How to prepare for a power outage in winter?

Good day! Currently, many people are buying some kind of electric heaters. Apparently, these are people who heat with gas and are worried that the gas supply might fail sometime in winter. Or they think that heating with electricity is cheaper than with gas, which of course is nonsense and would remain nonsense even if gas prices continue to rise further. If people eventually use all these devices they are buying now, the grid operators will get into serious trouble. My heating oil tank is full. However, my oil central heating wouldn’t work either in the event of a power outage because suddenly many gas customers want to heat with electricity. Therefore, I wonder: How should one prepare sensibly to at least be able to continue operating the heating system? I have a small electric generator whose output would easily be enough to supply the heating system with electricity. But the system is not designed so that a plug plugs into a socket; rather, it is permanently wired. Would it be worth considering having an electrician convert it accordingly so that if necessary you can pull the plug out of the socket (which must be behind the heating emergency switch) and plug it into the generator, which you place in front of the heating cellar window and route the cable through the window? I have several cans of Aspen gasoline in stock for this small generator. Aspen because it ensures that even after years of non-use nothing sticks and the device is constantly ready to operate. But then I would have to significantly increase the supply. What are your preparations? Matthias

Phew, checking winter clothes ... and buying a few packs of noodles and sauce and an 11kg bottle of gas for the grill :oops:

Seriously: Let's not hope that such a scenario occurs, because if everyone becomes a prepper, it will only lead to a shortage of already scarce goods. And if the power goes out, nothing can be produced anymore! The cooling systems in stores fail, etc..

There are still questions:
- How long can the generator run continuously?
- What about the noise level at night
Bonus (rather for longer outages):
- Do you possibly have a sewage pump that also requires power
- What about refrigerators
- How is your water supply from the network – can the supplier deliver
- Can you support neighbors :)

Sorry, but you can also overdo it with the prevention/fear.

Yes, I admit that this is a very complex issue and that of course it would be best if such situations did not occur. We are a highly complex society, dependent on the functioning of many things.

My house is built from a very good building material, so that even after a heating failure it will not cool down completely for several days. But it must be avoided that water pipes freeze at some point, because otherwise you would also get water damage. I see refrigerators in winter rather not as a problem, you just put things outside. I also do not expect a failure of the water supply, the Berliner Wasserbetriebe have large diesel generators in their waterworks.

Overall, it is not about "luxury" for me, but only about maintaining the vital basic functions. I do not need to watch TV or make tea then. I cannot work anyway, because all my technology also does not work without electricity.

Until now, I would have also considered such thoughts exaggerated, but until two years ago I could not have imagined that toilet paper and pasta would become scarce.

Matthias

Sorry, but you can also overdo it with precaution/fear.

You can overdo everything. But what is wrong with people thinking about it? Everyone should sit down calmly sometime and play out scenarios in their mind. Whether and to what extent one then wants to take precaution depends on one's own character. In any case, I don't think it's good to criticize something like that.