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Originally Posted by Roycroft201
It's not the standard problem when all power is lost during a blizzard, but having SAFE alternate heating sources on short notice for back up is worth thinking about BEFORE you need them.
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One winter some years ago in Chicago, the furnace died on us. The system was still blowing air, but an electrical part went out related to the thermostat. My uncle whom I lived with then was out and my aunt didn't know what to do. It was a weekend and the repair guy said he'd come the next day. We have a fireplace in the living room and it has it's own gas line. Finding the main valve in the basement was interesting (we rarely turned it on and it was my uncle), but once we did, that was our source of heat.
My aunt, my two cousins, a buddy that was over visiting, and myself all threw sleeping bags in front of the fireplace and crashed there for the night. We had lots of extra blankets. The only problem with the fireplace was that its location was in the most open/exposed part of the house (Valuted ceilings, windows, french doors, etc.). There was no way to trap heat to that room. Temp in the house was hovering around 50 the next early morning. The fireplace looked pretty, but didn't have much 'oomph' to it.