• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Display Search Bar
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Facebook Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Twitter Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Pinterest Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Instagram Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on YouTube Follow 5 Minutes For Mom via RSS

5 Minutes for Mom

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Course
      • Breakfast and Brunch
      • Snack
      • Lunch
      • Appetizer
      • Dinner
      • Dessert
    • Ingredient
      • Apple
      • Beef
      • Blueberry
      • Chicken
      • Chocolate
      • Cranberry
      • Peach
      • Pumpkin
      • Squash
      • Strawberry
      • Tomato
      • Vegetables
      • Zucchini
    • Method
      • Air Fryer
      • Baking
      • Grilling
      • Instant Pot
      • No Bake
      • One Dish
      • Slow Cooker
    • Type
      • Breads and Rolls
      • Cakes and Muffins
      • Condiments
      • Cookies and Bars
      • Drinks
      • Food for Kids
      • Gluten-Free
      • Main Dish
      • Pies and Crisps
      • Salads
      • Sandwiches and Wraps
      • Side Dishes
      • Smoothies
      • Soup
  • Crafts & DIY
    • Crafts
    • DIY
    • Kids Crafts
    • Printables
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing
  • Family Life
    • Giveaways
    • Lifestyle
    • Marriage
    • Motherhood
    • Parenting
    • Pet Care
    • Special Needs
    • Time Management
    • Travel
  • Holidays
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas

How To Get Ready For A Power Outage

December 1, 2017 by Susan

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

ShareTweetPinPocketMail

Are you prepared for a power outage?

Now that winter is here, power outages may be more likely and depending where you live, a long term power outage can be more difficult to manage during the winter. While in some areas, a summer outage without air conditioning can be the worst case scenario, in Canada most of us worry about winter power outages.

Are You Ready For A Winter Power Outage

You can lose power to your home at any time of year and for many reasons.

But where we live in Canada, the winter season seems to be the most likely time that storms will knock out power lines and leave us without power in our homes.

Regardless of the time of year, one of the most frustrating problems when losing power is wasting expensive food that you have in the fridge and freezer.

At Janice’s house, we store tons of frozen berries and other food over the winter. If we lose power for too long, we are at risk of having to throw out an enormous amount of food.

Some people have a major risk of their basements flooding because sump pumps not working.

And while it may sound like a minor inconvenience, losing the ability to use a computer can actually mean that someone is not able to do their work and bring in the family income.

Thankfully, there are affordable options to help you during a power outage.

Champion Generator

We recently had the opportunity to test out a Champion 3000W/4000 W generator that will be a great source of backup power for those times this winter when we will likely lose our power.

It has a 196cc Champion single-cylinder OHV engine and runs up to 10 hours at 50% load on a full tank of gas. The fuel tank is 3.4 Gallons (13 L). The wheels, folding handle and rugged frame make it easy to move around.

The generator retails for approximately $600 in Canada, plus taxes.

Champion products are available at a number of retailers across Canada, including Canadian Tire and Costco, with prices ranging from $299 to $1,100, depending on the product.

Champion Generator - For Backup Power During Outages

7 Steps To Get Ready For A Power Outage

  1. Get your flashlights ready. Put flashlights near each family member’s bed and in other key spots such as in your kitchen and living room. Also you can stock up on light sticks (glow sticks) and candles (remember matches.)
     
  2. Restock your emergency supply kit as well as your food and water supplies. Ensure your food is not out of date and that you have enough food and water for everyone in your family for a few days. If your kids love drinking milk, consider getting some UHT long shelf life milk. If it is isn’t opened, it has a typical unrefrigerated shelf life of six to nine months.
     
  3. Use a surge protector on your power supply to computers. If you know a storm is coming, then unplug computers.
     
  4. Purchase a few portable device chargers and keep them charged. Even short power outages can be a real hassle if your mobile phone runs out of power.
     
  5. Be sure to have enough warm blankets to keep everyone in the family warm.
     
  6. Always keep your car’s gas tank full. If your local area loses power, you can’t buy gas because gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps.
     
  7. Have a generator ready to help you power your freezer and keep other key appliances such as sump pumps running.

Unfortunately, power outages do happen. But with a little preparation, you can reduce the impact on your family and your home.

We hope these tips help you this winter.

Pin it for Later

Are You Ready For A Winter Power Outage

 

Disclosure: We received a sample generator to photograph for this post.
Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
Pin with me at pinterest.com/5minutesformom

Christmas Giveaways

Christmas Giveaways - Win Amazon Gift Cards

We’re giving away a total of $500 in Amazon Gift Cards.

Click here to enter…
 

ShareTweetPinPocketMail
Winter Preparation Tips and Chemical Free Cleaning
Christmas Wreath Food Ideas

About Susan

Susan Carraretto and her identical twin, Janice Croze, created 5 Minutes for Mom in 2006. Susan loves all social media, but her top addiction these days is Pinterest.

Reader Interactions


Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment

  1. Sab Edwards says

    December 2, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    The last time the power went out in SK, in the winter, we didn’t have to worry about the deep freeze thawing, we had to worry about us becoming the deep freeze. Here the regular winter months its -30C and colder. We do have to worry about pipes breaking due to cold but that would be the house with no heat at all for a good solid day (24hrs). The house can actually stay to 10C for quite a few hours with no furnace going if you keep the doors shut. Don’t open and close the fridge or freezer and that stays cold inside longer as well. A few candles and come metal bowls can heat a small space as well. The longest we’ve had to go is 8hrs , house got down to 10. I’m not sure how big of a generator you need to run a furnance, but I often wondered if we’ll ever need one.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Bringing Moms Together

We are Janice and Susan, twin bloggers and work-at-home moms. We're here to inspire, encourage & empower you.

Meet Us…

Work With Us…

Subscribe via Email

to be first to read new posts

Trending Now

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Peppers Recipe

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Peppers Recipe

How To Use A Moka Pot – Discover The Secret To Making Amazing Coffee At Home

How To Use A Moka Pot – Discover The Secret To Making Amazing Coffee At Home

Get Outside and Play with Spray Chalk

Get Outside and Play with Spray Chalk

browse around

  • Posts by Susan
  • Posts by Janice
  • Favorite Recipes
  • Favorite Crafts
  • Giveaways
  • All Posts

Footer

Recipes

St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies with a Clever Decorating Trick

St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies with a Clever Decorating Trick

Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe and History

Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe and History

Easy Valentine Sugar Cookies

Easy Valentine Sugar Cookies

Crafts/DIY

Summer Word Search Puzzles For Kids

Summer Word Search Puzzles For Kids

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

Buddy the Elf Hat Pattern – How to Make an Elf Hat out of Felt

Buddy the Elf Hat Pattern – How to Make an Elf Hat out of Felt

Giveaways

Holiday Gift Guides and Christmas Giveaway 2024

Holiday Gift Guides and Christmas Giveaway 2024

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Women

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Women

REDEEMING LOVE Set to Strike Gold on the Big Screen #RedeemingLoveMovie

REDEEMING LOVE Set to Strike Gold on the Big Screen #RedeemingLoveMovie

Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Facebook Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Twitter Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Pinterest Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Instagram Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on YouTube Follow 5 Minutes For Mom via RSS
  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with Us
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 5 Minutes for MomTheme by Melissa Rose Design and Once Coupled