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[dianah]

hypothetical question. we have major winds predicted for tonight (80mph) and it made me think about what would happen if the electricity goes for a longer period of time.

all the heating options in my house rely on electricity - central heating is gas but obviously the boiler is electricity powered, there's a little oil filled heater in the chin room (electric) and i have an aircon for the summer that heats as well but that needs plugged in as well.

so.. what would i do? i can put a jumper on, they can't. i could cuddle them, but i've got six. and most of them don't like to be cuddled though they wouldn't really get to choose.

at the moment the forecast night temperatures are 8 degrees celsius (46 fahrenheit) but it will get colder in a few days time. their room is usually kept at 18/19 deg celsius in winter (64-66 fahrenheit). i know they deal better with cold than hot but how cold is too cold?

[jmdebb]

ya know you brought up a very good question.  a few years ago we had a bad ice storm and i was without power for five days. i was worried my little ones were gonna die..

first thing i did was huddle all their cages together and put many blankets over them.  then i got luck and someone let me borrow and gas heater.

i can't find the one i actually have, but its along these lines.  they are safe, they do not expel umm whats it called thats bad for you to breath in..

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-MRHF273400-Buddy-Portable/dp/B00005LEXI

the one i have you can set the temp for low, med, high and even tho the gas canisters are small, they last long with these things.

check around, i'm sure you can find ones other than this one.. if you have a local DICKS stores [thats where i got mine, but when i just did a search they didn't have the same one i got on their site]. even walmarts will probably have them.


now i make sure i keep extra little gas tanks at all times in the house cuz you never know when.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Now that's intersting indeed.
If they are used to 64, 46 should be tolerated just fine. Though yes I would think a drop more than half their usual would be of concern.
I do know if they are used to colder temps they can tolerate drops better. I've seen them living in a barn all year. Here in Newfoundland that's pretty darn cold in the middle of winter.There was NO heat source!Some of their ears were frost burned, but not all. Most looked as healthy as I've ever seem.I still have one of them and she 15+ now.
But as too how cold is too cold is a great question, any one know???

[dianah]

thanks guys! ah! gas heaters, we did consider them but thought they would kill the chins! but, if you can get ones that don't let off nasty stuff, that would work! my husband has since discovered that you can get battery powered heaters! that would do the job!

i was thinking in an emergency i could put them in carriers (their cages are just too big), stick fleece in and cover them up.

there was a power cut in a town near by during the winds - a tree fell on cables - and they were without power for 5 hours. 5 hours is not too bad i guess!

[Hoppinchins]

huh, that is a good question. Always be better to be papered in case a storm is coming. We all do relay on power too much. I am lucky that my parents have a real fireplace so i could always move them down in the family room if the power went out in the winter.

[dianah]

exactly! that's what i said to my husband 'i want to be prepared. even if it never happens (and hopefully it will not), it's better to be ready.'

we do have a proper fireplace as well but it's very hard to regulate temperature in the room when the fire's lit and i think it would get too hot for them. also, i have three dogs and at least one of them would very much want to eat the chinnies - he's an ex-racer greyhound so not his fault! we just keep them separate and it's all good

we would probably make it unbearably hot downstairs and leave the door in the chin room open (there's a gate at the bottom of the stairs so the dogs wouldn't even know). we live in a small cottage with very low ceilings and the place gets warm really quick so perhaps that would work!

[jmdebb]

really battery operated heater.. do you have a link?

just be careful if you put them in a small carrier and then cover them with fleece, even tho its winter, remember they have a fur coat.



hop:  [i wish i could remember your name, but i'm horrible at names]

anyways, nice a fireplace.  love them, never had one. a few years ago, before my finances took a turn for the worse, i almost got a small wood burning stove.  my friend has one and i just love the heat it gives out.. anyways, the only reason i didn't get it was because i wanted it vented out the wall, behind where the stove was gonna go, but law says, it has to be so far away from windows because alot of idiots would have the wood burning stove on then open the window cuz it got too hot, and the fumes [whatever it's called] would come in and ... well.. you know... not safe.  now i wish i let them vent it out my roof. one would be perfect this time of year where you just need to get the chill out of your house but don't really need the heat on.. and getting the wood in the summer when the prices are lower than in winter, i'm sure i would be saving some money using that even when it does get really cold and i have to turn my heat on.  then i could keep my heat on low. i was gonna put it in my middle room, so that way, it could go in both directions.

anyways, i can't find the exact heater i have, i got off my lazy butt and went into the attic to look at the box, its a Coleman perfectempt evencat catalytic heater.  it says its safe to use indoors, tents, outdoors.. i'm wondering if this is the newer model of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-PerfecTemp-Catalytic-InstaStart-Technology/dp/B0009PUQW8

although on one site with this one, it did say something about proper ventilation.  but like i said i used it for five days, it was so cold outside, it was below freezing so i had to do something.

i have all my chins in their own bedroom, and the heater was on the floor but as far away from the cages as i could get, and everyone was fine. i even slept in there a few nights.  

where i live we don't lose power like that much, but it can happen. and what really ticked me off, is that where i live i'm right at the end of one power source, so many of my neighbors had power...  

[Hoppinchins]

Jmdebb, its Steph. I hope that when I have a house I can find one that has a real fireplace in them. I love them and that smell of the wood burning. It really does heat the first floor.

[dianah]

here's a link http://www.batteryoperatedheaters.org/ - there's a link to amazon on this website as well and they look dead cheap! who'd have thought?

yes, the chins would definitely be monitored all the time. i think it would be me upstairs with chins, husband downstairs with dogs. and we'd keep swapping to keep the dogs happy.

i do love our fireplace - it was one of the things that sold the house to me, it's a very ornate, very old, cast iron fireplace. it's lovely! i would like an aga in the kitchen at some point as well. no money at the moment though!

[jmdebb]

sounds nice, i like the older stuff.

got a picture, i would love to see it..