72-hour winter outage — quick playbook

Life-safety scenario

Carbon-monoxide poisoning from unsafe heating accounts for most outage-related fatalities in cold weather. Never run a gasoline generator, propane heater rated "outdoor only," or charcoal grill inside, in an attached garage, or near a window. CO is odorless and colorless. EPA AEGL-3 (life-threatening / death) thresholds are 1,700 ppm at 10 minutes, 600 ppm at 1 hour, and 150 ppm at 8 hours. CPSC research has measured generator-in-attached-garage concentrations exceeding 3,000 ppm within minutes of startup — at those levels, unconsciousness can follow in 30 minutes or less; the same generator outdoors but near an open window has produced 200–400 ppm indoors, which causes headache and nausea over 1–3 hours and becomes lethal over longer windows. Install a battery CO detector in every sleeping area today, before any outage hits.

Page Action Block

  • Do this first: Pick one room of the house to designate as the warm room. Close every other interior door. The 8'×10' (2.4×3.0 m) bedroom keeps four people warm with body heat alone for hours; the 20'×30' (6.1×9.1 m) living room does not.
  • Time required: 15 min stabilize → 72 hr maintenance
  • Cost: free (using on-hand sleeping bags and layered clothing) to moderate (running a portable generator at ~$25/day in fuel + extension cords + space heater) to significant investment (renting a generator and a kerosene heater mid-event)
  • Skill level: beginner to intermediate
  • Tools needed: layered cold-weather clothing for every household member, sleeping bags or wool blankets, thermometer for the warm room, headlamps + spare batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, a non-electric heat source (wood stove, propane heater rated for indoor use, kerosene heater) only if you've used it before, CO detector, water in containers (because pipes may freeze)
  • Safety warnings: Frozen pipes burst when they thaw, not when they freeze. Keep affected pipes accessible and have shutoff valves marked. Hypothermia kills people indoors when they think they're "just cold."
  • Legal / regional caveats: Many U.S. and Canadian municipalities operate warming centers during extended cold-weather outages — often in schools, community centers, or fire stations. Call 211 in the U.S. or your municipal information line to find the nearest one.
  • Last reviewed: 2026-05-19
  • Source hierarchy: CDC Preventing Hypothermia and Stay Alert for Hypothermia (Tier 1), Wilderness Medical Society Accidental Hypothermia 2019 Update and Frostbite 2019 Update (Tier 1, peer-reviewed clinical practice guidelines), CDC Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention (Tier 1), AVMA Cold Weather Animal Safety (Tier 1), American Red Cross Power Outage Safety (Tier 1), NFPA 211 Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances 2024 edition (Tier 1).
  • Next 3 links: Warmth without grid power, Winter storm preparedness, Cooking without power.

Trigger and pre-conditions

The precipitating event is a confirmed grid power outage during subfreezing outdoor temperatures (below 32°F / 0°C, with more severe response required below 20°F / -7°C and emergency conditions below 0°F / -18°C), with utility restoration estimated at 24–72 hours. This playbook assumes the household has standard residential construction (R-13 wall insulation, double-pane windows, attic insulation, intact roof and siding), at least one occupant capable of basic decision-making, and no immediate evacuation order. The 72-hour outcome this playbook delivers: every household member maintains a body temperature in the safe range without frostbite or hypothermia, no household plumbing damage from frozen pipes, food spoilage minimized, no carbon-monoxide exposure, and a clear escalation point if conditions deteriorate beyond home-based response.

T+0 to T+15 minutes — Stabilize

72-hour winter outage — decision tree

Goal: Confirm the outage scope, choose the warm room, dress for indoor cold, and assess immediate hazards.

