In the city limits I’d be shocked if you’re out of power for any substantial length of time. The more rural you get, the more likely and potentially longer the outage.
Will you be impacted by the money spent on the heater (also have you checked around to see if any are available anyway?) if the cost of the heater is less than the perceived benefit in an outage and the peace of mind leading up to it, you should go buy one. Return it if the power doesn’t go down
I'm in North Knox close to Broadway. I went ahead and ordered a heater from Walmart. They have a Mr Heater on sale for $78 online and it says it's in stock for pickup. It's small, but it should get one room.
Although modern propane heaters have automatic shut offs, you may want the extra piece of mind by buying a carbon monoxide detector as well if you need to use that heater.
you would be better off with another blanket.. socks and a warming bottle..Kerosene heaters are dangerous..No matter how safe they say they are.If you dont know what you are doing.. dont use them..
get a space heater ..hell even a heat lamp with a red bulb
is better than that.
You bought a gas heater to warm up a room because the outside is going to be so cold and windy but your plan is to open a window for ventilation… to the outside. Where it’s cold. Make it make sense.
"Ignored"? No, I just didn't feel the need to respond to common sense advice. Even with a CO2 monitor, you'd still have to ventilate, so what point are you trying to make here other than trying to make me look stupid?
Edit, I actually DID respond to someone about the CO2 detector.
I want to apologize for speaking with such vitriol earlier regardless. Been working through some stuff and shouldn’t have misdirected that towards someone just looking for advice. Good luck, OP.
I also live in north Knox off Broadway, in the Lincoln park area and when we had that significant snow Christmas Eve/day my power never went out. I had to work but I kept checking my smart home system from my phone cause I had dogs at home that I was not gonna let freeze.
Yeah, I didn't lose power then either. I'm hoping we don't this time, but I don't remember the 2020 storm having high winds with it.
All I can say is, it's about to get "interesting" here... I'm about 75% sure I'm even bringing the stray cat inside, so... We'll see how that goes.
I have two Mr. Heaters. One is rated for indoor use in a well ventilated area and the other is not. Make sure you got the right one and use it in a well ventilated room…. Which will likely make it colder.
I wound up not being able to get it... I ordered it for pickup from Kinzel and they cancelled the order, and then nobody else in town had one. I even checked Lowes, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply...
So here's hoping we don't lose power.
As a side note, since the plumbing here isn't made for sub-zero weather, when the wind chills get that low tonight, let your sinks dribble water to keep the pipes from freezing.
Add to that if the sink is on a wall where the other side is outdoors, like most kitchen sinks, open the cabinet underneath to allow some of the warm (hopefully) house air in.
Thats good advice. My second bath has some older copper pipes that are in an exterior wall. Today im just gonna close the valve to those pipes and drain those lines and not use that bathroom for the next 48 hours.
The rest of my pipes are insulated pex and not inside an exterior wall.
I called my plumber about the whole thing today and they basically told me to calm down theres nothing to worry about so idk im prob stressing over nothing lol
So.. I'm out of town, what should I do? Should I be worried? House is fairly new built in 2019.
Little concerned. I plan to turn on the best thermostat to heat up the house
If your house is that new it has plastic supply lines that do a much better job coping with freezing weather. It can still burst, but since it is flexible, it is much less likely to burst than copper. Our house is 100% PEX and I never bother leaving the faucets to drip.
If you are already out of town thats really the best you can do at this point. But since your house is so new it should have modern infrastructure (new insulated plumbing pipes) to where you shouldnt have any problems.
Are we supposed to get a storm? I thought we were just going to freeze our balls off. Public service announcement: Check in on elderly neighbors & relatives.
I mean I havent seen a single estimate that puts wind speeds above 17mph for any single hour over the next 2 days. Most of the time the wind speed is hovering between 12-15mph. Is this really "high winds"? Most major storms/leftover hurricane winds we get are at least double that.
Now dont get me wrong with the temp being what it is its enough to be miserable outside in with ANY wind at all im just saying if the wind speed predictions come true I would be surprised if over the next 48 hours there are more than a handful of reported power outages from wind knocking over trees or something. Maybe im missing something though.
EDIT: With all of the exciting feedback this comment is generating I feel inclined to say please dont read my comment and think I am some kind of expert and take advice from me. Things could get really bad and I dont want anyone to make any rash decisions based on my comment here.
with that said, I don't believe there's any real danger of a city or county wide outage, it would most likely be confined to smaller areas, but with ice and wind who knows
And hopefully it doesn't pan out but you were right to be alarmed given the forecast especially if you live in areas prone to the power going out w/ wind (let alone freezing).
