling closed the face opening of a mummy type. That’s okay as long as you don’t turn your head when sleeping (yeah, right). Your breath can transport more than 1/2 pint of water per night. Makes for a very clammy bag that doesn’t insulate very well.
I likes my wood stove and supply of firewood.
“You probably should have checked out the reviews on link to Mr Buddy.”
–why? the people complaining the most got a reconditioned unit when they expected new, which is valid, and has nothing to do with Mr Buddy or how well that model works. The other review that the pilot wouldn’t stay lit, I’m going to put down to operator error. I had the same issue the first time I lit mine, I didn’t read and understand the instructions. Once I did, it worked fine, every time. (it works like a water heater pilot, you have to hold the knob down until the thermocouple is hot. Oh, and it takes longer than you think to clear the line of air when you first use the heater.
I’ve got several different versions of Mr Buddy heaters for different uses. This model is approved for indoor use, which is awesome.
nick
Having gone through power outages in the winter before and once where, in the middle of a February cold snap (-25 to -40 at night), the forced air gas furnace quit, I understand where you’re coming from.
Winter… it’s not just a season, it’s an adventure.
Mr. Buddy blows. I used several over the years. Older models were okay, but somewhere the company went Crap Quality and I went from 100 hours a month all winter, into next winter, to the now more expensive unit not lasting through one winter. And yes, I used the filter with it and every one was a new unit and all were identical types . I don’t think a $100 heater getting less than 400 hours of use to it can be considered a good product. Unfortunately there are few affordable alternatives.
#20 bbq tanks with the bolt on radiant heaters should work. Kerosene is relatively expensive and the heaters are not cheap.
I dont know about where you’re at, but kerosene heaters abound on craigslist.
I love the grey wool blankets I kept when I left the Navy.
Maybe you can answer me a question as I live in Florida where it never gets too cold. What is a good heater worth when it is a blizzard outside your house? I can tell you what gasoline is worth, after a hurricane, for your generator, when you do not have any! Conditions can change your perspective on things and relative worth very quickly.