Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Utilizing the monkey see monkey do approach
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Notes for emergency preparedness
Important notes:
Internet article says it is safe to use my old generator to charge lithium batteries, such as the ego lawnmower battery because it is being run through a transformer AC to DC for the battery. After charging, you can safely plug your laptops and cell phones into the ego inverter without cause for damage.
Important note to stick someplace in this document: if the power outage happens when the sump pump is rarely turning on, skip running an extension cord to it let the water back up handle the occasional turning on that wattage best use some other place in the house.
How long can you keep items in the freezer?
1) Ground hamburger - up to 3 to 4 month
2) "Whole Raw” Chicken - can be frozen for up to one year
3) Pork chops - taste best if frozen 4 to 6 months bot can go indefinitely, but may suffer lack of flavor or freezer burn
4)
How much time before the storm will determine
how these steps are taken.
Step 1: Plug-in all items that need charging.
Step 2: Inventory food and gas/ propane on hand (fill up both cars)
Step 3: Take gas cans and go shopping
Step 4: Pre-set up generator with extension cords (if truly expected)
** Important note: if weather event is expected while Sump Pump is actively pumping water from basement pre-setting up the generator is an excellent idea as time will be of the essence.
Additional note: if for some reason you think the power outage is going to be severe, consider laying in the supply of plastic silverware and plates to negate the idea of running dishwasher and remember to have plenty of ground coffee available along with creamer and water.
Additional note: if the power is out an extended amount of time meaning several days and you use up much of the refrigerated food, you can move what's left from the large refrigerator and freezer into the garage refrigerator, which will probably use half the electric, saving electricity for other items in the house. This might be particularly good during the summertime as during the winter you can always put some of the food outside in ice chests to prevent animals from getting into our food stuffs.
For the most part we have been fortunate that when power outages happen it only affects electricity. Water and gas continued to flow. Top Super Market also prides themselves being open during severe weather as in 2006 they got caught in the October surprise and put in generators so now they are open usually during bad weather storms.
Items to get charging (Step 1)
1) Small individual cell phone battery backups
2) Ham radio battery
3) Big black flashlight (it can be used to charge a cell phone if needed USB-C)
4) Charge short wave radio (Has NOAA)
5) Make sure all laptops and cell phones are charged and run updates if needed
6) 2 ego lawnmower batteries
7) Car starter battery. (you can charge cell phones with it)
8) JBL external speaker- you can charge cell phones using the USB-C
9) Remember, most of these things can be recharged using an outlet from the generator if we were to drain the batteries
Now that these items are plugged in and charging, it's almost time to go shopping, but first check generator gas tanks, the 2, 5 gallon gas cans and both cars. Have a dual filter generator make sure the propane tank is filled up.
Also before you leave, inventory pantry and refrigerators. Talk with Louisa and decide what groceries you want to buy - make sure you have plenty of the usual staples such as bread, coffee creamer, too many items to really list
3) Identify which extension cords and extension hub you plan on using.
Basement:
Sump pump
Verizon Fios
House heater (I don't know if our generator can run the air conditioner that may be too much)
WIFI - the Wi-Fi light plug-in down near the house heater, which would be great check you'll need the house heater plugged in along with the sump pump. Over by the Sump Pump, you have the files Internet box. Currently at the top of the stairs, our router is there that can be repositioned slightly as long as it stays plugged into the blue cord.
right away. Some of the essentials would be the Sump Pump, refrigerator, Wi-Fi and FiOS along with house heater
4) check the oil and gas in generator and give it a test run. Make sure you have a cover in case there is severe weather while running the generator so it is protected.
5) Grocery shopping for our regular staples along with extras. With the generator, we should be able to keep a running refrigerator and if it's winter time, some foods may be able to go outside in sealed containers to keep squirrels and other animals out.
NOTES: some things to remember about groceries
Grind or buy a few bags of ground coffee. Try not to use the grinder.
6) make sure medication's although they may not be able to fill prescribed medication's during or even before the storm event, but you may want to have Gas-X, Tums and other medications in stores are closed
7) Consider filling propane tank in case we need to cook outside or if you eventually have a dual fuel generator
Cooking: we can use match or lighter to light the gas stove and cook as normal. If for some reason and gas is affected, we could use barbecue grill.
COFFEE!!!! :-> during a power outage, don't use the generator to run the electric coffee pot as it uses a ton of juice just like the toaster. Instead, heat up water on kitchen stove for pour over.
Generator
Predator 5000 W dual fuel generator.
