What else can go wrong?

[Catherine]

My internet has been glitchy all week after a Windows 10 update. So much of my computer time has been spent watching the computer sorting itself out.
What fun.

Now I am home and the computer seems okay, but the furnace is out. Not just the pilot light. It is not working. The emergency repair guy is on the way. He might be here in a couple of hours. 

I am using hot water bottles to warm the lizard tanks. We are all a little cold.



I have a heater going near the canaries.  
I think I need a hot chocolate...with a little something warming in it.

[Catherine]

Yes I am cold. 
Really cold!
 
But not as cold as my reptiles.
I am testing out my emergency reptile heating system. I think it works.

 

 


[*]The bottles are full of hot water of course.

[*]

 

 

 

 

 
It is not pretty, but it does the job.

[Catherine]

And the furnace is back!  In Canada in the  winter, a furnace is an emergency situation. I was starting to worry about the plumbing freezing. It will take a while, but the house will heat up all over. Right now the floors are really cold.

I think I need a bit of a hot meal now and some relaxation.

[Tobi]

Oh dear, Catherine! That is no fun, and I am glad to hear the boiler repair man came quickly and got it sorted. How long were you without heating? I would say a shot of Brandy or some Whisky would have been a good idea with the hot chocolate   (But then I would, wouldn't I?)

It's great you have the emergency plan for the reptiles. They really can't get cold. Or the Canaries. The water bottles are a good idea. I used to use old plastic water bottles filled with warm water to warm up my bed just before Misty got in. She went to bed about an hour before me, and had to get into an icy bed. So I left two bottles in there for 30 minutes which made a difference for her.

Well, by now you will be thawing out. I am glad it all turned out well. But of course an emergency repair man call-out isn't cheap.... But you can't live too long without heating in winter.

[LPC]

Very sorry to read about your heating problems, Catherine. That must have been very worrying, as in Canada in winter I would imagine that it is very cold.

Loved the pictures of the reptiles lying by the heated water bottles to keep warm! That was a very good idea.

Perhaps it would be worth getting some emergency room heating, in case it ever happens again? Perhaps a couple of gas heaters or electric convectors?

What did the workman say was the trouble with the boiler (that's UK-speak for furnace!)?

[Catherine]

My furnace is not a boiler, it is actually gas that produces hot air which is forced through out the house by a strong fan. There are heating ducts in every room on every floor. There are four floors. The heat was on when I left at 7:30am. The house was cold when I got home at 6:00pm. My guess was 4-5 hours. The walls were cold to the touch and the floor was freezing cold.
The repair man said it was the generator. 
I hope it wasn't too expensive, but my landlord pays the bill. By law he had to have it repaired that night. He would not be able to leave it. In Canada plumbing freezes and pipes burst if it gets too cold. If that happens walls and ceilings get ruined by the flood.

Most times when I have a heating failure it is because the electricity is out. The furnace won't run without electricity.
I have one heater and I had it near the canaries. I will get a second heater so I can have one near the guinea pigs.
I can't use a gas heater in the house. My place isn't vented for it. If it is a power outage the heaters won't work of course, but I do still need to have them.

The house has a gas water heater that runs even if the power is out. I can produce heat by filling water bottles. I just heated the lizard tanks. The snake heat lights were still on. I have enough bottles to fill the snake tanks if I have to. I also have blankets to cover tanks so they stay warm. Sadly my lizard tanks were cold when I got home. I managed to raise the temperature by ten degree Centigrade before the furnace was repaired.

If the power was going to be out or the furnace off for a long time I have many more bottles in storage. I also would put the snakes in small travel containers and use water bottles to heat them. I could put one bottle per container, stack them and cover them with a blanket. I would only try to keep one room warm. I could even use the closet because it would be easier to keep an enclosed space warm.

Loss of heat is a real danger for me. We had a major power outage 9 years ago. It was -20C outside and the house got down to 9C. I was less prepared so I evacuated to a neighbour who had power and heat. I didn't have enough travel containers and I had candles not flashlights. I had to catch lizards by candle light.

I am better prepared, but I can see a second heater would be good. I also need a battery operated radio. If the power is out I want to be able to hear the news. If I ever have to evacuate in the winter again I will drain the plumbing and turn the water off. I also know how to shut off the gas and electricity just in case.

It feels so good to be warm.

[Tobi]

It sounds like you are well prepared now just in case something were to happen. I can imagine it does feel very good to be warm again.

