I’m kind of a worrier. We’ve mentioned before that at the first “real” sign of Winter the nester in me starts up and I’m preparing for a calamity. In November I filled 8 big containers with water and put them in the garage in a nesting frenzy. In January our pipe gave out….not just any pipe, THE pipe. The one that helps you wash your hair and flush your toilets, and wash your dishes. Ugh.
Poor hubby heard water running at 4:00 in the morning. He had to dig through 3 feet of snow in 5* temps to find the main water valve and turn it off. OFF. We had no running water for three days. Truthfully we’d turn it on once a night to flush and turbo shower. We’d just let water leak into the house. (We have some cleanliness standards). Anyway, we used the emergency water in the garage. We boiled it and washed dishes, flushed the toilets with buckets and kept things running until we got help. Not glamorous, but definitely a blessing.
That experience made for some emergency preparedness searching. We found a good one here. It’s an emergency heater for your 72 hour kit in case the power goes off for a titch. Obviously it’s for a car or small space, and you need ventilation, but it’s totally easy to make and store. It took 3 minutes no lie.
WHAT YOU NEED:
New, quart-sized paint can ( Home Depot $3.50 )
- Unscented 70% isopropyl alcohol
- Large toilet paper roll
- One quarter and a pack of matches ( to tape to the can for easy opening )
Pull the inside tube out of the toilet paper. Pour the alcohol over the toilet paper. Seal the can with the lid. To use the heater, simply light the roll. The end.
We are going to put an emergency tip or idea in our blog every so often. Being prepared takes away your fear.
