I live on a small farm in central Ontario, and we need to be prepared for lengthy power outages or snow/ice storms that prevent us from getting out. Much of the common sense suggestions we already follow, but I need to defend wood burning as backup heat. We use a woodstove as our "back-up" heat source, but really, it's burning daily. It's been installed legally, inspected and the extra $100 in insurance for our house is worth it. We buy 2 cords of hardwood for $600 and that's more than enough to keep us cozy all through the heating season. People need to learn to burn properly and cleanly. Wood must be dry and you need to provide enough oxygen and not allow it to smolder, which causes soot and dirty, smelly smoke.
Otherwise, we have a small generator to keep the fridge and freezers running, propane stove, a 1000lb propane tank we fill in November to get us through until June, and a natural spring for water. We're ready.
Otherwise, we have a small generator to keep the fridge and freezers running, propane stove, a 1000lb propane tank we fill in November to get us through until June, and a natural spring for water. We're ready.