How to Prepare Your Home for a Power Outage

Don't get left in the dark if a power outage strikes your neighborhood. Take steps now to prepare your home.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Battery Radios
• Blankets
• Candles
• Canned Foods
• Candles
• Blankets

1. Gather emergency supplies, such as candles, matches, flashlights and batteries, a battery-operated radio, a manual can opener and canned food.

2. Know the location of the fuse box or circuit breaker in your home.

3. Learn how to reset the circuit if necessary or change a blown fuse.

4. Find out ahead of time how to manually override an electric garage door.

5. Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest settings if you think an outage could occur. This will help keep the food cold longer.

6. Use a surge protector to protect electrical items like your computer, TV and VCR. This can prevent a sudden surge of electricity from damaging them.

7. Have blankets or cardboard handy to cover windows in the event that the heat goes out. This will help prevent drafts.

8. Identify the most insulated room in advance; that's where you and your family can gather if you need to stay warm.

9. Turn your thermostat to low and turn off the circuit breaker for your water heater to reduce a high demand for electricity once the power does come back on. This will help prevent an overload that can cause it to go off again.

10. Leave one light switch on so you'll know when electricity has been restored.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do have a power outage and want to try to save your food, put perishables like milk, cheese, pork, poultry and meat in the freezer to help keep them fresh. They spoil quickly at temperatures above 40 degrees F.
• Cover the freezer with a blanket to help keep the cold air in.
• If you smell gas - do not use matches or flip switches - including flashlight switches.

[generatorjunkie]

on 5/29/2007 If you are using a portable generator, make sure that you put it outside and face the exhaust away from any openings. They product carbon monoxide gas, which is deadly.

Also, you should consider using a transfer switch to connect the electricity.

on 8/19/2006 When our power went out for three days (because of an ice storm), I put my turkey in a clean plastic tote with the lid, and sat it on the porch. Needless to say, the turkey stayed frozen solid.

on 11/22/2005 If you anticipate a power outage (as when a hurricane is approaching) store gallon milk jugs filled with water in the freezer. Leave a little room in the jugs for expansion of the freezing ice. Solid blocks of ice melt more slowly than ice cubes and may extend the life of food in the freezer by a few days.