  1. Confirm the outage scope. Look out the window — are the streetlights and neighbors' houses also dark? Is your circuit breaker tripped (a household-only event, not a grid outage)? If it's a household event, see energy/blackout-response.md § Hour 1: Triage and safety (step 1 — verify scope by checking the panel for a tripped breaker before treating it as a grid outage); if it's grid-wide, continue with this playbook.
  2. Note the indoor temperature at the time of outage. A typical residential interior at 68°F (20°C) drops about 1–2°F per hour in 20°F (-7°C) outdoor weather with no heat source, faster with wind, lower temperatures, or poorer insulation than the R-13/double-pane baseline assumed here. Use this to estimate how much time you have before the indoor temperature crosses the danger thresholds (50°F / 10°C is uncomfortable but safe for hours; 40°F / 4°C is the caution threshold — interior temperatures below this combined with outdoor temperatures of ~20°F / -7°C or below put exterior-wall pipes at real freezing risk, per University of Illinois Building Research Council field tests; 35°F / 2°C is hypothermia risk for elderly, infants, and immobile household members).
  3. Pick the warm room. Choose the smallest room with the most southern exposure and the fewest exterior walls — typically a bedroom on the south side. Close every interior door not leading to the warm room. The bathroom is a poor warm room (cold floor, uninsulated water lines); the kitchen is a poor warm room (cold floor over slab, large windows). Pick a bedroom.
  4. Dress everyone in layers, indoors. Three layers: a base layer (synthetic or wool — never cotton next to skin), a mid-layer (fleece, wool sweater, light puffy), an outer layer (heavy sweater, vest, or jacket — yes, indoors). Hats are non-negotiable: the head accounts for roughly 10% of body surface area in adults and loses heat proportionally, but more importantly any uncovered skin in a cold room is a steady drain — the old "40% from the head" figure is a debunked myth from a 1950s Army study where only the head was exposed. Cover all skin you can. Socks: wool or synthetic, two pairs if needed. Hands stay warm only if the core is warm; don't bother with gloves indoors yet — they impair task performance and the core needs the heat.
  5. Inventory the immediate hazards:
    • Carbon monoxide risk: Is anyone tempted to use the gas stove for heat? (Don't.) An indoor grill? (Don't.) A gas-powered generator in the garage? (Don't.) See the warning at the top of this page.
    • Frozen-pipe risk: How long have water lines run cold? Where do pipes run along exterior walls (kitchen sink, exterior-wall bathrooms, basement)?
    • Slip and trip risk: Headlamps now, before it gets dark and before anyone needs to navigate stairs in the dark with mittens on.
    • Medical: Is anyone in the household on a medical-device or refrigerated medication regimen? If yes, the higher-priority playbook is no-power-medical-device.md — pivot to that first, then return to this one for the cold-weather overlay.

Decision criteria:

  • IF the outage is part of a regional event (ice storm, severe winter storm, infrastructure failure) and the utility's restoration ETA is unclear → assume the full 72 hours and pace accordingly. Don't burn through reserves in the first 6 hours hoping the lights come back on at hour 8.
  • IF the outdoor temperature is below 0°F (-18°C) or wind chill below -10°F (-23°C) → this becomes a same-day evacuation candidate if the household lacks a non-electric heat source. Frostbite times drop to minutes in those conditions; pipe freezing is hours, not days.
  • IF the household includes an infant under 6 months, an elder over 75, or anyone with significant mobility limitation → start the warming-center or family-relocation phone calls now, not after you've tried to make home work.

Failure modes:

  • "It's just a few hours": Most winter outages last under 6 hours; the 90th-percentile severe-weather event runs 18–72 hours. Plan for the long tail.
  • Heating the whole house: Energy spent heating empty rooms is energy not available for the warm room. Triage ruthlessly.
  • Not dressing because "I'll just be a minute": Body cools fastest in the first 30 minutes of cold exposure indoors. Layer up immediately, you can shed later.

T+15 minutes to T+1 hour — Triage and contain

Goal: Make the warm room actually warm. Protect the pipes. Inventory food and water. Identify a non-electric heat source and verify it's safe.

