A winter storm rolls in and dumps 5 feet of snow over the region. The Result: we aren’t going anywhere.

The worst case scenario is that we are unable to leave the valley for a week, the power lines go down, and power crews can’t get to the break(s) to repair them. We are without power for a week.

Power is a critical part of our survival. We are on well for starters, so without power we have no water. We installed a propane heating system several years ago, replacing a set of electric baseboard heaters, but the furnace needs electricity to run the blower motor and to spark the ignition. So, no central heating. The one spot of hope is that the range top is also propane-powered and can be lit without electricity. So heat and hot food is available in a portion of the house.

As the rest of the house freezes, water pipes become at risk, so even when power returns, we may have burst pipes to contend with. It will be necessary to go into the crawl space and empty the pipes as best as possible. I don’t know that we have drain valves on those pipes.

We can stay in the house most of the time, keeping the heat in the house and conserving our energy as best we can.

And without power we will lose access to the internet.

If the power lines are down, the telephone line is probably also down. Our cell phones will have limited power and the cell towers will probably be out, as well. We could use the cars to charge the cell phones if needed. Car radios or battery radios will be useful to find out what is happening elsewhere, but we shouldn’t expect to be able to communicate with the rest of the world.

How dangerous is it to use propane cookers in a sealed house? Need to check it out. I expect that we can put the patio grill in the mudroom/garage and keep those fumes out of the main house. I wonder what the range top will do?

The propane tank is usually filled when it is half empty, so I expect to have at least a week’s worth of propane in the tank, and without the central heating and water tank going the propane should last longer.

I see that there are vent-free propane heaters available. I think one of those in the back part of the house would help keep it warm, and ameliorate the burst pipe scenario.

One option I have considered is getting a propane generator and getting it hooked into the house wiring so I can keep power in the house even if the grid goes down. And I think I would upgrade the propane tank from 500 gallons to 1500 gallons.

This approach would restore central heating and water, end worries about burst pipes and give us a nice comfy nest. Whether communications are restored depends on the rest of the world.

So, is the likelihood of being knocked off the grid for any length of time worth the headaches of installing a home generator? I assume that these things need regular maintenance and need to be actually used every once in while. I can’t even keep my house stained every other year (important for UV protection of the wood siding) and here I am thinking about maintaining machinery?

A quick google indicates that a generator will run up to $3000. I need to calculate how much power I will actually need to back-up. Refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, etc don’t have a high priority for me. Then there will be some work to get it wired into my home power system, with a cut out switch to the generator when needed. And the new propane tank will need to be located much further from the house and I will need to get the piping run out to the new tank site. Overall, I think it could run up to $4000, plus annual maintenance. Is it worth it?

I should note that an underlying assumption to the stranded for a week scenrio is that we have over a week’s worth of dry and canned food to live on. The five gallons of water in the mud room will come in handy, too.