11 Dollar Tree Heating Items Alaskans Buy That'll Be Worth Gold in a Winter Blackout

If a winter storm takes your power and your Dollar Tree is picked clean by noon, your house starts going cold that night. Here are the 11 plain Dollar Tree items that hold your heat in and keep you safe while you do it, and what each one does for an older body. There isn't a single Dollar Tree in Alaska, so up there folks buy these same things wherever they can, and the University of Alaska puts most of them right on its emergency checklist. I was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and I spent 66 winters there, most of them fixing oil furnaces. I'm not a doctor. The 11, counting down: 11. A fleece-lined hat you sleep in, the adult one, not the kids' knit hat 10. Touch-screen gloves, so your phone still works in a cold house 9. Slip-on shoes with a real sole, never socks on a cold floor 8. Hot Hands hand warmers, on your middle, never on bare skin 7. A fleece throw, clipped closed with a binder clip 6. A small rug, always with a non-slip pad under it 5. Foam tape in the gaps you can feel, the warm room first 4. An LED lantern instead of a candle 3. A can of chafing fuel for hot food, never for heat 2. Fresh batteries in your carbon monoxide alarm 1. A painter's plastic drop cloth and duct tape, over the windows and across the doorway Safety, said plainly: a generator runs outside only, more than 20 feet from any window, door or vent. Every flame indoors gets fresh air and a battery carbon monoxide alarm in the room. When you lie down, the flame goes out. Chafing fuel is never a heater, never burns while you sleep, and never sits near plastic, curtains or a throw. Keep a space heater at least 3 feet from anything that can burn, and that includes the plastic sheet. Hand warmers never go against bare skin; if you're diabetic or have poor circulation, ask your own doctor first. Never put down a rug without a non-slip pad. Do the climbing, the kneeling and the taping in daylight, and if your alarm is up on a ceiling, ask a neighbor or a grandkid. Which of these 11 is already in your house right now? Drop the number in the comments. I read them. #poweroutage #winterstorm #dollartree #icestorm #winterprep #seniorsafety #alaska #stayingwarm #emergencypreparedness #blackout