  1. Heat the warm room with what you have:
    • Wood stove / fireplace with insert: If you have it, light it now. See shelter/warmth.md § Fireplaces and wood stoves. Conventional open fireplaces are a net negative for whole-house heat (they pull more warm air up the chimney than they radiate) but the warm room with a closed-stove insert can hit a comfortable temperature in 20–30 minutes.
    • Indoor-rated propane heater (Mr. Heater Buddy and similar, with low-oxygen shutoff and tip-over shutoff): Operate per the manufacturer's instructions, with the room ventilated per the manual (Mr. Heater specifies at least one window cracked open ~1 inch / 2.5 cm; check your unit's manual for the specific gap and any roof-vent requirement) and a CO detector running. A 9,000 BTU/hr heater warms a 200 sq ft (18.6 m²) room from 50°F to 65°F in 30–45 minutes. Do not use propane heaters that are not labeled for indoor use.
    • Kerosene heater: Same operating principles as propane (ventilation, CO detector, manufacturer instructions). Higher BTU output per pound of fuel; smell of unburned kerosene during start and shutdown.
    • Body heat and insulation only: Realistic for a 10'×10' (3.0×3.0 m) bedroom with 4 people. Won't keep the room above 40–45°F (4–7°C) at 20°F (-7°C) outdoor, but will keep occupants in sleeping bags safe.
    • Electric space heater on a portable generator — use only if the math works:
      • A 1,500W heater is the ceiling for a standard 120V/15A circuit (NEC 210.21).
      • That single load eats most of a mid-size 2,000–4,000W portable generator (residential common range), leaving little for fridge, freezer, lights, and medical devices.
      • Cheap modified-sine-wave generators run resistive heaters fine but damage CPAPs, oxygen concentrators, and modern furnace control boards on the same circuit.
      • CO siting still applies — generator outdoors ≥20 ft (6 m) from openings, full stop.
      • Full inverter-vs-conventional generator detail in energy/generators.md § Generator types.
  2. Protect the pipes:
    • Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls — warm room air reaches the pipes.
    • Drip cold-water taps at the fixtures farthest from the water meter and along exterior walls. A pencil-thick stream is enough; running water doesn't freeze as readily as standing water.
    • Close the water main and drain the lines if indoor temperature is dropping toward 40°F (4°C) and no heat source is available. The procedure: close the house main, open every faucet (hot and cold) starting at the highest fixture and working down, flush all toilets to empty tanks, drain the water heater if it's in an unheated space. See water/plumbing.md § Winterizing the system. The trade-off: no running water until the lines are recharged after restoration.
    • Mark the shutoff valves with a sticker, ribbon, or note for any household member who might need to use them.
  3. Inventory food and water:
    • Refrigerator: 4 hours closed, 36–40°F (2–4°C). After 4 hours, transfer dairy and meat to a cooler set outside in a shaded location (not in direct sun, not where wildlife can reach it).
    • Freezer: Full freezer holds 48 hours, half-full holds 24. Don't open it. After hour 36 (full) or hour 18 (half-full), transfer to a cooler outside.
    • Outside-cooler workflow: Place a thermometer in the cooler. Per USDA FSIS, ≤40°F (4°C) is safe for refrigerated foods; below ~30–32°F (-1 to 0°C) milk (freezes ~31°F), eggs (avoid freezing — discard if shell cracks during freeze), and other fluid items start to freeze. In typical winter-outage temperatures, the outdoor cooler doubles as a working refrigerator-equivalent — but in deep cold (single digits F / below -10°C ambient) you may need to insulate the cooler against the cold, not for it.
    • Water: If you've drained the pipes, count bottled water + water heater contents + any stored water. Standard floor is 1 gal (3.8 L) per person per day. Melting clean snow is an option but requires significant fuel; see water/ice.md § Snow-to-water ratios.
  4. Verify the CO detector in the room where any combustion device will run. If you don't have one, do not use a propane or kerosene heater indoors. Period.
  5. Notify the utility's outage line and ask for ETA. Note any household member registered on the medical-baseline list (see no-power-medical-device.md).
  6. Call the warming-center or relocation contact. Schools, community centers, fire stations, and (in the U.S.) state-coordinated emergency shelters operate warming centers in extended outages. Call 211 in the U.S. or the municipal information line to find the nearest one. Many open within 6 hours of a major outage starting; calling early reserves a slot before they fill.

Decision criteria:

  • IF you have no non-electric heat source and the outdoor temperature is below 20°F (-7°C) → plan to relocate to a warming center, family, friends, or a hotel within 6–12 hours. Home is not viable without a heat source in deep cold.
  • IF you have a non-electric heat source you've never operated → do not learn it during the outage. Use body heat and layers in the warm room, and relocate if conditions worsen. A miscalibrated propane heater kills more people than the cold does.
  • IF anyone in the household is unable to walk to a vehicle (mobility limitation, infirmity, severe illness) → relocation now is the right call. Don't wait for conditions to make movement harder.

