Winter outage. Stay warm without getting killed.
Cold is the emergency, and the shortcuts people take against it — ovens, grills, generators indoors — are what turn outages fatal.
Do this now
- Pick one room — small, south-facing if possible — close its doors, and live there. You're heating people, not the house.
- Layers beat heroics: hats indoors, blankets layered, everyone in one room shares heat.
- Never heat with the oven, a grill, or a camp stove. That's carbon monoxide indoors.
- Drip the faucets — a pencil-thin stream of cold water keeps pipes from bursting — and open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls.
- Check on neighbors who are older or alone. Cold kills quietly.
The heat you have
Towels against door drafts, blankets over windows at night (open the curtains when sun hits), everyone sleeping in the one room. A candle produces almost no heat and a real fire risk — a body under blankets produces plenty. Eat and drink normally; the body burns food into warmth.
The pipe math
Pipes burst where water sits still against cold: exterior walls, crawlspaces, garages. Moving water resists freezing — that's the drip. If a pipe does freeze, shut off the main before it thaws; the burst happens at thaw, not at freeze. Know where the main shutoff is before tonight.
Signs someone's too cold
Confusion, slurred words, intense shivering that then stops — hypothermia takes decision-making first. Warm the person gradually, center of the body first, and call 911. Babies and elders slide fastest.
Do not
- Don't run ovens, grills, camp stoves, or generators indoors for heat — that's how outage CO deaths happen.
- Don't drink alcohol to feel warm — it drains real body heat.
- Don't leave candles burning where anyone sleeps.
- Don't let pipes sit still: drip the faucets.
Common questions
Can I use my gas oven to heat the house in an outage?
No. Unvented combustion indoors builds carbon monoxide — it's one of the leading causes of outage deaths. One room, layers, and shared body heat instead.
Why do you drip faucets in freezing weather?
Moving water freezes far more slowly, and the drip relieves the pressure that bursts pipes. A thin cold stream at the fixtures farthest from the main is enough.
What are the signs of hypothermia?
Intense shivering, then confusion, slurred speech, drowsiness — and shivering that stops is worsening, not improving. Warm gradually and call 911.
Sources — official guidance
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