I’ve decided to start building my household emergency kit first. It makes sense to me. It’s the kit that will be the largest and I’m going to have to figure out the best place to store it.
Part of deciding where to store it will lead to what I am going to store it in. I’ll talk about that in the next blog post. But for now lets talk about location location location.
What I’m Looking for in an Emergency Supplies Storage Location?
To be prepared for an emergency here’s what I’m looking for in a storage location:
- It’s big enough to store everything, or at lease all the main things I want together
- I don’t want to venture too far to access my household emergency kit
- Everyone in my family will know where it is and how to access it
As a bonus, it will be out of direct sunlight and be in a location that stays cool.
With all of these things to consider it is now time for me to look at what works for my house.
My First Option Sucked, So I Changed It
Currently, we live in a 2 story house. Downstairs is the double garage and a couple of rooms. I initially though downstairs was a good idea.
The garage isn’t actually used for cars. The doors can be opened from the inside but not the outside, and the garage door openers don’t work. Not really sure what the deal was with them, or what the landlord was doing.
So I had a couple of boxes to begin with and put them down in the corner near the garage door.
My Thinking About that Location
- It was out of the way
- It was out of direct sunlight
- I could open the door and grab the stuff and put it into my car if I needed to
That was it really. Not much thought at all.
Reasons I changed the Location
- If the house collapsed I’m not sure if we could get the boxes, or open the garage doors
- To get the items in the dark would mean going down stairs and then rummaging around in the corner. Which is not fun for anyone
- Most likely the items would need to be carried upstairs
- Being next to the garage door meant the items would be subjected to a lot of temperature extremes
It makes more sense to store your emergency kit where you can access it more easily if you can. Finding a spot that is both convenient and out of the way is best if you can.
Then I thought about the spare room
One of the rooms downstairs is used mainly for storage and if I need to film something for another project I work on. It has these big cupboards with lots of shelving and storage space.
But… This room gets damp.
We’ve got the dehumidifier down there which is helping. But do I want to run the risk of things getting damp or moldy when I have another option to store thing.
The other problems with downstairs
While figuring out a location I had a think about downstairs in general.
- If there was some sort of flooding it will appear and cause problems downstairs first
- If we had a large enough earthquake to make the house collapse, anything downstairs could be rendered useless
- Accessibility is a pain in general
The New Location for my Household Emergency Kit
Upstairs provides a lot more benefits to the emergency kit
- Easier to grab if needed
- Easier to check on
Luckily our house has a bunch of extra storage. There are some cupboards next to the kitchen and at the end of the hallway that we use for different kitchen related things. Like appliances.
While this is handy. I think it makes sense to have the household emergency kit here as well. It might mean moving some items around, or putting things not used much downstairs.
It’s also very accessible for everyone.
Theft and Fire Considerations
After putting some more thought into households in general, I wondered about theft and fire. 2 things that can cause a lot of problems in a house.
Theft
The items are out of view and out of direct sunlight. There are more high cost things someone that was robbing my house would want to take before a bunch of random stuff in a cupboard.
It is a consideration to think about. Just how secure is your emergency kits?
I’m happy with how secure out place is, so not much of a concern to me.
Fire
Anything random could cause a fire. We had a rat that decided to eat the power cable to the dishwasher recently. Could that have caused a fire? I’m not sure, but what I do know is a chewed cable is more likely to cause a fire than a not chewed one.
What can I do to reduce the risk of a fire happening and destroying everything including the emergency kits?
- Don’t overload power strips with too many appliances
- Don’t use anything electrical that appears to be faulty or has damage
- Turn things off that aren’t in use
We have working smoke alarms throughout the house. While they won’t stop a fire they will alert us of one. Fire spreads a lot faster than people realise.
One thing I do need to sort out is to have a fire extinguisher handy. Something I currently don’t have.
What Else is There to Consider?
I’m wondering if I have forgotten anything else to consider when it comes to a household emergency kit and it’s location?
Let me know your thoughts below.
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