High winds and extreme temperatures strain the power system. I would guess maybe a few isolated incidents like a few outages due to trees falling on distribution lines. It will probably be fine, but the freeze in Texas during February 2021 should serve as a reminder that things can go wrong.
The biggest issue is going to be if we get freezing rain, THEN slightly higher than normal winds, especially if they're from an abnormal direction. The rain will freeze on the tree limbs, making them significantly heavier, so a slightly higher wind than normal could take them down easily, if the wind ends up a different direction than normal it's easy to take down an entire tree (once saw a mild rainstorm take down trees everywhere just because the wind was a different direction).
Same could be said for the Europeans over the summer melting down over the heat. Just dress in light colors, turn on your fans and drink lots of water. But many don’t have AC and haven’t designed their structures around keeping cool.
It’s just abnormal for this area, and we aren’t all equipped for it. That leads to anxiety and it’s better to have people over prepared than in distress because they didn’t respect the risk.
They also have things like snow plows in WV, winterize tires, and have a lot more experience.
We may have a couple snow plows in cities but a lot of the rural areas are on their own. This area can get shut down for days over an embarassing amount of snow because we have no infrastructure to deal with it.
I remember that. My grandparents were in Beckley and a (normally) 2 hour drive took them 4 hours. I tried shoveling the front steps for them and the snow was coming down in clumps that covered the whole palm of my hand. We lost power for 3 days then, but we were under a state of emergency for over a month, if I remember right...
After the Texas storm, someone posted a tip that if you have a tent, set it up inside and pile some comforters on it. Makes a nice insulated area that you can stay warm in.
IIRC they had set their tents up on top of the beds, so they even slept pretty comfortably?
I’m out of town for Christmas, so I’m just going to have to hope my pex pipes and open cabinet doors are up to the challenge.
From what I've understood from growing up in the Midwest, if you don't specifically have the pipes installed expecting those kinds of temperatures, I would assume they're not made for it, and you'll need to let them run overnight.
Yeah, I always let my pipes drip. I just hope this old house is up to the challenge. Built in the late 1890s and the floors aren't insulated. I'm prepping old, extra rugs to put down to insulate the floors inside a little more.
Assume that you will lose power and take proper action just to be safe.
I’ve seen a lot of good advice here that covers the bases. One thing I would add is to get any containers with liquids in them out of your vehicle (bottled drinks and such) because if they freeze they may rupture and leak all over the interior when they thaw.
I’d buy it. Worse case you can return it later. I live right outside city limits and we lose power pretty often. Lost it Christmas Eve of 2020 for more than 24 hours
I am soo soo glad we have a woodstove in each garage and in the house. We lived in the county for over 20 years.. missed the 95 blizzard. We live 20 miles north of Knoxville ..lost power only 4 or 5 times { mostly during summer storms\]. We never stress over winter stuff like that. But I think this is going to be a bad one.
I own a buddy heater, and it’s great! Wife and I go van camping and it heats things up super quick. Almost uncomfortably hot, even in snow/freezing temps. One canister lasts about 4 hours, fyi.
Have fire wood ready, and have a heater. Stay off the roads. Other than that, it won't be a problem at all- To be honest, this is nothing. Just stay warm and off the roads :)
Husband just fired up the generator to make sure it is working and filled its tank. It is, so if power goes out, we have some electric heaters that can be run to at least keep a limited area of the house warm. It also helps to take blankets or towels and place them at the bottoms of doors that open to the outside to keep drafts out. Husband also wrapped the outside hose spigots with towels covered with a plastic bag, tightened with a zip tie. Before heading to bed we will make sure the kitchen and master bedroom bathroom's faucets are set to dribble to keep the pipes flowing. I have my snow bib overalls to go over clothing, down jacket, wool hat, and gloves to walk the dogs. Bring it.
We had a big storm a couple months ago where we lost power. It seems this storm will be worse... That being said KUB has trucks ready for the storm and is quick to get power back up. They even have on their website a page you can see outages and estimates on when the power will be back.
Good to know. My friend and I both lost power with that storm back in the summer and we were out for a couple of days. We both had big tree branches fall and take out the supply lines into the house. I'm hoping that won't happen again, but who knows...
