A power outage in the middle of winter is worse than a summer one. The lights are the least of it. The furnace blower stops, the electric range goes cold, the well pump may quit, and the roads may be too bad to reach a store. What’s left is a house that loses heat a little every hour, and the people inside it.
Extreme weather and storm damage make long outages more likely than most of us would like, so it is worth settling your plan before the lights go out. The plan has three parts: slow the heat leaving the house, make some heat in a safe way, and look after your body. This guide covers all three, plus the health risks that tend to show up when a house gets cold.
Keep the heat you already have #
Every degree you hold costs you nothing. Before you think about fuel, stop the house from bleeding warmth.
Seal gaps and cover glass #
Start with drafts. Weather stripping or caulk around windows and doors closes the obvious cracks. At the bottom of exterior doors, a draft stopper or door snake does the job, and a pair of tights stuffed with socks works if you don’t own one. Cold air sliding under a door can pull the room temperature down a surprising amount.
For larger gaps in walls, floors or ceilings, insulation foam, plastic wrap or duct tape will do as a stopgap. Bubble wrap pressed over window glass adds a cheap insulating layer. If you have spare blankets, hang them over windows, exterior doors and sliding glass doors.
Heavy curtains help even more when they are made of thermal or blackout fabric. They also cut down on noise and give you some privacy.
Use the sun, then shut it out #
Open blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house during the day. A south-facing room with plenty of windows makes a good daytime living space, and dark stones or bricks placed near the glass will soak up heat and give it back after the sun drops. Move furniture that blocks the light. Once the sun goes down, close everything to hold the warmth in and keep drafts out.
Shrink the space you are heating #
Nobody can heat a whole house without power, so don’t try. Pick the warmest room, ideally one with few exterior walls and good insulation, and live there. Close the doors and vents of rooms you rarely use. Hang thermal curtains or blankets across doorways and open archways to divide the space. Since heat rises, an upstairs room can be warmer than the ground floor, provided the ceiling above it is well insulated.
Cover bare floors. Rugs and carpets, especially thick wool ones, keep heat from draining down through the floorboards. Throw rugs over hardwood or vinyl are a good use for any spare blankets.
Frozen pipes are the other thing to watch. A heating cable wrapped around the vulnerable runs will protect them, but it only works if you have power, so insulate exposed pipes ahead of time. If tap water might freeze or become unavailable, keep bottled water on hand.
Build a tent inside the room #
A camping tent is designed to keep out wind and hold in body heat, and it does the same job indoors. It can be the single most effective thing you do for a long outage.
Clear a space and pitch the tent, preferably near a window so it catches as much sun as possible, and not in the middle of the room. Keep it away from a fireplace or gas stove, which is a fire hazard. Keep the window flaps closed to hold in warmth rather than burning extra fuel to heat the room. For more insulation, throw the flysheet over the top. You are indoors, so there is no need to stake it down.
Inside, mattresses or sleeping bags, blankets and pillows do the real work, because your body heat is what warms such a small volume of air. Keep clothes and supplies in plastic bags just outside the door of the tent so they stay dry and you aren’t letting cold air in every time you go hunting for something. Leave a small opening, such as the little flap at the top or the door unzipped a few inches, so there is some airflow while you sleep.
If you don’t own a tent, a blanket fort over a table or a few chairs does a smaller version of the same thing. It is also a good way to keep children occupied.
Dress and bed down properly #
Clothing is your first line of defense. Layers beat a single heavy coat. Start with a base layer of wool or a synthetic that moves moisture away from the skin, add fleece or a down jacket for insulation, and top it with a shell that blocks wind and damp if needed. Loose, lightweight layers let you adjust quickly.
Avoid the wrong choices: heavy coats that make you sweat, and tight clothing that restricts circulation, which raises the risk of frostbite and hypothermia.
Don’t forget the extremities. A hat that covers your ears, a scarf around the neck, gloves or mittens, and socks with slippers or shoes make a real difference, since a lot of body heat leaves through the head and neck. Liner socks and toe warmers add more for your feet. Wool or thermal fabrics work best for socks and gloves.
For sleeping, stack thermal or wool blankets over your regular bedding, and use an insulated sleeping bag with a temperature rating that suits the conditions. Experiment with the number and thickness of layers until you are comfortable. A hot water bottle near your feet or under the covers warms the bed before you get in. Make sure the bottle is sealed and won’t burn you.
Make heat without electricity #
Fireplace and wood stove #
If you have a fireplace or wood stove, this is the moment it earns its keep. Keep dry firewood ready and maintain a good-sized fire through the day and into the night. You can warm bricks or large rocks in the fire, lift them out with tongs, wrap them in blankets and put them in the bed or at your feet.
Propane, catalytic and kerosene heaters #
A portable propane or catalytic heater can warm a small area quickly. A Buddy Heater is a common choice and is rated for indoor use. Kerosene heaters work indoors if they are vented properly, and they need a stock of fuel on hand. Whatever you use, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, make sure the room has enough ventilation, and confirm the unit is rated for indoor use. Never bring a charcoal grill or an outdoor fire inside. Fires built outdoors only warm you when you are sitting next to them in an open area, and must follow local fire regulations.