With this new dual fuel gen. remember if I wet Tammy and Brett run a cord to their house, ask them for their propane tanks from their barbecue grills. Even if it's 1/4 or 1/2 full, it's better than volunteering all of mine. Also, they might have gas cans for their lawnmowers. They can't supplement the generators fuel.
Do not run these items during a power outage while on the generator. washer and dryer, microwave, air conditioning. These items would put a burden on the generator
Run an electric cord from the generator to the basement window, remember to weatherproof the outside connections. On the inside, there's a short 10 foot long 12 gauge extension cord already set up for the Sump Pump. The sump pump has a short three outlet stub with pump is plugged in. It also has room enough for the FiOS box to be plugged in too. It should be fine because it probably doesn't use that much juice. But you will still have to run power to the Wi-Fi box in the stairwell. It's possible we could plug one of the ego batteries with inverter that might run it for a little while to get back on the Internet. Also, remember, you can use your cell phone if the towers are still running as a hotspot and connect to your laptop.
Important note about fuel. If things get so bad and you run out of gasoline, remember you can siphon gasoline out of one or both of the car gas tanks. I have a siphon hose. Together that's about 30 gallons worth of gasoline.
Perishable and non-perishable food stuffs needed for the next week
This list is with the assumption the generator will be running our refrigerator or it is cold enough outside to refrigerate in the snow.
Communications - what options do I have to talk and stay informed?
This Verizon FiOS link will let you know if there is issues in your area. You can't choose either files or cell phone towers. https://www.verizon.com/support/check-network-status/
2 Cell phones (Verizon cell tower network or Wi-Fi/FiOS network)
2 Laptops can be allowed to use Internet, calls, and cell phones can be turned into hotspots
2 UHF Radio in the car and one in the house- both with Weather channel NOAA
1 UHF radio HT- not sure how well that one's working.
1 hand crank AM FM radio with Weather channel NOAA
1 HF ham radio battery powered in the house generally capable of 1000 miles plus
** Remember, each of these items is going to require battery power so keep all the chargers filled prior to any known storm.
Remember if cell phone service and Wi-Fi are down Verizon gives you the option of sending a text through satellite service. At least we can inform family members we are OK.
These items will go a long way to keeping laptops and cell phones charged. The ego inverter says it has enough power to charge 27 cell phones. The ego specifically says it is pure sine wave which is perfect for electronics. The car jumper does not say it is pure sine wave
Use this to charge laptops and cell phones. I have 2 of these.
Use this to charge cell phones
If storm is including a "high wind warning”, do the following
A) Make sure all shopping and filling of the gas tanks is already completed as the roads may become treacherous with fallen trees and electric lines.
1) move one car into the garage
2) secure, trash cans in the garage and any other things that are light that might blow around like lawn chairs
3) If gazebo is up, make sure tiedowns are tight
4) Take a walk around the property make sure everything is secured
5) if the authorities are really convinced, there's going to be wide power outages pre-position the generator and test run. Then at least have all the extension cords ready to go.
6) if you see any of the neighbors with trash cans still out by the road or stuff that might blow into my yard, maybe help them out and move the trash cans. Otherwise, you may end up cleaning up their mess afterward.
Wattage and amp usage (5550 running watts 5,000 watts surge available)
Electric coffee pot - 970 watts and 8 amps when brewing - 48 watts and 0.4 amps warming state
Toaster - 800 watts and 6.70 amps
Sump pump -
Refrigerator -
Television -
Fireplace fan -
CDC recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day for emergency use
NOTE: commercially purchased water
unopened should be good for two years storage
Disinfecting water
1) boil water for one minute Plus but at least one minute
2) plain unscented bleach sodium hyperchloride 6% or 7.5% to disinfect 1 gallon of water using 6% add eight drops of bleach to 1 gallon. If you have bleach that is 8.25% hyperchloride use six drops per gallon. Two disinfect 2 gallons use 16 drops or 1/4 teaspoon of the 6% bleach and similarly for 2 gallons using 8.25% hyperchloride bleach use 12 drops or 1/4 teaspoon. Let water sit for 30 minutes before consuming.
3) iodine. You can use iodine to disinfect water. Use five drops for 1 L of water. The iodine used is 2% iodine. Let water sit for 30 minutes before consuming.
4) prepackaged commercial tablets for water disinfecting. Put some in emergency kit.
5) buy one additional water filter for the Britta water filter in the refrigerator. Decontaminate water best we know how then perhaps even run it through the Britta.