How to convert a gas generator to a propane generator

Picture this:

There's no power.  Gas stations have no way for their gas pumps to work. There you sit at home with your expensive gas-powered generator, and all you have is the small amount of gas in your gas can which was meant for mowing your lawn.  Now what are you going to do?

Here is a great article on how you can buy a kit for around $180 which will make your gasoline-powered generator so it is able to use either natural gas or propane.  What a great idea!

(If you buy this, make sure you install it BEFORE a disaster.  It sounds like it will take some time, and you sure don't want to be doing this installation while everyone is suffering and your freezer is thawing.)

http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/the-multi-fuel-generator-dont-depend-on-just-gas_07162012

Prices for heaters end of season

Here are two good emergency heaters that I saw in the clearance department at Walmart a couple of weeks ago.  This will give you an idea of a good price to pay for these when you can find them on sale.

Both of them were priced at $129.00 at the end of February.

 This Mr. Heater Big Buddy is the same one I own.  It runs on 1 pound propane bottles or it can run on a 20 lb. propane tank.

I also have one similar to this.  It runs on kerosene.
Both of these are safe inside the house.

Staying warm without power

Yes, I know our ward's challenge to live one night without electric heat was LAST month, but the following article is so good I just had to post it.

This family decided to go a whole week in winter without any electricity.  They had 4 small children.  After only four days, the mom called it quits.  Here is her experience, including some good photos.

http://www.yourfamilyark.org/sstaying-warm-without-power

More ward members: No Heat Challenge responses

We turned out heat off when we got home from church.   It was the Sunday that it was cold and snowed in the night.  The kids slept in their warm camping sleeping bags.  They loved it and slept really well.  My husband and I slept with a couple extra quilts on top our our usual down comforter.  We were comfortable too.  Even though it was so cold outside, our house never got colder than 55 degrees.  In the morning, we turned our gas fireplace on to see if it would heat up the house.  The heat went upstairs and raised the temperature a couple degrees after being on for couple hours.  If we had to use the gas fireplace for heat, I would tape sheets or something similar to the walls by the stairs so the heat couldn't go upstairs.  Trapping the heat in the family room/kitchen would probably keep us warm enough.  - A.B.

We did the challenge.  Our indoor temp only got down to 69.  I've forgotton to turn the heat on at night before during winter months.  It has never gotten below  63.  I think we'll try the challenge again anyway looking for a colder weather night!

One thing of note...with all of these challenges I thought it might be a neat opportunity to teach our children gratitude as well as "preparedness" skills.  With this most recent challenge, our 7-year-old was NOT happy.  She did not want to be cold!   - L.H.

Our family did it - but really no comments (we were cold but just "lived with it" - stayed busy and kept lots of jackets and blankets on).
Thanks for the challenge.  - K.G.






R. and I did the challenge, but like you, it wasn't too tough since
it stayed around 40 degrees. However, we did prepare and brought out
extra blanket and our winter pj's. Just wanted you to know we are
attempting to meet our goals!  -V.E.

YouTube review of Mr. Heater Big Buddy

We own this same portable propane heater.  Here is a YouTube about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dkCY6kuExQ&feature=related

My ward members report back on the "No Electric Heat" challenge

I am very sad that this week was a dud for practicing no heat.  It was much too warm. (So we are extending the challenge:  Pick a colder night in the coming week to turn the power off, if you haven't already.)

This winter isn't typical, most winters we have a week or two of 20 degree weather, so we all need to plan for that as well.  I feel bad I scheduled the challenge for such a mild week!  

Here are reports back from my ward members:

"We did the no heat challenge last night. We put the thermostat to 40 degrees and opened the windows in the master bedroom. The house only got to 63 degrees. The kids were nice and bundled, so I don't even think they noticed. My husband loved sleeping with the windows open. It was quite refreshing and we were not cold at all. He wants to do this again when it is actually cold outside."    R.M.

