How To Build A Warm Shelter Out Of Everyday Materials In Your Home

Preparedforthat.com

October 6, 2013 by Josh

Shelter is one of the primary needs of all people, secondary only to water and food. Shelter is needed to keep you safe from wind and weather, and also to provide a warm, dry place to rest and recuperate. During an emergency without electricity, many modern homes will still keep the weather at bay but may prove insufficient against the onslaught of frigid temperatures.

Even during short power outages, many people have died when snow and ice disabled the electricity their furnaces needed to keep their homes warm. For example, in 2012 a woman in Chicago died when a snowstorm knocked out the power and turned her home into an icy tomb, and she was but one of 5 deaths during that winter season! Furthermore, emergencies can leave your home in shambles: Hurricanes and tornadoes frequently tear roofs off of homes, and earthquakes can bring whole rooms down.

Thankfully, there are ways to keep warm when your home’s walls are insufficient to keep the proper temperature or even destroyed outright. Common household materials can allow you to create an additional shelter inside the one you already have, protecting you from the chill.

Many designs with certain essential elements

The build suggested here is but one design of many that could be attempted. Depending on your needs, you could modify or expand on this concept to fit what you and your family would require. Indeed, you could even add additional improvements to create a shelter suitable for rougher use outside if the need arose.  Just keep in mind these essential design elements when crafting your own homemade shelter.

• Repel wind and drafts at all costs. If you’ve ever been outside in cold weather, you know that sharp, chilling winds can make even 40-50 degree temperatures unbearable within a few hours. Wind chill is deadly, and can greatly speed the onset of both hypothermia and frostbite.
• Keep water at bay. Water can actually be more difficult to deal with than wind in some cases, particularly if the disaster requires that your shelter be exposed to rain.
• Contain your body heat. Although a fire or other heat source definitely can help, the chief goal is to ensure that you don’t cause your body temperature to drop. Not only can hypothermia and frostbite result, but the additional energy required to constantly maintain proper inner heat against the cold also burns off extra calories you may need.
• Layers are your friend. It can be tempting to trust in a few thick layers of material, but in many cases having many thinner layers can be much more effective at keeping you warm and dry.
• Be careful with open flames and other heat sources. Many of the common materials you will be using will be quite flammable. Be intelligent and careful when using any heat sources, but particular care should be taken with candles, oil lamps, and campfires that have an open flame.

Gathering Materials

Now that you’ve got some essential ground rules, let’s look at our materials. There are three key layers to the shelter, and each will need different design considerations and materials.

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