Backup Heat and Thrift Store Finds

While visiting a nearby town with our eldest son to get his driver's license renewed, I was able to visit my favorite second hand store. Owned by a friend of ours, the store looks small from the front, but is home to a multitude of vendor spaces that offer everything from books, to candles, to antiques, to repurposed furniture. I always enjoy our visits there and more often than not, I find something of interest. During this past week's visit I found a beautiful brass candlestick holder for our youngest daughter and a pack of 15 taper candles. We always find fair prices at this store, but the price for these items was fabulous - $3 for the brass holder and $2.89 for all 15 candles!

A fabulous find at the local thrift store.

While at the store, I overheard two ladies discussing the current heating situation for many families in the neighboring state. A natural gas pipe was ruptured, leaving tens of thousands without natural gas in their homes (see article). One of the ladies mentioned that after five days, her son's family was still without heat.

As we go into the winter months, please be sure you have some form of backup heat. Even a few hours without heat in cold weather can cause the temperature in your home to drop to an uncomfortable temperature. Too long without heat in freezing weather will lead to a more dangerous drop in temperature and can cause water lines to rupture. Speaking from experience, broken water lines are not fun. 

See our blog post titled "Preparing for a Disaster - Where to Start" for tips to help you prepare for the unexpected. I added the article to the website as well for ease of reference. See here for the website article.

In light of the current situation, I am highlighting a few easy options for emergency backup heat. While these will not heat your whole home on their own, they will help heat a room and keep you from freezing. 


The links below are affiliate links. When you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. 



Mr. Heater Buddy Indoor Safe Heater 4,000 - 9,000 BTU






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