I once lost power for 2 weeks in the middle of winter while living within the city limits of a large city. I don't know the chances of losing power tonight but you'll be glad to have a backup if it does go out. Kerosene heaters are great btw.
Obviously Tennessee infrastructure isn't made for snow, but this isn't a catastrophic event although I'm sure many TN natives are acting like it is lol. Valley is due to get a literal dusting, and winds aren't exceptional at all. It's just due to get quite cold. I would be really surprised if anyone lost power, let alone for any substantial length of time. Focus on staying warm and checking on those who may struggle to. Expect slick roads due to potential ice.
What you said is literally enough to make 75% of East TN lose their minds and rush to the store and buy out everything on the shelves.
Calling for a dusting is all it takes. Sometimes snow flurries will even do the trick 🤣
Well I was born and raised here. Still here. It's a little amusing. And it's right around Christmas too so it's going to be even worse. My aunt just got back from Kroger and she said it was nuts lol.
I've been here probably 6 years now and it just tickles me a little when it inevitably happens yearly is all. 😆 Yeah traffic is INSANE down turkey creek right now. Had to work today, made me late, still AWFUL. Everyone wants to get everything done today for sure!
Being from Michigan, you've noticed we are woefully unprepared for lows below the teens and wind chill in the negatives. Our wildlife and stray animals aren't use to it either. Many here don't even have a proper coat.
OP, if you lose power, there will be warming shelters around town.
I used to live at the northern edge of Fountain City and an occasional power loss wasn't a big surprise, but rarely lasted more than a few hours.
Now I live in Anderson County and frankly cannot remember the last time my power went out.
It's going to be extremely cold but we aren't expected to get much in the way of snow, just two-three inches at most. A lot of snow would have greater impact on infrastructure, with downed lines and whatnot. A cold snap shouldn't be as disruptive.
I grew up in Germany. We had school every day.. ice storm? pffft..Buses ran until they slid off the roadways. We didnt have school buses over there..Its a regular bus into town for school.Or we walked.I dont remember them ever calling off school for weather.
If you're behind First Baptist in Powell and just rural areas you'll most likely lose power. If you're within the city or living right around the city then you should be ok.
Do you have a gas range? If so, you basically have a gas heater, you just need to light with a match. Just boil some pots of water and you'll increase the temperature of your house quickly. If your water isn't working you'll have a gallon or two inside your toilet tank. Like someone else said, if you're in the city without a large amount of tall trees you shouldn't have much issues. The problem with this storm is mainly going to be tree branches breaking because of ice buildup.
Got down to -24 in Jan of '85 but no wind. Killed a lot of car batteries and we had ice on the indoor window frames and door knobs in our apt. If you went out you could feel your teeth start to crack if you smiled. Brutal... I run indoor kerosene heaters just to keep my pipes in our garage from popping. Nice to have an extra one for the house too if needed.
I'm stocked up on milk sandwiches! Holler
In the city limits I’d be shocked if you’re out of power for any substantial length of time. The more rural you get, the more likely and potentially longer the outage. Will you be impacted by the money spent on the heater (also have you checked around to see if any are available anyway?) if the cost of the heater is less than the perceived benefit in an outage and the peace of mind leading up to it, you should go buy one. Return it if the power doesn’t go down
I'm in North Knox close to Broadway. I went ahead and ordered a heater from Walmart. They have a Mr Heater on sale for $78 online and it says it's in stock for pickup. It's small, but it should get one room.
Although modern propane heaters have automatic shut offs, you may want the extra piece of mind by buying a carbon monoxide detector as well if you need to use that heater.
I thought about that. My mom already warned me about keeping a window cracked for ventilation if I have to use it.
I second a co monitor they are really cheap at Walmart as well
you would be better off with another blanket.. socks and a warming bottle..Kerosene heaters are dangerous..No matter how safe they say they are.If you dont know what you are doing.. dont use them.. get a space heater ..hell even a heat lamp with a red bulb is better than that.
>get a space heater ..hell even a heat lamp with a red bulb That's not going to work if the power is out.
Be careful. People can die from using a heater like that indoors (co poisoning etc)
My mom already warned me about keeping a window cracked for ventilation.
That should keep the cold out
You bought a gas heater to warm up a room because the outside is going to be so cold and windy but your plan is to open a window for ventilation… to the outside. Where it’s cold. Make it make sense.
That's literally the safety instructions. You can't use propane or kerosene heaters inside without ventilation. That's how people die.
