Friday, January 28, 2022

Emergency we did not plan for

 When we bought this house we thought about emergencies... 

bad weather (HAM radio and cell phones that gives us local alerts)

home phone line goes out/ cell phone drops service... covered

electric goes off... 2 generators.

BUT never did it cross our mind about not getting propane delivered before we ran out. I check the level at the tank WEEKLY for that reason.

Two days ago I called in for a delivery. We were at 31 % and using 4% each day due to how cold it is with the windchill. We usually use 10% / wk. during the winter. This was 15% in a week. Today Hubby checked the propane. 25%... furnace will not run at below 20%. He called to see if the propane was coming in today.

 IT'S NOT. They have several with NO propane and they are trying to get them filled first. I do not have an issue with that at all.... BUT they did warn us that if they can't get to us by tomorrow (they hope to) that it would be MONDAY so we will be out. 

We took a deep breath... thought about if this was a blizzard, we could be in the same position. What do we have to keep the pipes from freezing and us warm enough plus our water heater and cook stove is propane.

Hubby went to the barn.

 He found the 2 kerosene heaters with good wicks. E had 5 gallons of kerosene that he was not going to use so passed it to us. Hubby turned off the propane heater in the pump house and put a kerosene heater in there. The odor will not matter since it's where we won't be. He is also going after 5 more gallons of kerosene (and a gallon of milk).

He found 2 gas buddy heaters we used to use on the old farm in the bedroom and front room. Those are now in the house with 2 grill propane tanks(both full) to run them.

 The canning stove in the barn is on a full grill propane tank and the grill's tank is half full.   I have electric roaster, electric skillet, crock pot, and air fryer plus microwave.  Hubby brought in the camping stove and it's fuel. We will be reheating leftovers today and tomorrow I will fry potatoes and make sausage gravy that can be reheated in microwave or over the camping stove. 

I found the old electric heater in a north loft and brought it down. Turned the lights on in the grow cart which will warm that area by 10 degrees. 

Right now we have some sunshine so it's feels warmer than it actually is. Furnace is down to 65. At bedtime we will turn it down to 60. 

It made us really think about if this was a blizzard we wouldn't get propane for a week or more... so rethinking back up for the propane is now something to be dealing with. 

Meantime.... I have Mother's thick cable sweater on. Hubby is wearing his insulated vest in the house over a heavy fleece shirt and tee shirt. We have thermos which we might be using for PJs tonight. 

We will be okay for the short term.