Planned power outage tonight

Hi

So I just heard that my area is having a planned power cut for a few hours tonight.
It is winter here, but it does not get as cold as some places. Looking at a room temperature of about 16C (60F)

Any ideas as to how to keep my cage as warm as possible without any electricity?
I currently have the space heater on in my room to keep the ambient temperature as warm as possible which I will keep on until the power cuts out.

I also plan to heat up a few hot water bottles just before the scheduled cut and place it under the tanks. (I have the melamine tanks with glass sliding doors)

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated

Thanks :)

I am no expert but i'm sure water bottles are fine, also heat packs etc...

But i would wait for some more people to weigh in.

Can you find some heat packs? Like the chemical hand warmers that you would use if skiing?

BTW, welcome to the forum! You have a beautiful country. I was fortunate enough to visit SA a few years ago. CapeTown, Gansbaii, Josie, Sandton, and of course, Pilanesberg. Really hope to make it back soon.

The water bottles is a very good idea! I did this when my electricity was out for a few hours. Worked like a charm!

Thank-you all for the prompt replies.

I am not sure if we can get the chemical warmers here. I winters are not severe so I am not sure if they even sell them here. I will look online.

Swansonbb, thanks for the welcome. Glad you liked it in SA (it's a great country). I live really close to Sandton

I will use the hot water bottles. I am sure they will be fine.

Thanks again

If you go with chemical packs a few things to keep in mind. The 'hand warmers' get VERY HOT!!! I would go with the shipping packs (8 hour plus ones) they stay at a reasonable (still hot) temp longer. Chemical packs also remove oxygen from the air make sure you have ventilation when using them.

Personally for a few hours i would just cover over the enclosure (rack?) before the power goes out with blankets and perhaps add a bottle of 94ºF water if it might be longer. 2 hours it is not highly likely to cool off too much anyway , sure the hot spot may drop to 80º but that is still fine.

I like to have chemical on hand but I relay on a propane heater in case... I however am in an area that in winter can get very cold.... (-30ºC)

Often shipping supply places carry them to protect boxes from freezing that maybe a place to check.

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.uniheatproducts.com/ship.html

Thank-you kitedemon

Unfortunately it is 5pm already and all the stores I phoned were closed. I have the room nice and warm and will use the hot water bottles.
Also, the power shouldn't be off for more than 3 hours at the most so I am sure it will be ok along with a blanket over the enclosure

Thanks :)

I am sure you won't have any issues at all. I actually like to have a few just in case of the unplanned outages. It might be worth finding some in the future just in case you need them anyway they are not very expensive and I have a large tall tub I use if needed I can bag all my snakes and place them into a single tub with a heat source to hold the ambient temps in the 80ºs so they can weather out a outage in safety. You are well prepared but the unexpected ones can catch you with your pants down if you don't plan ahead. I actually tried my system out (no snakes just bags to check the temps and efficiency. )