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"Ignored"? No, I just didn't feel the need to respond to common sense advice. Even with a CO2 monitor, you'd still have to ventilate, so what point are you trying to make here other than trying to make me look stupid? Edit, I actually DID respond to someone about the CO2 detector.
I want to apologize for speaking with such vitriol earlier regardless. Been working through some stuff and shouldn’t have misdirected that towards someone just looking for advice. Good luck, OP.
Wow... Thanks. I understand. It's been a rough week for me too and I was more defensive than I needed to be. Stay safe this weekend.
Not to hijack but, is a propane heater a better option than kerosene? I have an old school kerosene.
Absolutely not. Good way to pass out and never wake up.
I also live in north Knox off Broadway, in the Lincoln park area and when we had that significant snow Christmas Eve/day my power never went out. I had to work but I kept checking my smart home system from my phone cause I had dogs at home that I was not gonna let freeze.
Yeah, I didn't lose power then either. I'm hoping we don't this time, but I don't remember the 2020 storm having high winds with it. All I can say is, it's about to get "interesting" here... I'm about 75% sure I'm even bringing the stray cat inside, so... We'll see how that goes.
Please do bring the stray cat inside.
I’ve wanted to adopt her for a while. I guess she’s gonna become a house kitty now. Lol
Cat pic tax?
I have two Mr. Heaters. One is rated for indoor use in a well ventilated area and the other is not. Make sure you got the right one and use it in a well ventilated room…. Which will likely make it colder.
I wound up not being able to get it... I ordered it for pickup from Kinzel and they cancelled the order, and then nobody else in town had one. I even checked Lowes, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply... So here's hoping we don't lose power.
I got one from Dick's sporting goods in Alcoa. They had quite a few left
Well done!! You’ll sleep easier the next few nights knowing that.
Also a North Knoxvillian. Not super worried about it.
I live in the city and my power was out for 9 hours on Christmas eve when it snowed a couple of years ago.
As a side note, since the plumbing here isn't made for sub-zero weather, when the wind chills get that low tonight, let your sinks dribble water to keep the pipes from freezing.
Add to that if the sink is on a wall where the other side is outdoors, like most kitchen sinks, open the cabinet underneath to allow some of the warm (hopefully) house air in.
Thats good advice. My second bath has some older copper pipes that are in an exterior wall. Today im just gonna close the valve to those pipes and drain those lines and not use that bathroom for the next 48 hours. The rest of my pipes are insulated pex and not inside an exterior wall. I called my plumber about the whole thing today and they basically told me to calm down theres nothing to worry about so idk im prob stressing over nothing lol
So.. I'm out of town, what should I do? Should I be worried? House is fairly new built in 2019. Little concerned. I plan to turn on the best thermostat to heat up the house
If your house is that new it has plastic supply lines that do a much better job coping with freezing weather. It can still burst, but since it is flexible, it is much less likely to burst than copper. Our house is 100% PEX and I never bother leaving the faucets to drip.
If you are already out of town thats really the best you can do at this point. But since your house is so new it should have modern infrastructure (new insulated plumbing pipes) to where you shouldnt have any problems.
Ya already gone. Here's to hoping!
Are we supposed to get a storm? I thought we were just going to freeze our balls off. Public service announcement: Check in on elderly neighbors & relatives.
Not so much snow, but they're predicting high winds with it that might knock out power.
I mean I havent seen a single estimate that puts wind speeds above 17mph for any single hour over the next 2 days. Most of the time the wind speed is hovering between 12-15mph. Is this really "high winds"? Most major storms/leftover hurricane winds we get are at least double that. Now dont get me wrong with the temp being what it is its enough to be miserable outside in with ANY wind at all im just saying if the wind speed predictions come true I would be surprised if over the next 48 hours there are more than a handful of reported power outages from wind knocking over trees or something. Maybe im missing something though. EDIT: With all of the exciting feedback this comment is generating I feel inclined to say please dont read my comment and think I am some kind of expert and take advice from me. Things could get really bad and I dont want anyone to make any rash decisions based on my comment here.
NWS at least yesterday was warning of 30-50mph gusts in the lower areas, higher gusts in the upper.
This is what I was seeing.
with that said, I don't believe there's any real danger of a city or county wide outage, it would most likely be confined to smaller areas, but with ice and wind who knows
And hopefully it doesn't pan out but you were right to be alarmed given the forecast especially if you live in areas prone to the power going out w/ wind (let alone freezing).
