5 Tips for Power Outages

Hydro Outages are a fact of life when you live rurally – especially in Northern Ontario. That’s the price you pay for all these beautiful trees – sometimes they land on power lines. So what to do during a power outage in Almaguin?

First off, I recommend to anyone moving into the area that you invest in some sort of generator. It doesn’t have to be a fancy automatic generac system (although those are lovely) – even a stand alone generator that’s big enough to run your basics will save you a world of panic during an outage. That’s what we have at our house and it works great. 

1. Keep your fridge and freezer closed! If you know that you need milk for the kids cereal and your coffee – try and get it all done at the same time so the door is only open once. 
2. To keep your pipes from freezing – open your cupboards and let your taps drip just a little. Running water is less likely to freeze solid and bust open your pipes. Opening your cupboard doors lets the heat from the house closer to the pipes. 
3. If you’re on a well – fill up water jugs for drinking water and leave them in the tub – that way if you have water left over you can just drain it easily when the power is back on.
4. If you’re on a well – you’ll eventually run out of water because there won’t be any power to run the pump to get water into the house – so you can fill the back of your toilet with used water (from washing hands for instance), or with snow and just let it melt to flush the toilet. 
5. Play board games and card games or read that book you’ve been neglecting – view it as a mandatory technology break and take a break!