Failure modes:

  • Using the gas oven for heat: The number-one source of CO poisoning in winter outages. A gas oven is designed to vent into an exhaust path that requires the exhaust fan, which requires power. Without power, combustion byproducts vent into the kitchen. Don't.
  • Generator in the garage: Even with the garage door open, even with the wind blowing the right direction. Generators outside, 20+ feet from any window or door, full stop.
  • Trying to "save" food by opening the freezer to check on it: Every freezer-open event resets the 48-hour clock. Trust the seal.

T+1 to T+6 hours — Sustain

Goal: Establish a sustainable rhythm in the warm room. Cook a hot meal. Get warm water. Monitor everyone.

  1. Maintain the warm room temperature. Target 60–68°F (15.5–20°C) with the heat source on; 50–60°F (10–15.5°C) acceptable for short stretches. Watch the thermometer; adjust airflow and heater output. If using propane or kerosene, follow the manufacturer's ventilation guidance — adequate fresh air is non-negotiable.

  2. Cook a hot meal. Hot food and hot drink contribute meaningfully to maintaining core temperature, especially for children and elders. Options without grid power:

    • Camp stove or propane single-burner: Outdoors or in a well-ventilated garage with the door open (still risky — CO accumulates faster than people expect). Boils 1 quart (1 L) of water in 4–6 minutes.
    • Wood stove with a flat top: Excellent cooking surface; a pot of soup on a wood stove is one of the great civilizational comforts.
    • Solar oven: Useful only in midday sun with clear sky; not a winter-night solution.
    • Backpacking stove on the deck: Outdoors, ventilated, fast. Bring it back inside after use; the canisters in deep cold may not vaporize fuel efficiently.
    • Pre-cooked food eaten cold: Canned soup, peanut butter, hard cheese, bread, jerky. Not ideal in deep cold but better than no food.

    See food/cooking-without-power.md for the full no-power cooking reference.

  3. Hot drinks for everyone, every 2–3 hours. Tea, coffee, broth, hot chocolate, even hot water with lemon. The thermal load from the liquid itself is small — most of the clinical benefit comes from the calories (sugar, fat, broth) the body burns to produce heat, plus the sensory warming and morale effect. Sweetened or salted broths beat plain hot water for actual core-temperature support, and this matters most for children and elders.

  4. Monitor every household member every 2 hours:
    • Color: Pink and warm = fine. Pale or bluish-gray hands, feet, ears, nose = early frostbite; warm them. Bluish lips or dusky skin tone = serious cold stress; warm them and re-evaluate the heating plan.
    • Behavior: Slowing down, slurred speech, confusion, drowsiness disproportionate to time of day = early hypothermia. Get the person into the warmest part of the warm room, in a sleeping bag, with another person if possible (the "two-person sleeping bag" trick really does work).
    • Energy and mood: Children with cold stress often become irritable, hyperactive, or refuse to acknowledge they're cold; elders typically become lethargic, quiet, and withdrawn (mood change, lassitude, and poor judgment are documented mild-hypothermia signs, and elders are more likely to under-report). Both patterns mask the same problem — check both age groups proactively rather than relying on self-report.
    • Shivering: Vigorous shivering is the body working correctly and is a sign of mild hypothermia (core ~95–90°F / 35–32°C). Shivering typically continues into moderate hypothermia and only ceases as core temperature falls below ~86–90°F (30–32°C) — by then the patient is significantly hypothermic, usually with altered mental status. Loss of shivering plus confusion, slurred speech, or stumbling is a 911 picture, not a "needs another blanket" picture.
  5. Coordinate with neighbors. A row of houses without power is also a row of households solving the same problem. Walk next door, see who's home, see who needs help. Elderly neighbors who live alone are the people most likely to be in serious trouble and least likely to call for help. See community/mutual-aid.md § Rapid response.
  6. Plan the next 18 hours:
    • Heat source endurance: Fuel for the propane or kerosene heater; wood for the stove; gas in the generator.
    • Food and water inventory: enough for the rest of the outage at the assumed ETA + 24 hours buffer.
    • Sleep plan: who sleeps where, with what bedding, with what heat source running through the night, with who monitoring.

Decision criteria:

  • IF the indoor temperature is dropping faster than expected → consolidate. Move everyone to the warm room. Bring sleeping bags and pillows. Treat the rest of the house as cold storage.
  • IF a household member shows signs of moderate hypothermia (poor coordination, confusion, very slow speech) → warm them aggressively (warm room, warm sleeping bag, warm liquid by mouth if they can drink) and start the relocation phone calls. Moderate hypothermia at home is at the boundary of clinical care.
  • IF the heating fuel inventory will not last to expected restoration → source more now. Gas stations close, propane refill stations close, hardware stores run out. Mid-evening is the worst time to source.