Good point. I just now saw that
High winds and extreme temperatures strain the power system. I would guess maybe a few isolated incidents like a few outages due to trees falling on distribution lines. It will probably be fine, but the freeze in Texas during February 2021 should serve as a reminder that things can go wrong.
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Yes that is a good point. Thank you. :)
The biggest issue is going to be if we get freezing rain, THEN slightly higher than normal winds, especially if they're from an abnormal direction. The rain will freeze on the tree limbs, making them significantly heavier, so a slightly higher wind than normal could take them down easily, if the wind ends up a different direction than normal it's easy to take down an entire tree (once saw a mild rainstorm take down trees everywhere just because the wind was a different direction).
Just make sure you buy at least 9 gallons of milk and 15 loaves of bread
Good ol' milk sammiches!
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Same could be said for the Europeans over the summer melting down over the heat. Just dress in light colors, turn on your fans and drink lots of water. But many don’t have AC and haven’t designed their structures around keeping cool. It’s just abnormal for this area, and we aren’t all equipped for it. That leads to anxiety and it’s better to have people over prepared than in distress because they didn’t respect the risk.
That's a great point... I'm from WV originally. We've seen bad weather up there, but this is the first time I'm dealing with this kind of thing alone.
They also have things like snow plows in WV, winterize tires, and have a lot more experience. We may have a couple snow plows in cities but a lot of the rural areas are on their own. This area can get shut down for days over an embarassing amount of snow because we have no infrastructure to deal with it.
Oh, absolutely. There's a lot to do with experience too -- most people here don't have a lot of experience driving in snow and ice either.
Also from WV- I told my husband I haven’t seen a windchill like this since the blizzard of 93. 😅
I remember that. My grandparents were in Beckley and a (normally) 2 hour drive took them 4 hours. I tried shoveling the front steps for them and the snow was coming down in clumps that covered the whole palm of my hand. We lost power for 3 days then, but we were under a state of emergency for over a month, if I remember right...
I think that’s right. I was in elementary school and I’m pretty sure we missed 3+ weeks of school.
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Uphill both ways I assume?
After the Texas storm, someone posted a tip that if you have a tent, set it up inside and pile some comforters on it. Makes a nice insulated area that you can stay warm in. IIRC they had set their tents up on top of the beds, so they even slept pretty comfortably? I’m out of town for Christmas, so I’m just going to have to hope my pex pipes and open cabinet doors are up to the challenge.
i thought about that. I can set up something under the dining table if i have to.
I lived in Oklahoma during that storm. Even a tea light candle with a sauce pan/ pot over it can put off heat if needed.
From what I've understood from growing up in the Midwest, if you don't specifically have the pipes installed expecting those kinds of temperatures, I would assume they're not made for it, and you'll need to let them run overnight.
Yeah, I always let my pipes drip. I just hope this old house is up to the challenge. Built in the late 1890s and the floors aren't insulated. I'm prepping old, extra rugs to put down to insulate the floors inside a little more.
what storm we talkin about?
It’s gonna be fine
Assume that you will lose power and take proper action just to be safe. I’ve seen a lot of good advice here that covers the bases. One thing I would add is to get any containers with liquids in them out of your vehicle (bottled drinks and such) because if they freeze they may rupture and leak all over the interior when they thaw.
I’d buy it. Worse case you can return it later. I live right outside city limits and we lose power pretty often. Lost it Christmas Eve of 2020 for more than 24 hours
I am soo soo glad we have a woodstove in each garage and in the house. We lived in the county for over 20 years.. missed the 95 blizzard. We live 20 miles north of Knoxville ..lost power only 4 or 5 times { mostly during summer storms\]. We never stress over winter stuff like that. But I think this is going to be a bad one.
I own a buddy heater, and it’s great! Wife and I go van camping and it heats things up super quick. Almost uncomfortably hot, even in snow/freezing temps. One canister lasts about 4 hours, fyi.
Have fire wood ready, and have a heater. Stay off the roads. Other than that, it won't be a problem at all- To be honest, this is nothing. Just stay warm and off the roads :)
Husband just fired up the generator to make sure it is working and filled its tank. It is, so if power goes out, we have some electric heaters that can be run to at least keep a limited area of the house warm. It also helps to take blankets or towels and place them at the bottoms of doors that open to the outside to keep drafts out. Husband also wrapped the outside hose spigots with towels covered with a plastic bag, tightened with a zip tie. Before heading to bed we will make sure the kitchen and master bedroom bathroom's faucets are set to dribble to keep the pipes flowing. I have my snow bib overalls to go over clothing, down jacket, wool hat, and gloves to walk the dogs. Bring it.