I have no central heating but am very glad to have the fireplace and the multi-fuel stove. There is always wood where I live. Yes it is hard work to get it, chop it, etc but it's become a way of life. For the stove, wood isn't the best solution in bitter cold weather, as it goes out overnight, and if that happens, the fridge-freezer in the kitchen/utility switches itself off if the room drops below freezing, and I lose all my frozen food! (I live and learn. That happened once. I had no idea a freezer would throw a hissy-fit if the room got cold!) I can stop pipes freezing by keeping the outside tap on a trickle of water. The birds are very grateful for that if everything is frozen out there too.

Once, when I had to go away for 2 weeks in freezing weather, I shut off the water and drained all the pipes and tanks out. It all made a heck of a din when I came home and turned it all back on again, but worked fine.

So I use stove "nuts" (oval shaped smokeless fuel) which works a treat to keep the stove in all night. So that also keeps the temperature up in the kitchen. But in a severe emergency there is firewood in my world. All I have to do is go out and hunt it down.

[Catherine]

People in Toronto are starting to put in fire places. Gas or wood burning fireplaces will give heat if the power is out.
Power outages happen too often. We can get ice storms. It rains when it is really cold and ice coats everything. 
In 2013 the ice storm killed 20% of our trees. Some streets lost 80%. I lost all my butterfly bushes. They split right to the ground. I had power, but some people were without electricity for weeks. Actually about a quarter of a million people were without power over Christmas.

We are learning to be prepared for emergencies.  If I had cut my butterfly bushes down and covered them, they might have survived. 

You are already prepared for an emergency. You have a stove and fireplace that run without electricity. You can heat and cook on either and if you have to you can burn anything. I hear you about the plumbing. I can leave a tap inside running a little to prevent freezing. Of course the third floor could get really cold. Draining the system is the safest way. We have had to do that when work is being done on the plumbing. It does make noise doesn't it when you turn the water back on.  I also have food that can be eaten cold if there is no way to cook.

I think living in the country you are more prepared to be self sufficient, but in the city we are learning. If I had to drain the plumbing I would want to save the water in case I need it. 

If you had to you could sit up and feed the fire or at least get up every hour or two. It is not the best, but it would be better than freezing. You would probably be out in the storm hiking to check on Sally Cat and bringing her home to your warm place. Winter is tough, but we are tougher.

[Tobi]

It is much harder in the cities when there is a power cut. I feel very sorry for all those families who had to go through time during the winter -never mind Christmas -without any form of heating or a way to cook! Some people have barbecues outside which can be used in an emergency, but most city dwellings have no fireplaces and many don't have workable chimneys. Some houses have old chimneys which have been filled in or capped so they can't be used! Besides it can be dangerous to use an old unserviced chimney that maybe hasn't been used since the 1950s!

Those little camping stoves which run on small gas canisters are useful but of course there are some fumes. However I used one in my kitchen as a spare heating-ring for many years on and off, and so long as I cracked a window open when I was using it I didn't notice any fumes. That would cook up some hot soup, or boil eggs etc. or even boil water for hot drinks.
So long as the equipment is rust free and connected properly and safely they are not necessarily dangerous and are good in an emergency. Those little gas cans will store for a long time in a dry cool environment.

I have a cooking-rack I made for my fireplace many years ago. It works a treat so long as you get a nice bed of "coals" going, with wood that has burned down to red hot. It takes seconds for a pan of water to boil. It is wide enough to put two pans on, and great if ever I wake up to a power cut! Because I know I can always get boiling water for coffee. Got to have my coffee in the morning!

[Catherine]

The cities do have a harder time. Any form of gas stove is too dangerous in a city apartment. The carbon monoxide builds very quickly. Sadly we lose some people every year because of carbon monoxide poisoning.  Even the chimney for a gas furnace needs to be maintained and kept clean. People are careless and sometimes birds, squirrels and raccoons have built nets and blocked the chimneys.

People are starting to make plans. They are fixing and restoring their fireplaces because they know the power will go out eventually. A lot of people have BBQs so they can cook. We have a BBQ, but I never use it so I don't know if it has gas or not. It is a propane BBQ. I have neighbours with gas stoves so I can get hot coffee. I have some battery operated lighting, but I want to get more. They have the new LED bulbs so they are very bright. 

I am still stuck with hot water as my heat source. It works in small spaces. We never have the gas and electricity go out at the same time. In fact the gas never goes out. It could only happen if a gas line was cut and that is very rare. We would all have to be evacuated anyhow. It happens during construction if someone is careless about digging, but that  kind of work happens in the warm weather.

Being prepared is really a matter of thinking of alternatives and solutions. If I do a bit of thinking before hand I will be ready if there is a problem. 

Talk about being ready, I just found a supply of jelly beans in my desk drawer. I wonder when I put them there. They are all black ones so I couldn't see them.