The heat clicks off at 2 in the morning. The house goes quiet in a way it never is, and by breakfast you can see your breath in the kitchen.
The first question everyone asks is how to get warm. The better question is how to stay warm, safely, for as long as the power stays out.
So how do you stay warm without power when it might be hours, or days?
The honest answer: you don't heat the whole house. You keep the people warm, in one room, for as long as it takes. Here's how to do that in order.
1. Pick one room and stay in it
Heat you can't make, you have to keep. That's far easier in one small room than in a whole house.
Choose a small room with the fewest windows and outside walls. Every window and outside wall is a place your warmth leaks out, so an interior bedroom or a den beats a big living room with a picture window.
If your house has two floors, remember that warm air rises. A room upstairs usually holds heat longer than one on the ground floor, as long as it isn't under a cold, drafty attic.
Then seal it up:
- Close off the rooms you don't need. Shut the doors and leave them shut.
- Roll towels or rags along the cracks under doors.
- Cover the windows with blankets at night, or close heavy drapes.
- Open the curtains on sunny windows during the day, then close them again before sundown.
Everybody sleeps in the same room. A few bodies in a small space add up to real warmth.
2. Dress for the room, not the season
Inside a cold house, you dress like you're going outside.
- Thin layers beat one thick one. A thermal base layer, a sweater and a jacket trap more warm air between them than a single heavy coat.
- Cover your head and feet. A knit hat, even in bed, and dry wool socks. Change socks the moment they get damp.
- Stay dry. Damp clothes pull heat out of you fast, so swap them out right away.
- Build a warm spot to sleep. Pile every blanket and sleeping bag you own onto one bed or the floor of your warm room. If you have a camping tent, set it up in that room; a tent around a pile of blankets holds a surprising amount of body heat.
- Get off the cold floor. Put a rug, a camping pad or folded blankets under you, not just on top.
3. Know what never goes inside
This is the part that matters most. Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell, and it can kill in minutes.
- Never run a portable generator inside the home, garage, basement, crawlspace or shed. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that opening a door or window is not enough.
- Keep a generator at least 20 feet from the house, and not on a porch or in a carport.
- Never use a gas oven or range to heat the house.
- Never bring a charcoal grill or camp stove indoors.
- Put battery-powered CO alarms (or alarms with a battery backup) on every level of the house and outside sleeping areas.
4. Light the room without a flame
Candles are cozy until one tips over in a room full of blankets. The U.S. Fire Administration puts it simply: use flashlights, not candles, when the power goes out.
A rechargeable camping lantern set in the middle of the room lights the whole space, so nobody's carrying a flame down the hall.
Charge your lights, power banks and phones the moment a winter storm is in the forecast.
5. Warm your hands, then your core
Cold hands are the first thing you notice and the hardest thing to fix when you're sitting still.
- Keep moving a little. Get up and walk the room every hour.
- Eat and drink. Your body burns calories to stay warm.
- Keep a rechargeable hand warmer charged before the storm. An electric hand warmer like the QuickHeat Pro gets hot in about 2 minutes, runs 6 to 14 hours depending on the setting, and doubles as a power bank for a phone.
6. Know when it's time to leave
Staying put isn't always the right call. Watch everyone in the house, especially older family members and babies, for the warning signs of hypothermia the CDC lists:
- Shivering, exhaustion or feeling very tired
- Confusion, memory loss or slurred speech
- Fumbling hands and drowsiness
- In babies: bright red, cold skin and very low energy
If a person's temperature is below 95°F, get medical help right away.
And if the house is simply too cold to manage, go somewhere warm: a friend's house, a public library or a warming center. Know where your nearest one is before the storm, not during it. Check on neighbors who are older or live alone, too.
Final thoughts
Getting through a winter blackout doesn't take much.
One small room, enough blankets for everybody, a light that doesn't burn, and the discipline to keep fuel-burning heat outside where it belongs.
Set that up this weekend, while the power's still on. It takes an afternoon, and it's the kind of preparing you'll be glad you did at 2 in the morning.