In what is becoming an annual tradition, yesterday the heat failed in my home. By morning the temperature had plummeted to 50 degrees F. This is the 3rd year this has happened and the first time in our new home. And each time we’ve ended up huddled in a few spots warmed by electric space heaters.
The space heaters were okay in the smaller place, but here they haven’t been as effective in the larger rooms. Luckily, my youngest son’s bedroom has an electric baseboard heater. What a godsend that was! The youngest were able to stay warm and later on I used the room as a lifepod of sorts while waiting at home for the furnace repair guy.
The problem turned out to be the draft blower motor on the furnace which an incredibly determined repairman was able to fix. Yay Burris and Sons! And with the temperature rising back into the normal range, I’ve been able to abandon my lifepod. But after this experience, I’m convinced that it would be a good idea to have some lifepod or survival rooms by design. That is, if you have gas heating, make sure you have a room or two with electric heating. If you heat with electricity, maybe a gas heated basement room would be a good investment. It just isn’t a good idea not to have some backups to important home systems.
With this in mind, I may start stocking some water and canned goods. I’m not a survival fanatic, but honestly, with state governments running huge deficits and slashing services, maybe it’s time to be a bit more prepared for service gaps. You just never know when it’ll be time to man the lifepods again.
