Yesterday was pretty tough. I had two wet loads of laundry, a sink full of dishes to do, and about five hours of online freelance work when the power went out. My husband was working from home, as well.
A tree limb had fallen on the power lines a few houses down from ours, and it blew out the transformers, leaving our neighborhood without power from 11:30 in the morning until about 5:30 in the afternoon. That is six hours without power.
We were tempted to turn the generator on, as many of our neighbors did, but with gas expenses, we decided to try and wait it out until the power company could fix the problem. Still, we needed to get by and had some concerns, such as food spoiling and work not getting done. We employed some strategies to do just that, all while keeping that generator off.
Food spoilage was a concern. If the refrigerator is kept closed, then you can usually get by for a few hours. But with little kids and a husband at home, there was no way that fridge would stay closed. The solution: I took a frozen chicken out of the freezer and placed it in the refrigerator. This would allow everything to stay cool, and I could just incorporate the chicken into our weekly meals.
We shut off the appliances and unplugged anything not on a surge protector. When the power eventually comes on, it can come in a surge that damages anything with a computer, which includes things such as the clock on the microwave. This saves in replacement cost.
We have a small battery back up unit. The battery allows us to power one or two things for a short period of time. We could use it for many applications. In the past, we attached it to the TV and DVD for some entertainment. It could also be used to power up the microwave for a quick meal. Yesterday, It got attached to the router, so my husband could finish work without losing income. When his laptop ran out of battery power, he switched over to using mine.
The power came on before it got dark, but had it not, we could have used solar lights inside the house.
Because we lose water when we lose electricity, we have a set of gallon jugs filled with water on standby. We can use these to wash or flush toilets. And so, we made it through the day.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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