I just got an automated call to prepare for the storm from my electric company CLP

[glasshouses]

It said if I rely on electricity for heat have a back up plan for heat.

[hollysmom]

1. gives you a feeling of confidence!

unless you have fire, most furnaces require on electricity to kick off.

[alfie]

2. Stay safe and warm.

Hope you have a back up plan.

[Sherman A1]

3. Ominous call to be sure.

If you have not prepared and I am certain you have done so. It is time to do so.

[glasshouses]

7. I'm okay

I pretty much have everything I need if the power goes out

[Sherman A1]

9. Very Good!

Be sure to stay that way. I have some extended family in the path of the storm and it is certainly concerning.

[cwydro]

4. Yikes!

I sure hope everyone brings their critters in.

[chillfactor]

5. I have seen some on threads here mock this storm...

obviously idiots nowhere near the storms path..

do stay safe....hope you have an alternative plan or another place to go to keep warm

[NutmegYankee]

14. I have not seen anyone mocking it yet.

Which is unusual for DU.

[Siwsan]

6. I had a generator hard-wired into the house, last year

After my week without power, during freezing cold, snowy weather, it seemed a good investment. What got me through that situation was having a fireplace and 2 nice feather down comforters to kept me warm enough.

[glasshouses]

11. I had a transfer pannel switch put in my breaker box

It's not a stand by generator always wired into the home. I manually have to flip the switch and then plug the generator in.
I like it because I can pick and choose which breaker I want at a time.

My concern is gas if the power is out an extended length of time.
I have 4 cans filled plus the generator has a 10 gallon tank filled.

I should be fine but you just never know. During one storm we were out for 5 days
but it was summer time so it wasn't that big a deal. Winter is a different story

[NutmegYankee]

15. Only run the generator for critical loads.

Start it, heat the house, chill the fridge, then shut down. Do that and 5 gallons will last days.

[glasshouses]

19. Yup my main concern will be heat and the fridge

My whole house is electric , oven , water heater and electric heat . The saving grace is a pellet stove
I installed a few years ago which saves me a ton of money with electric heat.

[NutmegYankee]

21. I'm half gas/electric

Gas furnace and water heater, electric stove and clothes dryer. I'd like to switch the stove out in the near future.

[Nay]

23. Unhappily, new gas stoves will not work in a power outage because they

have electric igniters that provide the spark -- if the electric thingies don't work, the gas won't flow.

I was pretty angry to find this out when a hurricane whipped through here and the power was out for 15 days...

[NutmegYankee]

24. You can light them manually though.

Just leave a burning match near the burner.

On edit: It appears MAYTAG was actually that dumb. Wow! I'll be sure to NOT pick one of those models.

[Nay]

25. Mine's a Kenmore and it won't light, either. During the outage, I had a landline phone

and actually called Kenmore to ask how to get it to turn on without electricity -- nope, can't do it. The guy was apologetic, but damn, I sure wanted to eat hot food in my cold house in the middle of a frickin' blizzard!

[Siwsan]

16. I just have the basics connected to the generator

Furnace, sump pump, kitchen, den, where I have a fire place with an insert, and garage. I have a big freezer in the garage so it should be ok for a summer outage.

My house was SO cold, last year, that none of the food in the refrigerator/freezer, in the kitchen, spoiled.

[glasshouses]

20. Wow , it's amazing how cold a house can become inside in a matter of hours

"My house was SO cold, last year, that none of the food in the refrigerator/freezer, in the kitchen, spoiled"

[NutmegYankee]

22. I installed a Generlink.

It gives me the ability to run any load I need within the capability of the generator. http://www.generlink.com

[sharp_stick]

8. Cl-P hasn't called us

at least not yet. We did OK two years ago but we're lucky enough to have underground lines near here. If a transformer goes though we're screwn'

[Thor_MN]

10. I suppose that's one way to stay warm...

[glasshouses]

12. If I got one you're going to get one

[NutmegYankee]

13. CL&P is calling everyone.

I and my friend both got calls.

[benz380]

17. Haven't called me. Probably cause I'm always late paying my bill. nt

[CentralMass]

18. Doh !

[drm604]

26. What kind of backup heating plan can you possibly devise at this point?

I doubt you'd have much luck obtaining a kerosene heater and fuel at this point.

About all I can do is hope that I don't lose power.

[drm604]

27. Where are you located?

I'm near Philly and haven't received any calls. Maybe it's not expected to be so bad here.