We were fortunate last night and didn't have the power go out, but many did as the winds were wicked fierce with some area's seeing gusts upwards of 90-100 km/h.

Overnight low was around -8C.

Got me thinking how many out there have back up heat sources that don't rely on electricity to operate.

So do you have any sort of backup for heat?

We are in an apartment so I doubt there are any options for apartment dwellers, since you can't exactly add a wood stove or fireplace to it.. And generators are prohibited due to noise/require gas to run and gas powered things are not allowed on the patio unless it's a propane bbq.

Good question, I have a propane heater in the garage.

Gas fired furnaces, a log fire place and 3 gas fire places. Several electrical space heaters in the garage if needed. Should be able to keep the worst of the cold at bay.

Overnight low here last night was -24.

The Four Seasons.

Blankets, hoodies and an extra duvet

As most lower mainland municipalities don't allow open fires (or indeed firepits) that burn anything other than gas, the options are a bit limited!

Fortunately gas fire places still work when the electricity goes off (even the ones that switch on via an 'electric' light switch on the wall).

Living in rural (real) Canada we have a generator which powers freezers, furnace etc if required. Have both oil furnace and propane stove. Furnace is dependant on hydro, propane stove is not. We have lots of warm clothing and food supplies just in case we can't get into town. City dwellers for the most part are screwed in the event of a power out. Swings and roundabouts....😎

Same here plus a cat Failing that a Holiday Inn Express or something similar that has breakfast included.

Given that said Holiday Inn had hydro....😉

We have a gas furnace as back up to the woodstove. The furnace has fans and a thermostat which require electricity; that presents a problem as the power supply is unreliable (today, for example, it was out from 8 am to 1:30pm) and we don't have an automatic generator.

That said, lack of heat is a less pressing issue than lack of sump pump. At the time of year when the power is least reliable there's lots of melting snow and so a risk of flooding. Not an issue if someone is here but outages are worrisome on weekdays.

You may consider looking at a back up battery power supply for your sump pump in the form of a couple of 110 amp 12 volt deep cycle batteries via an invert-er. Brother in law has this set up and keeps his sump pump running in the event of a power out. Has saved a basement flood more than once. This system kicks in automatically in the event of a power failure. Batteries are maintained at full charge on an ongoing basis when hydro available.

Gas furnace plus backup generator for electricity plus spare generator in case first generator fails.

I looked at them today but the ones at HD and Lowes are too fragile and a serious one is about US$500 for an hour's function and US$250/hour after that. We'd want support for about 8 hours and, at that price point, an automatic generator is an option.

It's always the balance of probabilities, a power outage that starts mid-morning on a weekday and goes for several hours is our exposure and, in truth, that happens no more than half a dozen times a year. If one of those times coincides with a melting phase then we'll have a flood but most outages start at night and we're here to fire up the generator. I can't see a UPS for the sump pump ever coming to the top of the shopping list.

If in a larger city, find a high rise hotel, chances are they have a generator. All of the large downtown/high rise hotels I have worked in had one.

Back up Generator is a good idea as a gas furnas needs leckie to work