“Consider closing up part of your house and only use a few rooms (preferably interior rooms or those with the fewest windows, since you lose a lot of heat from the windows).”
When we had the Big Ice Storm of 1976 up here in Wisconsin, we were without power for 5 days in below-freezing temps.
Dad grilled (charcoal) any meat that would go bad with the freezer off and he also had us all stay together at night in the biggest bedroom, then truly shut us in for the night, stuffing a rug under the door, piling on all the blankets and sleeping bags, covering the windows with blankets, etc.
The dog, too! It was kind of fun & adventurous. For a while. ;)
We used to drive finishing nails in each top corner of the doorway, hall, etc., and hang a quilt or blanket over the entryway to block off a room. :)
> Dad grilled (charcoal) any meat that would go bad with the freezer off...
Your Dad just wanted to BBQ. lol
In below freezing weather there’s a simple way to keep stuff frozen.
Your story and the others are reminding me of tent camping trips with my family back in the 60s. Cross country via station wagon in a canvas tent. We learned quickly to heed Dad’s words about not touching the sides of the tent!!
To this day, I have learned that when power outages happen, my home is one big and glorious well-made “tent”. Gotta look at the bright side!