Tips for Staying Warm When the Power Goes Out During Winter

Much of the United States has found itself in the icy grip of Winter Storm Blair, and many residents across the states impacted have found themselves without power.  Unfortunately, even with a gas furnace in your home, no electricity can mean no heat to stay warm as many of the components in the furnace require electricity to operate.

If The Power Goes Out - Stay Warm

Additionally, with treacherous travel conditions, getting to a friend or family member's home or even a warming center may not be possible. So what can you do to keep you and your family warm with no power and freezing temperatures outside?

Preserve As Much Heat as Possible

If you have found yourself without power, and you cannot safely get yourself somewhere else, there are some things you can do to keep yourself safe and warm during a winter power outage. The first priority should be to preserve as much of the heat in the house as possible by covering any doors and windows.

Cover Windows and Doors to Keep Cold Out and Heat In

Even if a window or door is well sealed, the cold can and will still radiate from the glass. Covering the windows with trash bags, bubble wrap, or even cardboard can help keep the cold out and the heat in. Also, avoid opening outside doors. Again you want to preserve as much of the existing warmth inside your home as you can.

Shrink Your Space

Unfortunately, if the power does go out, it may be out for hours or even days due to the sheer volume of outages and limited resources and manpower for repairs. Because of this, you will want to shrink you space. What I mean by that, is to close off any unused rooms in your home.

Be Cautious With Additional Heat Sources

If you have a fireplace, woodburning stove, or gas, propane or kerosene heaters, you can use these but be cautious as smoke and fumes from these types of heat sources can be dangerous, and they do pose a fire risk.

READ MORE: How Cold is Too Cold for Outdoor Play

Grab Your Camping Gear

If you have any camping gear, get it out. Setting up a tent in your living room and loading it with blankets may sound like a crazy idea, but it can be lifesaving. By setting up a tent inside your home, and creating an even smaller space to hold in your body heat, it can help you survive. You can also drape blankets over the outside of the tent to help insulate your tent to trap heat inside.

No Tent? No Problem! Build a Fort

If you don't have a tent, you can improvise. Make a blanket fort our of blankets, chairs, and furniture. Improvise and get creative. Again, you want to create a smaller space to hold in body heat to stay warm.

Huddle Up

Speaking of body heat - if you are not alone, huddle up with the others in your home to share warmth inside your small space.

Dress In Layers

Dress in layers. Put on light base layers, and then add thicker, heavier layers as well like sweaters or fleece jackets. You want to "Dress like an onion." Put on a hat to help hold in body heat - humans lose much of their body heat through the tops of their heads.

Don't Forget Your Hands and Feet

Put on gloves, and socks. If you don't have wool winter socks, put on an extra pair of socks you do have to help keep your feet warm. If your feet are cold, it will be nearly impossible to get the rest of your body to feel warm.

READ MORE: How to Prevent Dry, Itchy Winter Skin

Feed Your Internal Furnace

Nourish your body. While this may seem like a no-brainer, make sure you are eating. Your body burns food for energy to generate your body heat. Also be sure you are drinking water to stay hydrated.

Move Around to Generate Body Heat

While you may be staying in a much smaller space, move around. Keep your body generating heat. Do some jumping jacks. Jog in place if you're able. Just do what you can to keep the blood pumping to generate heat.

If you find that you are not able to stay warm enough, and you need additional resources, seek out a warming center near you.