Hey Prof,
everytime I see your stove I think Torpedo or Little Man - Fat Man...
I love the stove, way cool and inovative

You have plenty of time to think up a better way while you're shivering, huddled around an inadequate heat source. Good incentive.

Speaking of hurricane lamps does anyone know where to get wicks in Canada? I found wicksandwax.com but they didn't have the size I need.

Foxglove

Hurricane lamps, if they use the flat wicks which most do, then Canadian Tire is your best bet.
and this link that I found although I have yet to contact them
http://carlykb.com/blog/?p=8129
The Oil Lamp Store

Thanks WildernessReturn

I'll try Cdn Tire first since it's the easiest, after some more searching I found that berryhilllimited.com in Ontario has lamps & extra wick but I'd rather avoid shipping costs if I can.

Foxglove

Random surfing, again, found this cool, I mean *hot* little woodstove:
"Ammo can stove revisited" (with photos)
http://www.shtfblog.com/ammo-can-stove-revisited/

Just new to preppers, so here's my better late than never advice. Get an winter tent with removable insulation, and put it up in your largest room. Get a propane heater that can be vented outside with a flex tube through an insert in a removed window. Heat by day, tent by night. Anything that can freeze (canned foods) go into the tent.

I wouldn't go to the length of buying a tent. You could just heat one room. Especially a basement room that's already surrounded by dirt under the frost line.

look into Solar Generators.......they may supply enough power to run a small heater with no dangerous gases to worry about.

I wouldn't go to the length of buying a tent. You could just heat one room. Especially a basement room that's already surrounded by dirt under the frost line.

Hey Perf, Ranger is 100% correct on this one, we did this in the military many times, it is so much easier to heat the tent, especially if it is canvas inside a room than to heat the room itself. Another option would be to make a tarp Tent inside the room, make an inside heat trap using simple sheets as well.

The problems with heating the entire room is the rooms construction, the heat will constantly be absorbed by the thermal mass of the walls and of the earth. The heat and warm air will find the smallest of openings to escape into, and quickly escape the room. Heating the thermal mass of the surrounding earth and structure, now normally this is a good thing, but in an emergency with no end in sight or even a known time frame of say 1-2 weeks to restore the power, you are conserving fuel, using a layered system of thermal mass and air mass to conserve the heat. With unlimited or seemingly unlimited supplies of fossil fuels and natural gas, heating the entire house is feasible. With a modest stack of even 6 containers of fuel, you will quickly go through them if your trying to heat the entire wall and mass of earth.

In the past, layering won out time and time again, another thing of note is to block the entrance to the basement, drape sheets or tarps before and after the door to create a heat sink, wind sink, the efficiency of your efforts are greatly increased then.

If I still had my house, I would make a Rocket Mass Heater, put it into the basement, use it to at least bring the house temps up to 60-70' deg and top off with the Natural Gas Furnace. I have seen videos and read articles that state entire wings of the house are heated thus, morning and night or just the day before, feeding the Rocket Mass Heater to warm the house. Even 1 cord of wood in the backyard will allow you to use the Rocket Mass Heater to lower your bills. They burn so efficiently a small inconspicuous vent will go unnoticed and in this case not draw attention either. They can be fed using only sticks or by splitting the wood into much small pieces, thus conserving wood as well.

Videos show people putting their faces right up to the vent, no smoke no carbon emissions over the normal air, now they are a little crazy, use a meter. OPSEC is greater if they can not smell wood smoke, using 98% of the efficiency of the wood is just plain smart.

I agree with all your points but I have to see a grid down as a temporary thing. Each situation is different. Each person is different.
I have a small wood stove in the basement for heat "in case" and about a week of dedicated wood. More if I start on the lumber.

Rather than spending extra money on a dedicated tent I would lean towards making a temporary one from tarps, blankets, mattresses in the event of a grid down. A tent like that sure would come in handy if you had to leave the house though.

Last point though. In S. Ontario, if you're going to plan for any event, a grid failure in the winter is probably the closest thing to an emergency we'll face and certainly worth being ready for.

As for solar generators ..... I suggest you give that a torture test before you count on it as a heat source and have a really good down sleeping bag as a backup. You might run a couple of CFL light bulbs but forget running a heater for any length of time.

Hey WildernessReturn
Thanks for backing me up on the tent issue, one person tooting a horn is seldom noticed, Two people blowing the same tune is listened to. Many years ago I had seen families that were down on there luck doing exactly as explained, They had an old framed 6 person tent which they used the whole winter. One of the families even built a beer can solar heater, but of course it would only work on the sunny days, and by the early morning it was damn cold.

When the powers down I heat by airtight stove, fireplace, candles and oil lamps. I also plastic my windows during winter with masking tape to prevent drafts and heat loss.

In an apartment I would plastic off the windows and use oil lamps and tea lights for heat. Just make sure you leave a window or two for ventilation if you don't have a balcony door to crack. Drape plastic over the door leaving the bottom just hanging so you can get in and out. You could also stick a towel at the bottom of the front door as that is usually a drafty spot. Close off rooms that you don't use and consider moving your bed the main room if it gets really cold and just heat the one space.

Glass, flat wick oil lamps can be found at numerous second hand or antique shops for $20 and up and they give off a good amount of heat. Pick up a few. Buy clear, odorless premium quality lamp oil only and make sure you have some ventilation when lit. The oil is cheap and you can safely store the jugs in a closet. Don't forget to get a bunch of extra wicks.

Tea lights are great because they are cheap ($3-$5 for 100) and they are safe to fall asleep with and they do give off heat. For $50 you can buy 1000 of them and they take up little room in storage. I grab a bag or two whenever I see them. If you can keep the tea lights outside in the cold on the balcony. Frozen candles last longer. I found a wrought iron tea light hanging fixture that can take 20 lights. I hung it over the table and it gives off a bunch of light and heat when lit.

As far as the propane stove goes they are totally safe to use indoors as long as you have ventilation. I have a couple Coleman two burners that that can be picked up used for $15-$25 or new for around $50. I have an adapter to attach to a standard sized BBQ propane tank to the stove. I like to have at least a few full tanks of gas around at all times. You could easily store enough propane to last a year in an apartment with only a few full size tanks and the stove gives off good heat.

Heavy bedspreads are a must.

I stopped using Tea lights and switched to making my own Lights and lamps from Veggie Oil and rolled up paper towel (commercial paper towel works better) or the Hemp/Cotton Jute String.

Safety is an issue, so using the Veggie Oil is great, light it, flame it, then tip it over since it is so fire proof, it puts itself out, none of the other fuels do that.

I stopped using Tea lights and switched to making my own Lights and lamps from Veggie Oil and rolled up paper towel (commercial paper towel works better) or the Hemp/Cotton Jute String.

Safety is an issue, so using the Veggie Oil is great, light it, flame it, then tip it over since it is so fire proof, it puts itself out, none of the other fuels do that.

Good idea. I will have to try that out and see how it works but at $3-$5 for 400 hours of candle light per package tea lights are definitely a permanent part of my survival supplies.

Does the veggie oil/paper towel combo give off any smoke when burning?