Failure modes:

  • Falling asleep with a portable propane heater on, low oxygen: Modern units have low-oxygen sensors but older ones may not. Operate per manufacturer; ventilate; CO detector running.
  • Hot beverage burns to small children: A 175°F mug tipping in a sleeping bag is dangerous. Use insulated mugs with lids for kids.
  • Skipping the 2-hour monitor for elders because "Grandma's fine, she said so": She may not realize she's not fine. Touch her hands; ask her to recite her phone number; look for tremor and pale skin.

T+6 to T+24 hours — Plan for the night

Goal: Get through the first night safely. Sleep matters; cold matters; carbon monoxide matters most.

  1. Set up the warm room for sleep. Everyone in the same room. Sleeping bags rated for the indoor temperature minus 10°F (or 5°C) for safety margin; blankets and wool layers if you don't have rated bags. Mattresses or sleeping pads off the cold floor. Bunk a child between two adults if possible (kids lose heat fast, adults regulate well). Elders need extra layering and proximity to the heat source.
  2. Decide on the heat source for the night. Three options, in priority order:
    • Wood stove with insert, ample wood inventory: Can run safely overnight if the firebox is full and the stove is in good condition. Adult on duty for hour-1, hour-4, hour-7 wakeups to add wood. CO detector running.
    • Indoor-rated propane or kerosene heater, follow manufacturer instructions including overnight-use guidance: Many models are NOT rated for unattended overnight operation. Read the manual. If unattended overnight is not allowed, run the heater for 2 hours before bedtime to bank heat in the room, then shut it off, then run it again at the 3 AM check.
    • No heater overnight, body-heat-and-bags only: Suitable for a small warm room with multiple people and warm-rated bags down to about 20°F (-7°C) outdoor temperature, depending on insulation and household composition. Below that, an alternative plan is needed.
  3. Pre-position everything for the night. Bedside: headlamp, water (in a thermos to prevent freezing), boots and warm clothing within arm's reach, a phone with low-power mode enabled. Bathroom: a flashlight, a way to wake up to use the bathroom without leaving the warm room temperature management (close warm-room door behind you on the way out and back). Heat source: fuel within reach for refill; CO detector visible.
  4. Set the wake-up plan. Phone alarm at 3 AM and 6 AM for the on-duty adult to: (a) check the heat source, (b) check the thermometer in the warm room, (c) check the CO detector indicator light, (d) glance at each sleeping person's color and breathing. If two adults are present, share the duty: one wakes at 1 AM and 5 AM, the other at 3 AM and 7 AM.
  5. Check the pipes at the same wake-ups. Run the dripped taps briefly to verify they haven't frozen. If they have, see water/plumbing.md § Thawing frozen pipes — slow thaw with a hair dryer or warm towel, never with a torch. Electrical safety for hair-dryer thaw: plug into a GFCI-protected outlet only (NEC 210.8 requires GFCI in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, basements, and within 6 ft / 1.8 m of any sink — most thaw sites qualify), keep hands and the dryer body dry, do not stand in standing water, and do not run the dryer if water is dripping from the pipe onto the dryer or its cord. If the dryer is GFCI-tripping repeatedly, stop — that indicates either moisture in the appliance or a real ground fault; switch to warm towels.
  6. Get sleep in shifts if monitoring is needed. Two adults can sleep 4 hours each between wake-ups; one adult sleeps in 2-hour blocks between alarms. Sleep deprivation is itself a hypothermia risk factor and impairs decision-making the next day.

Decision criteria:

  • IF anyone's bedside thermometer (under the sleeping bag, on the chest) reads below 95°F (35°C) → moderate hypothermia; this is a clinical event. Warm the person and call 911. Don't drive them yourself in deep cold unless 911 cannot reach you.
  • IF the warm room thermometer drops below 50°F (10°C) overnight with no heat source available → consolidate further (smaller room, more bodies in fewer bags, more layers) and plan to relocate first thing in the morning.
  • IF the CO detector alarms → evacuate the room immediately, ventilate, do not return until the alarm clears and you've identified the source. CO alarms are not nuisance alarms; treat every one as real.

