[DoodleBob]

This has been a cool thread. Thank you.

I don’t want the govt telling me or anyone else what type of heat source they can use for cooking. That’s not an enumerated power in the Constitution.

In fact there is safety in a diversified portfolio of ways to cook. Even in your own home…most of us have an outdoor grill or a propane camping stove.

It’s also a very personal matter, like what kind of car you want to drive, which makes it MORE off-limits for the govt.

I do want to address the power outage issue. It turns out the annual average number of hours where your electricity is out is about 4.5.

Even in Florida, West Virginia, Maine, Bermint, and New Hampshire, missing one or two mealtimes due to a power outage is a nothingburger. You can eat cereal or tuna or chips and salsa.

Especially when you consider that your gas grill is a large paperweight in a blackout. Opening a dead fridge and/or freezer to get out a steak is foolish during a blackout of unknown duration.

[Freedom4US]

Propane is great stuff! Doesn’t spoil or go rancid.

The old school Coleman 2 burner suitcase stoves are practically free, can’t hardly give them away. They should be a part of any serious emergency kit. They run just fine on ordinary automotive gasoline. For standby or emergency use Coleman Fuel is best because it doesn’t sour sitting in the tank. I’ve found old stoves with Coleman fuel sitting in it for 20+ years and they fire up just fine. But for emergency use, ordinary gasoline is perfectly acceptable. Coleman fuel (Naptha) is getting hard to find, and damnably expensive too. The Lanterns are also an excellent addition to the emergency armamentarium. LEDs have their place, but they won’t keep plumbing pipes from freezing during a cold snap or warmth in a cabin or camper.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Cute little chart.

Reality is much messier

Cause- Average Duration
Minor equipment failure - Less than 1 hour
Tree branches on power lines- 1-4 hours
Severe weather (e.g., storms)- 4-24 hours
Major infrastructure damage- 1-7 days
Rolling blackouts- 1-2 hours per session

Not quite the rosy picture you paint of just having a bowl of cereal (where are you getting the milk?) while waiting a few hours.

Minor blackouts are minor.

In my area we lose power a couple times a year and it is off for a day or two on average.

But you stick with your microwave.

Fire scary!

[Tymesup]

Is the number of power outage hours going up or down in the chart? Which way do you think this will go in the future?

Can the power going out kill people from cold?