How to heat PD fluid in a power outage

[kickingandscreaming]

With Harvey on my mind and Hurricane Irma threatening the East Coast, my thoughts go to what the h*ll I would do to warm my PD fluid in case I lost power.  Any suggestions?  I don't have a generator.

[cassandra]

I would try to get to the nearest clinic/hosp to plug in the heater and do manuals. I've also done manuals without heating them. Pretty uncomfy but doable. You could also warm some bags (manuals) and keep them warm in a coolbox ?

I really hope Harvey and Irma will loose all their strength soon, where ever they are.

Good luck, love and strength, Cas

[iolaire]

Feel free to tell me if this is bad advice.

So I have a small two burner camp stove (think it was under $30 at Walmart) in the attic that uses those small propane or maybe butane gas canisters. I'd move that outside (never inside) and warm up a large pasta pot of water up to just above desired temperature, then move it off the heat and put the bags in there to warm. Again don't warm on the lit stove so as to not burn the bags and error on the side of not hot enough versus to hot.  Also I'd be worried about contamination of the bag entry points so something would need to be done to disinfect those once exposed to water.

[PrimeTimer]

I don't know if I should suggest this because I'm not a "PD" person and don't know how you would keep the bags from being contaminated but...what about wrapping up the bags and placing them next to your dog? A dog's temp is much higher than a human's and I remember how ours use to keep us warm during the winters. He'd sleep up on the bed between us and felt like a firelog. Actually helped with my aches and pains from Fibromyalgia.   

[kickingandscreaming]

So I have a small two burner camp stove (think it was under $30 at Walmart) in the attic that uses those small propane or maybe butane gas canisters. I'd move that outside (never inside) and warm up a large pasta pot of water up to just above

desired temperature, then move it off the heat and put the bags in there to warm. Again don't warm on the lit stove so as to not burn the bags and error on the side of not hot enough versus to hot.  Also I'd be worried about contamination of the bag entry points so something would need to be done to disinfect those once exposed to water.

I'm afraid that submerging the bags in warm water is frowned upon.

would try to get to the nearest clinic/hosp to plug in the heater and do manuals.

A good idea, but what if the roads were impassable?

[Cupcake]

Slightly off topic but related- I assume it's not wise to keep hooked up to the cycler during a bad lightening storm. I couldn't find anything in the manual, but I unplugged the machine for about an hour a couple of days ago when we had a doozie lightening storm ( coastal South Carolina) as I was awake anyway. Goes to figure if it can 'fry' a refrigerator, it could fry me via that electrolyte filled hose. What do others do?

[iolaire]

I'm afraid that submerging the bags in warm water is frowned upon.

Use stove to heat something like dry beans rather than water, wrap warm beans in a towel then nest bags against towels with connections safe.

[Charlie B53]

Warm water can still be safe IF the PD bag is still sealed inside of it's outer bag.  The warm beans while certainly a neat idea, may be difficult as you would need to constantly stir them to prevent burning those on the bottom.  With no water in the pan only those in direct contact with the pan would warm.

Inside a clean pillowcase next to the dogs is an excellent idea.

Laying in the sun, anywhere. Sunny windowsill or auto dashboard even better as sunlight through glass is more long-wave (heat) than direct sunlight. Definitely not so hot after dark. In the Winter, the auto windshield defroster may work if you have enough gas to keep it running.  Keep checking temp as some can get far too hot!

Some have held the bag under their shirt in an armpit and used their own body heat.

[sahern]

What the clinic said to do when I go hunting is put them in a sleeping with you.  What I have done on trips up north is put the bags on the heater of the truck and it gets it warm enough so it is not uncomfortable.