"I turned down our heat when I got home from work yesterday and turned on the fireplace.  Our house never got below 70 degrees.  At 10:00 we turned off the fireplace before going to bed and the upstairs never dropped below 68 degrees.  The master bedroom was a little cooler just because we sleep with the door shut, but the kids' rooms were still toasty.  I actually prefer to sleep when it is cooler.  I think the low cloud cover last night held a lot of the heat in."     M.A.P.

"The 'sleeping without heat' experience made me thankful for NC winters--as least this one. With the heat off Thursday night, the inside of the house never fell below 65 degrees- about 1 degree lower than we usually sleep with! We opted not to open the windows so it could have cooled off more than that. After reading the blog we did do a check to see if our gas log would ignite with the power off. Lucky for us, it did!! 

At least we have a back up source of heat (--although most of it would escape upstairs.) We have experienced sleeping with kerosene heaters and no electricity for many nights when we lost power in an ice storm in Indiana many years ago. Luckily it was in March, so not as cold as it could have been in Dec or Jan.

Looking forward to the next challenge!"    K.B.

"Well, we did do the challenge, much by "accident" (for lack of a better word). I had turned off the heat Wednesday morning thanks to the beautiful warm afternoon we were expecting.  We did our daily routine and went to bed as usual, when we woke up the next morning we all noticed it was much cooler than normal, because I didn't turn the heat back on... So, I figured I would just add an extra layer of clothes to everyone and kept the heat off until 3:30 that afternoon, just to ensure we did a whole 24 hours.  I don't know if it really counts, but I believe we are adequately prepared for milder weather.  We've all had to toughen up a bit since our move from CA, I typically have the heat at 74 (I expect that to change next winter), haha!! " S.R.

"We did ours on Thursday night.  We figured out that my husband and I keep each other warm and that is an advantage over the kids.  We had them with three blankets each and we just had our normal everyday blanket.  We did have everyone sleep with full daytime clothing on and socks.  Most of the kids said they slept fine.  We told them though that for the future if they get cold to go to one of their brothers beds that is full/queen and then they can heat up with body heat too.  This would not be enjoyable at all if this went on for days though.  But very doable for one night."  B.D.

"No Heat Challenge" extended, because of mild weather

This week turned out to have very mild weather, so it might be wise to extend the deadline for this challenge. 

If you haven't done the "No Electric Heat" challenge yet, please wait a few days and do it when the weather at night is colder.

(To my ward members only: After you do the challenge, please email me and tell me what you learned.  I will post your comments anonymously on my blog.)

www.GottaWannaNeedaGettaPrepared.blogspot.com

Feb. 2012- Practice having no electric heat in your house for one night.

The Valentine's Cuddle Up Challenge. Feb. 12-18. (Now extended another week.)

Rules:

You can turn off the heater down to 40 degrees all night, OR

You can leave on the heater for the children, and just block your master bedroom door and open the bedroom windows.

Goals: For you to find out:

if you have enough blankets

If you have enough warm clothing

If you have an emergency heater

Do you have any type of an approved indoor heater, or fireplace or gas log?

Kerosene and Propane heaters are available.

Never use an unapproved heater indoors.

Conserve body heat by setting up a tent in your warmest room, and sleep inside of it.

Will my gas log turn on without electricity?

During the last big ice storm here in Cary, North Carolina, we lived in a different house, which had a regular fireplace and a 2-story great room.  We found that our previous house was impossible to heat during a power outage, which was one reason we moved to our current house.

We had some friends back then, who had a gas log.  We remember going to their house during the ice storm, and they were toasty and warm.

Ever since, I have wondered, how in the heck does a gas log work without electricity?  Doesn't the wall switch (which looks just like a light switch) work using electricity?

Today we found the answer.  Since I am not an engineer or electrician, you'll have to read the links for a better explanation.  Here is the best I can do:

This link has a picture of a Millivolt Wall Switch.  The wall switch has to hook to your gas log, and it can only be a maximum of 15' away.

http://www.northlineexpress.com/item/5MN-MVWS/Millivolt-Wall-Switch

Because the wall switch is connected to the gas log with that contraption, it does not need electricity to switch it on.  (Note: Our gas log also has an electric fan, but of course the fan wouldn't work without electricity.)

