An Experience with a Broken Furnace

Here is an experience from a family in our ward. Thanks, Brittania, for sharing your family's experience this winter!

 So I have a little bit of insight about staying warm in the winter with no electricity(before we do our little test.)  Our furnace has been going in and out all throughout this cold spell (work for a day and a half and then go out again.)  We mostly rely on our fireplace for heat in the winter but with all of this single * weather and dropping down into the negative numbers, our wood stove has just not been enough.  But when the furnace goes out and you don't have money to replace it, you learn to be really thankful for that wood stove.  However, in the low low temperatures it has NOT kept our house sufficiently warm.  Even with running space heaters in the bedrooms at night and putting wood on the fire throughout the night, we would still wake up in the morning and our living room (where the stove is) would be 57*.  I got news for you...that is not warm enough.  I have a baby that is crawling around on the floor and I have her dressed in 3 layers of a onsie, long johns, and a fleece sleeper and her little hands and feet are still like ice, and her cheeks are red and chapped, and my kids were sick for a month because I believe, quite frankly, they just couldn't stay warm.  One thing that I noticed (for when you do this little test)  Going one night without heat or enough heat isn't too bad...your house will retain some of that heat. However, after the second night, your temperatures will drop even further, SIGNIFICANTLY. And if there is an extended period of power outage (for example a bad snow storm or blizzard, which is very much a possibility where we live,) you need to make sure you can stay warm.  My suggestion is from a quote I once heard along the lines of "all the clothes in the world are no good if they can't keep you warm." Also, you'd be surprised how grumpy and stressed you get when you are cold and you know your children are cold!  I had to go out and purchase several clothing items for my children to keep them warm.  My other suggestion is this, if you are going to put money into your home, before you do the "stuff that looks pretty" make sure you have enough insulation in your home.  Walls and ceiling   We live in an older home and it is NOT very efficient   So before we replace the carpet, or redo the wood floors, or get a new oven (which I really want) we will be adding insulation, and updating a few windows at a time. Because, quite frankly...I would rather be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, despite the fact that some may say my house looks old!  Thankfully now our furnace is working (yeah for a brilliant husband) and we are warm...and best of all, the weather isn't as bad the last couple of days.  

     And one last note to remember when times are hard.  It's better to laugh than cry, so when you're cold...laugh, and remember that it could be worse (you could be outside in a cardboard box!) And remember to thank your Heavenly Father for your blessings and be grateful for the things you do have and not angry about the things you don't. 

     We wish all the best in this upcoming challenge.

Hope this helps,

The Butlers