Failure modes:

  • Heater fuel runs out at 4 AM: Calculate the fuel rate before bed (e.g., a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy MH9BX on low / 4,000 BTU consumes ~0.185 lb/hr / ~84 g/hr; a 1-lb / 16-oz / 450-g disposable cylinder lasts ~5.4 hours per the manufacturer spec; on high / 9,000 BTU it lasts ~2.4 hours). Plan refills against actual model-specific runtimes, not estimates.
  • Drinking before bed and waking to use the bathroom in the cold: Restrict beverages 2 hours before sleep; the cold bathroom trip costs more heat than the hydration is worth on a single night.
  • Generator running unattended in deep cold: Generators are designed for short-cycle operation; an overnight cold start may fail. If you're running a generator overnight, check it at the wake-ups.

T+24 to T+72 hours — Maintain or escalate

Goal: Sustain the rhythm. Watch for cumulative cold stress. Make the relocate call deliberately if needed.

  1. Morning brief:
    • Outdoor temperature today and overnight forecast.
    • Utility restoration ETA update.
    • Heat source endurance (fuel inventory).
    • Food inventory and the day's meal plan.
    • Water inventory (drinking and pipe-drip).
    • Health check of every household member.
    • Pipes — any frozen or burst overnight?
  2. Watch for cumulative cold stress:
    • Elders: A 75-year-old who's been at indoor 55°F (13°C) for 24 hours has likely lost more body mass than younger members; check weight if practical, watch for confusion, watch for incontinence-related cold sores. Caloric intake should be higher than normal.
    • Children: Lethargy disproportionate to time of day, refusal to eat, hands stay cold even with mittens — these are signs to relocate.
    • Adults: The classic "I'm fine, I'm just tired" is unreliable on day 2. Use objective measures: bedside thermometer reading 96°F+ (35.5°C+) is fine; below that is a warning.
    • Mood: Outage fatigue is real. Two days in a 55°F house wearing the same clothes erodes good decision-making. Hot meals, hot drinks, and a brief outdoor walk (in proper clothing) help.
  3. Source more fuel and supplies today, not "later":
    • Heater fuel: Propane refill stations open 6 AM in most U.S. metros; kerosene available at gas stations; firewood from neighbors or feed stores.
    • Food: Grocery stores closer to the outage edge are more likely to be open. Buy no-cook food (bread, peanut butter, canned soup, cheese, fruit, jerky).
    • Water: Bottled water if pipes are drained; tap water from grocery filling stations if available.
    • Batteries: Headlamps, CO detectors, radios.
  4. Refresh the relocation calculus. The relocation triggers, any two firing means relocate today:
    • Heat source endurance < 18 hours remaining with no clear refresh.
    • Indoor temperature trending below 50°F (10°C) overnight and not recoverable.
    • Any household member with cumulative cold stress that's not resolving with warming and food.
    • Caregiver(s) exhausted to impaired-judgment level.
    • Pipes have frozen in critical zones.
    • The outage ETA has stretched beyond plan (especially if a follow-on storm is forecast).
  5. Coordinate community-wide. A 48+ hour outage in cold weather has community-wide effects: warming centers, school closures, frozen pipes in commercial buildings, sometimes water-pressure problems. Check the municipal information channel (radio, social media, 211 in the U.S.) for updates. Offer help to people who need it; ask for help if you need it.
  6. Plan for power restoration:
    • When power returns, the first hour is unstable — partial restoration, brief drops, voltage swings as the utility re-energizes feeders in sections. Don't immediately reconnect sensitive electronics; wait 30–60 minutes for the grid to stabilize, then bring loads back one at a time with ~30-second pauses: lights first (resistive, instantaneous, also a useful grid-stability tell), then the furnace, then the refrigerator (close the door before energizing), then the water heater (resistive 4,500W typical on 240V — verify the tank is full to avoid dry-fire on the heating element), then sensitive electronics last.
    • When the thermostat works again, do not dial it to 75°F (24°C) to "warm up fast." A cold house warms at the same rate at 68°F (20°C) thermostat setting and saves wear on the furnace.
    • Check every pipe in the house, especially exterior-wall runs. Frozen pipes that didn't burst during freeze may burst on thaw.
    • Document any damage with phone photos for insurance.
    • Restock everything you used in this incident — fuel, batteries, food — before the next one. The cheapest time to buy emergency supplies is between emergencies.