And here is another website where a guy goes into extensive explanations as to how the gas log gets turned on and off, and how the gas burning creates the electric volts needed to switch it on and off.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f98/how-diagnose-gas-valve-problems-37230/

In this way, the fire place can be turned on, turned up, turned down and shut off with just the turn of a switch even without external electric power being supplied to it.

Our Family's Experience with turning off the furnace

We got home from church Sunday and turned both our upstairs and downstairs furnaces to "off".  I put on warm clothing and waited for the temperature to drop inside our house.

Surprisingly, I never got cold, in fact I started feeling too warm!

I went into the other room, and found that my husband, W., had turned on the gas log, and the whole house was getting quite warm.

I complained, "I was trying to test how many layers of clothing I needed to live comfortably in a cold house!", and W. said, "Oh, I thought we were trying to test whether we could keep the house the same temperature with or without electricity."

I turned off the gas log, and we spent the rest of the evening and all night without any additional heat.  We put a down comforter on top of our regular bedding and slept comfortably.  (I think it was 30 or 35 degrees outside.)

By 6:00 am, our house had only dropped to 58 degrees.  I think I learned that it would take more than 12 hours to really start feeling too cold, it looks like my house retains heat pretty well for a short time.

We turned the furnaces back on Monday morning.

(To my ward: Please email me with your experiences and what you learned.  I will post them anonymously.)

This week: No Electric Heat for One Night

Feb. 2012- Practice having no electric heat in your house for one night.

The Valentine's week Cuddle Up Challenge.

Choose one night this week (Feb. 12-18)

Rules:

You can turn off the heater down to 40 degrees all night, OR

You can leave on the heater for the children, and just block your master bedroom door and open the bedroom windows.

Goals: For you to find  out:

if you have enough blankets

If you have enough warm clothing

If you have an emergency heater

Do you have any type of an approved indoor heater?

Kerosene and Propane heaters are available.

Never use an unapproved heater indoors.

Conserve body heat by setting up a tent in your warmest room, and sleep inside of it.

Contact me and tell me about your experience, so I can share it with the ward (anonymously if you want.)

Warm Clothing if you had no heat

(Repeated from January 2012)




Just think about it.....what if we had a disaster which caused our power to be out, and we had to live in such frigid temperatures all day and all night?

Do you have enough heavy blankets, sleeping bags, and emergency methods of heating your house?

Okay, now think about clothing for yourself and your kids.  If you had no heat, you would still need to be moving around and accomplishing things (like cooking, changing diapers, etc.).  You can't stay under blankets all day.  Do you have warm clothing for all parts of everybody's body?   Picture each person head to toe.  Do you have each of these things, in the correct sizes for every member of your family?

Warm hat
muffler
warm gloves or mittens
work gloves
warm shirt
warm jacket or sweatshirt
waterproof poncho
heavy coat
insulated pants, ski pants, or long johns and pants
heavy socks
boots, snowboots, or sturdy shoes, for walking in adverse conditions

I am continually reminded that we are supposed to have one year's supply of food, clothing, and if possible, fuel.  So I like to stock up on winter clothing for every size, every time I see something good at a thrift store.  I don't want my little grandchildren to be cold!


(Reminder:  It is almost the week for our ward challenge!  Pick one evening Feb. 12-18 and use no heat.)

Some options if you have no heat

Did you know that if you have no heat, you can set up a tent in your living room and sleep in sleeping bags, and the temperature in the tent will be much higher than in the rest of the house?

 If you have a gas log or fire place, make plans for how you will isolate that room from the rest of the house, to keep the heat contained. Maybe you can shut some doors. 


Or if you have an open floor plan, can you nail some blankets around the stairwell so the heat won't go up the stairs? 


(Feb. 12-18:  Our ward's challenge for having No Heat for One Night.  Get Prepared!)

How much warm bedding do you have?

The 1978 publication, "Essentials of Home Production and Storage" simply tells us to have enough bedding, "to keep each person warm if there were no other heating supplies."

