Monday, February 16, 2015

Emergency Room Heater

Do you ever wonder what would you do during an ice storm, snow storm or simply an emergency situation when you lose power during the Winter months?


First of all, have a plan.

Pick the smallest room in your house, with the least windows.
For our family, the smallest room is our sons room. 
A 10x10 room with only 1 window, facing south.
This room is also the only room in the house that has only one outside wall. 

Next, 

be prepared to make a room heater with very basic things you probably already have in your house.
I already had everything on hand. In fact I had enough to make 3 sets if needed. I ended up having 2 ready to go.

This is what you need for each heater: 

1 kitchen hot pad
1 metal bread pan 
1 (cookies) cooling rack
3-4 tea lights
2 terracotta pots
1 small piece of aluminum foil

Start out by putting the hot pad on the surface where the heater is going to sit.
Put 3-4 tea light inside a metal baking pan.
Top with a cooling rack (you can also use a toaster over rack).
turn the smaller terracotta pot upside down and close the bottom hole with a piece of aluminum foil.

Top the bigger terracotta pot.

When I know we are facing a possible ice storm (hence lose electric power), I have all my things together. 
This heater literally takes 1 minute to assemble.
The tea lights last about 4 hours.

As I say, I have 2 ready to go. 
Many in our city have been without power already. 
We hope it's not the case for us, but better to be always prepared.
This is how this terracotta heater works
source

Other things that might be helpful in preparing for such emergencies:
Fill up as many bottles of drinking water for your family.
If you have young children, keep a few cartons of shelf stable milk (uht milk).
Have ready to eat food in your freezer, such as muffins and breads.
Make sure you have all your electronics charged up, especially cell phones.

***Keep in mind, if you have kids and/or pets, to keep this emergency heater on higher ground, such as counter top or table.***
You can also use this as an outdoor patio heater.
Out of reach.
Stay safe.

Stay Frugal,
Daniela

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13 comments:

Rita C at Panoply said...

Awesome, many thanks for sharing.

andi filante said...

You are like a one-woman preparedness phenom!

-andi

Linda said...

This is amazing!!!! Always good to know!

Kelly said...

Of course you would know how to be prepared! You can do so many unique things. I learn so much from you. Thanks for this tip. We are having icing going on right now and our lights are flickering. We are charging our phones right now and hoping that our power stays on. Jimmy is at work tonight but Cody is home so that relieves my mind a bit. Hope y'all stay safe during this ice storm too!

NanaDiana said...

So smart! I have never seen this one before. In our cars we carry an emergency heating "kit" with a large candle and two coffee cans-one inside the other in case the car gets stuck which often happens here in inclement weather. It is enough heat to keep you from freezing to death. Also-we pack Hershey bars and granola bars in there and tea bags and a tin cup for melting snow if needed.

You are a girl scout---always be prepared! xo Diana

Mary@mydogsmygardenandmary said...

Great idea thanks so much for sharing.
Being in So CA we don;t get that cold, but its always good to know.
Mary

Marissa said...

Amazing!
Never heard of this..
so cool...
Thanks for sharing.

Revi said...

New info, and I'm going to pin it!

Danni@SiloHillFarm said...

So cool! Having survived an ice storm with no power for 13 days, let me give you my best advice.....Fill your bathtub up with water. At least you can flush and trust me...you'll be glad for it! LOL!

SImple and Serene Living said...

This is great information, Daniela. Thanks for sharing. xo Laura

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Daniela,
Very clever and especially with smaller children.
This made me think right away about the emergency kit that each car needs to have in North Dakota, just in case you get stuck in the snow in winter!
Hugs,
Mariette

Carla from The River said...

Thank you for sharing. This is a great idea and I have everything!

Lois@Living In Denim said...

These heaters are great and are a life saver for me when the power goes out. We are expecting some very cold temperatures tonight and tomorrow so I plan to light up a couple of these to keep a room toasty and comfortable.