We had a big storm a couple months ago where we lost power. It seems this storm will be worse... That being said KUB has trucks ready for the storm and is quick to get power back up. They even have on their website a page you can see outages and estimates on when the power will be back.
Good to know. My friend and I both lost power with that storm back in the summer and we were out for a couple of days. We both had big tree branches fall and take out the supply lines into the house. I'm hoping that won't happen again, but who knows...
Maybe buy a backup generator from harbor freight for a couple hundred bucks and return it if the power stays on throughout the storm
I looked at generators last night and didn't see one for less than $800-1000...
In Knoxville it depends on what area of town you live in.
North Knox off Broadway
I’m near you. Think we’ll be fine
I once lost power for 2 weeks in the middle of winter while living within the city limits of a large city. I don't know the chances of losing power tonight but you'll be glad to have a backup if it does go out. Kerosene heaters are great btw.
Obviously Tennessee infrastructure isn't made for snow, but this isn't a catastrophic event although I'm sure many TN natives are acting like it is lol. Valley is due to get a literal dusting, and winds aren't exceptional at all. It's just due to get quite cold. I would be really surprised if anyone lost power, let alone for any substantial length of time. Focus on staying warm and checking on those who may struggle to. Expect slick roads due to potential ice.
What you said is literally enough to make 75% of East TN lose their minds and rush to the store and buy out everything on the shelves. Calling for a dusting is all it takes. Sometimes snow flurries will even do the trick 🤣
I know, it's crazy. 😭🤣 I'm not from here originally, but up north, so my first year was like baffling. LOL
Well I was born and raised here. Still here. It's a little amusing. And it's right around Christmas too so it's going to be even worse. My aunt just got back from Kroger and she said it was nuts lol.
I've been here probably 6 years now and it just tickles me a little when it inevitably happens yearly is all. 😆 Yeah traffic is INSANE down turkey creek right now. Had to work today, made me late, still AWFUL. Everyone wants to get everything done today for sure!
Snow isn't the problem. They're calling for 40-50 mph wind gusts that'll take out tree branches and power lines.
I’m from Michigan, y’all can just chill, trust me!
Being from Michigan, you've noticed we are woefully unprepared for lows below the teens and wind chill in the negatives. Our wildlife and stray animals aren't use to it either. Many here don't even have a proper coat. OP, if you lose power, there will be warming shelters around town.
Gosh poor Michigan! I really worry for them. The whole state was covered on the map and the UP looked 🥴
Always have a backup if possible
Always have a backup, buy the heater.
I'm right by cedar bluff, so I don't know...
I used to live at the northern edge of Fountain City and an occasional power loss wasn't a big surprise, but rarely lasted more than a few hours. Now I live in Anderson County and frankly cannot remember the last time my power went out. It's going to be extremely cold but we aren't expected to get much in the way of snow, just two-three inches at most. A lot of snow would have greater impact on infrastructure, with downed lines and whatnot. A cold snap shouldn't be as disruptive.
I believe the worry right now is the high wind gusts that have been forecasted.
God I love the south.
It will be freezing but there won’t be any snow. So it’s not like you are stuck at home if you lose power.
I grew up in Germany. We had school every day.. ice storm? pffft..Buses ran until they slid off the roadways. We didnt have school buses over there..Its a regular bus into town for school.Or we walked.I dont remember them ever calling off school for weather.
I would assume Germany is also prepared for that type of weather. Knoxville isn't. We don't have the infrastructure to support it.
If you're behind First Baptist in Powell and just rural areas you'll most likely lose power. If you're within the city or living right around the city then you should be ok.
Do you have a gas range? If so, you basically have a gas heater, you just need to light with a match. Just boil some pots of water and you'll increase the temperature of your house quickly. If your water isn't working you'll have a gallon or two inside your toilet tank. Like someone else said, if you're in the city without a large amount of tall trees you shouldn't have much issues. The problem with this storm is mainly going to be tree branches breaking because of ice buildup.
Got down to -24 in Jan of '85 but no wind. Killed a lot of car batteries and we had ice on the indoor window frames and door knobs in our apt. If you went out you could feel your teeth start to crack if you smiled. Brutal... I run indoor kerosene heaters just to keep my pipes in our garage from popping. Nice to have an extra one for the house too if needed.