It is implied that the need for this would be during the coldest time of the year.  The bedding need not be fancy.  Old quilts can keep a person warm just as well as ones that might be more fashionable.  Many people may find that they already have enough bedding on hand. 

(Remember the upcoming ward challenge during the week of February 12-18:

No Heat for One Night.  Get prepared!)

Make Plans for No Heat

With your family, make plans for heating your home in the event of an ice storm and power outage. 


Will you stay with another family?


Do you have a non-electric heater, rated for indoor use?


Do you have a fireplace or gas log?


Do you have sleeping bags rated for 0 degrees?


(And remember, the week of Valentine's Day is the week our ward will be doing the challenge of No Heat for One Night.  Get prepared!)

Frigid weather!

On an exceptionally cold day like today, we get reminded of how much we rely on indoor heating.  It was absolutely bitter outside yesterday and today!

Just think about it.....what if we had a disaster which caused our power to be out, and we had to live in such frigid temperatures all day and all night?

Do you have enough heavy blankets, sleeping bags, and emergency methods of heating your house?

Okay, now think about clothing for yourself and your kids.  If you had no heat, you would still need to be moving around and accomplishing things (like cooking, changing diapers, etc.).  You can't stay under blankets all day.  Do you have warm clothing for all parts of everybody's body?   Picture each person head to toe.  Do you have each of these things, in the correct sizes for every member of your family?

Warm hat
muffler
warm gloves or mittens
work gloves
warm shirt
warm jacket or sweatshirt
waterproof poncho
heavy coat
insulated pants, ski pants, or long johns and pants
heavy socks
boots, snowboots, or sturdy shoes, for walking in adverse conditions

I am continually reminded that we are supposed to have one year's supply of food, clothing, and if possible, fuel.  So I like to stock up on winter clothing for every size, every time I see something good at a thrift store.  I don't want my little grandchildren to be cold!

Bedding- How Much is a Year's Supply?

The 1978 publication, "Essentials of Home Production and Storage" simply tells us to have enough bedding, "to keep each person warm if there were no other heating supplies."

It is implied that the need for this would be during the coldest time of the year.  The bedding need not be fancy.  Old quilts can keep a person warm just as well as ones that might be more fashionable.  Many people may find that they already have enough bedding on hand. 

In my family, we have a goal to buy the best cold-weather sleeping bags we can afford.  We are waiting for a good sale at REI or some other outdoor equipment company.  (Maybe tomorrow on Memorial Day?)

A Year's Supply of Clothing

The following was taken directly from the Provident Living website in 2004:

"For many people, storing a year's supply of clothing is simply a matter of making the items now being worn last for a year.  However, growing children may need clothing, shoes, underwear, and coats in larger sizes than what they are currently wearing.  The clothing of older brothers and sisters can be considered as storage for younger children.

You may also want to store items that would be needed if family members had to do more hard physical labor in producing necessities or had to spend more time outdoors in harsh weather.  Such items could include gloves, overshoes, coats, and hats.

In addition, it is wise to learn the sewing skills necessary to repair existing clothing or to produce new clothing.  When possible, store extra fabric, sewing needles, thread, zippers, patching materials, and patterns."

Ice Storm Predicted

There is an ice storm predicted in our area, but we don’t know how bad it will be.

Here is a picture I took in 2002, the last time we had a really bad ice storm.  As you can see, the ice coated the trees and made them bend over or break, and the falling branches and trees broke the power lines so the power went out.  It was strange that the streets weren't slick during that storm, so we could drive all over, even though there was no power.  Our phone was out too, even though it was a landline with a cord.  

That was a huge ice storm, so the power was out for millions of people from Tennessee and North Carolina, so the power companies had a very bad time getting all the lines fixed.  

Another ice storm here (sometime in the early 1990‘s) coated everything with a thick layer of ice, you couldn't even go out your front door without falling down.

I am hoping this one will be minor compared to those.

Charge your cell phones, cameras, laptops, and ipods.  Put gas in your cars, in case the gas stations are without power.  Get out your flashlights and lanterns and heavy sleeping bags or blankets.

Practice lighting your gas log or fireplace.