A DIY Buddy burner will give you light and a little heat, again with enough ventilation for the fumes to escape.
Cooking as heating #
If you have a gas range, cooking is also a way to warm the room. Simmering soup or stew on the stovetop puts steam and heat into the kitchen and gives you a hot meal. After baking, leaving the oven door open lets the leftover heat out into the room, but supervise it, keep children and pets away, and make sure the room is ventilated. With an indoor-safe portable stove you can cook small meals and get some heat around you as well.
Body heat #
People are heat sources. Gather in one room, share blankets, and sleep close together. It helps, and it keeps morale up.
Look after your body #
Your body makes its own heat, and you can help it do that.
Eat warm food and enough of it. Hot soups, cereal, broth, stews, chili, hot chocolate, non-caffeinated tea and hot cider all work. The fats in your food support your thyroid and metabolism, which helps you stay warmer. If the outage drags on, fresh food will run out. A refrigerator with no power will keep perishables cool for 48 hours at most. Plan around nonperishable food that is easy to heat: canned soups, stews and chili (which can be eaten cold in a pinch), canned juices, nuts, powdered milk, instant tea or coffee, cocoa, crackers, cereal and granola bars.
Drink water. You may not feel thirsty in winter, but you still need roughly half a gallon to a gallon a day. Warm or lukewarm drinks are better, because cold drinks lower your core temperature. Dehydration thickens the blood and raises the risk of hypothermia. Go easy on alcohol and caffeine. They feel warming, but they dehydrate you and can contribute to a drop in core temperature.
Keep moving. Twenty minutes of exercise gets blood flowing to your hands and feet and cuts the risk of frostbite. Jumping jacks, bodyweight exercises, stretching, yoga, dancing, or just pacing and fidgeting will all do. Adjust your layers during and after, because sweaty, damp clothing in cold air is dangerous. As you sweat, skin and clothes get damp and you lose heat.
Emergency supplies worth stocking #
Buy these before winter, not during the storm:
- Extra blankets and comforters, plus sweaters, hoodies and thermal socks for everyone in the house.
- Chemical hand warmers or emergency heat packs, used according to their instructions.
- Battery-powered radios and lanterns, with spare batteries, so you can follow weather updates and see after dark.
- A supply of nonperishable warm foods and instant hot drinks.
- A battery-backed carbon monoxide detector.
- Dry firewood or heater fuel, if you use either.
Last resorts #
If the house becomes unsafe, you have two options. You can sit in a car for a short time with the heater running, as long as it is parked in a well-ventilated place and not in a closed garage. You can also charge phones while you are there. Alternatively, call the local authorities and ask whether public warming centers are open in your town or city. Don’t wait until someone in the house is in real trouble.
Health hazards to watch for #
Cold weather brings a set of illnesses with it. Viruses spread easily in dry, chilly air, and the young, the elderly and the infirm are most at risk. Three problems deserve particular attention during an outage.
Carbon monoxide poisoning #
Charcoal, kerosene, diesel, wood and natural gas all produce carbon monoxide when they burn, and when oxygen is short they produce more. The gas has no smell, color or taste. Early symptoms resemble the flu: headache, dizziness, nausea, irritability, weakness, confusion and impaired judgment. It can build to toxic levels within minutes or hours. Ventilate any room where you burn something, and use a digital carbon monoxide detector with a battery backup.
Frostbite #
Frostbite is the freezing of the skin and the tissue just beneath it. Prolonged exposure to below-freezing temperatures stops blood flow to the exposed part and damages the tissue. Fingers, toes, nose, cheeks and ears are most often affected.
It starts as frostnip, which irritates the skin and causes numbness and swelling. The skin feels hard and cold and looks discolored. Severe frostbite produces blisters and can turn the skin black. Any sign of frostbite needs urgent medical care, because infection and nerve damage are real complications. To prevent it, wear loose, warm layers and shoes, protect your ears and hands, especially in cold, windy and wet weather, and have warm, sweet drinks (not alcohol).
Hypothermia #
Hypothermia sets in when body temperature falls below 35°C (95°F) and you lose heat faster than you can make it. It can develop indoors after long exposure, and a room colder than about 15.5°C (60°F) is enough to cause it. It begins with mild shivering, then uncontrollable shivering. When the shivering stops, the situation can be fatal. It progresses quickly, so put on a coat and extra layers well before the cold becomes extreme, and stay out of cold, wet conditions.
A short checklist #
Seal the drafts, pick one room, set up a tent or blanket fort in it, and put on layers. Eat and drink warm things, and keep moving. If you use any fuel-burning heater, ventilate and keep a carbon monoxide detector running. A prolonged winter outage is miserable, but with these steps you can keep the heat you have, make a little more, and stay safe until the power returns.
Related reading: How To Heat An Off-Grid Home Efficiently and The Prepper’s Guide To Winterizing Your Off-Grid Home. This article is part of the self-reliance section.