Could you do without electricity for awhile?

What if a disaster took away our electricity, for a short or a long time?  Would you be able to function?  And if you have a generator, do you have gasoline for it?

We all need to collect non-electrical alternatives for the following:

1. lighting (flashlights, lanterns, candles, etc.)

2. heating (fireplace, kerosene heaters, propane heaters)

3. cooking and heating water (propane grill, fireplace, solar oven, etc.)

4. laundry (laundry detergent and a bucket, clothesline and clothespins)

5. actually there are a lot more but you get the idea.  And remember, with no electricity, stores can't do business.  So you would be living off your food storage.

There was an article today about the coming cycle of solar activity, which warned about the ways the sun can cause electrical grid failure on earth:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.bdf9ddce1297325e1b97e06696026e73.111&show_article=1

"At its angriest, the Sun can vomit forth tides of electromagnetic radiation and charged matter known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs......"

"On Earth, power lines, data connections and even oil and gas pipelines are potentially vulnerable.

An early warning of the risk came in 1859, when the biggest CME ever observed unleashed red, purple and green auroras even in tropical latitudes.

The new-fangled technology of the telegraph went crazy. Geomagnetically-induced currents in the wires shocked telegraph operators and even set the telegraph paper on fire.

In 1989, a far smaller flare knocked out power from Canada's Hydro Quebec generator, inflicting a nine-hour blackout for six million people.

A workshop in 2008 by US space weather experts, hosted by the National Academy of Sciences, heard that a major geomagnetic storm would dwarf the 2005 Hurricane Katrina for costs."

I definitely hope this type of thing doesn't happen again.  But it is always good to be prepared.

New Provident Living Challenge

Provident Living Challenges:
Do one of these by the December evening Relief Society meeting and get a prize!

1) Increase your water storage by at least 10 gallons. This can be purchased water, or tap water stored in empty washed juice bottles or soda pop bottles. (Providentliving.org says chlorinated tap water does not require additional treatment for safe storage.)





2) With your family, make plans for heating your home in the event of an ice storm and power outage. (Will you stay with another family, do you have a non-electric heater, do you have a fireplace or gas log, do you have sleeping bags rated for below 30 degrees?)





Our ward Relief Society President wanted to discontinue the old "Staying Alive with $25", so we are starting something new. We want to encourage our ward members to prepare for any disaster, or any unpleasant situation.

We will be giving at least two challenges per month, and they will not necessarily be easy. Preparedness is important, and you owe it to your family to get some of these things accomplished.

Here are some things to think about:

Water storage is your very first step in preparedness. You can only live without water for a few days, but you can live without food for longer. Water is inexpensive, (almost free if you use tap water.) The challenge for this month is to acquire at least 10 more gallons of water.

You may be complaining, "Why is she asking us to store that much?" Quit whining, that is not very much water.

When I went on the 7-day challenge, I, myself, used 3 gallons per day. On each of those days when I pretended to have no water, I did not take a shower or wash my hair, I did no laundry, and I hardly flushed the toilet. I promise you, you will be thankful for every single drop of water you have stored when a disaster comes.

I believe every one in our ward could save 10 gallons this month AT NO COST if you would save every large plastic container that gets emptied, and instead of throwing it away, wash it out and put water in it and hide it in a closet. IMPORTANT: If you are washing out containers in which to store the water, remember that only food-grade containers can be used for drinking water. But you can also save other heavy duty plastic jugs and containers, such as detergent bottles, and write really big, "Water For Washing Only" on those. Remember that you will need water for washing, and that water can have a little soap residue in it.


Ice storms and power outages are very common in our area. November is a great time to be planning for what you will do. Did you know that if you have no heat, you can set up a tent in your living room and sleep in sleeping bags, and the temperature in the tent will be much higher than in the rest of the house? If you have a gas log or fire place, make plans for how you will isolate that room from the rest of the house, to keep the heat contained. Maybe you can shut some doors. Or if you have an open floor plan, can you nail some blankets around the stairwell so the heat won't go up the stairs?

Good luck! I hope everyone succeeds.