Decision criteria:

  • IF a follow-on storm is forecast within 48 hours of expected restoration → keep reserves intact; do not assume restoration ends the incident. Source supplies now while stores are restocked.
  • IF anyone in the household develops a respiratory infection (cough, fever, body aches) during the cold-stress period → seek clinical care; cold stress reduces immune function and respiratory viruses spread fast in cold huddled-together households.
  • IF the household has been at indoor 50°F (10°C) for 48+ hours with elders or infants → relocate today. Cumulative cold stress in vulnerable populations is a one-way ratchet; symptoms appear after damage is done.

Failure modes:

  • "We made it this far, we can make it 8 more hours": Sunk-cost reasoning. Treat every relocation decision on its own merits.
  • Restart everything at once when power returns: Motor inrush from multiple appliances starting together can trip the main breaker or damage utility transformers still stabilizing. Bring loads back one at a time with ~30-second pauses — full sequencing (lights → furnace → fridge → water heater → electronics) is in the T+24-72hr "Plan power restoration" step above.
  • Skipping the post-thaw pipe check: Burst pipes from outage events often go unnoticed for hours after thaw because the household is celebrating restoration. Walk the basement, attic, and any plumbing that runs along exterior walls before declaring the incident over.

Cross-Foundation routing

If this becomes a problem Read this
Choosing and operating a non-electric heat source shelter/warmth.md
Carbon-monoxide siting for generators and heaters energy/generators.md § Carbon monoxide safety
Frozen-pipe prevention and thawing water/plumbing.md § Winterizing and thawing
Cooking without grid power food/cooking-without-power.md
Cold-weather food safety (outdoor cooler workflow) medical/cold-chain.md § Cold-weather inversion
Hypothermia recognition and rewarming medical/hypothermia.md
Frostbite recognition and field treatment medical/hypothermia.md § Frostbite
Medical-device-dependent household overlay scenarios/no-power-medical-device.md
Caregiver coordination for elders during cold stress medical/elder-care.md
Infant warmth and feeding during outage medical/infant-care.md — neonates and young infants cannot shiver effectively; see Shelter challenges specific to infants and Formula reconstitution
Snow-to-water conversion if pipes are dry water/ice.md § Snow-to-water ratios
Evacuation planning if home becomes unviable mobility/evacuation.md
Threat-specific winter storm planning threats/winter-storm.md
Extended outage (>5 days) regional response guides/grid-down-survival.md
Printable summary

72-hour winter outage — playbook

T+0–15 min — Stabilize 1. Confirm outage scope (street-wide or just you?). 2. Note indoor temperature; estimate hours to 40°F threshold. 3. Pick the warm room (smallest, south-facing, fewest exterior walls). 4. Dress everyone in layers; hats and wool socks indoors. 5. Identify hazards: CO risk, frozen-pipe risk, slip risk, medical overlay. Watch for: Gas oven, indoor grill, garage generator = CO death.

T+15 min–1 hr — Triage 1. Heat the warm room (wood, indoor-rated propane, kerosene, or body heat). 2. Protect pipes: open cabinets, drip taps, drain lines if temp dropping. 3. Inventory food (fridge 4 hr, full freezer 48 hr); set up outdoor cooler. 4. Verify CO detector. 5. Call utility outage line + warming center / 211. Watch for: Below 20°F outdoor with no heat source = relocate same day.

T+1–6 hr — Sustain 1. Maintain warm room 60–68°F target. 2. Cook hot meal (camp stove outdoors / wood stove / pre-cooked cold). 3. Hot drinks every 2–3 hours for everyone. 4. Monitor every 2 hr: color, behavior, energy, shivering. 5. Coordinate with neighbors; check on elderly singles. 6. Plan next 18 hr: heat fuel, food/water, sleep plan. Watch for: Irritable/hyperactive kids and lethargic/withdrawn elders — both are cold-stress signals; self-report is unreliable in both age groups.

T+6–24 hr — Plan for the night 1. Set up warm room for sleep (everyone same room, rated bags, off cold floor). 2. Decide overnight heat source carefully — read manuals. 3. Pre-position headlamp, water (thermos), boots, phone bedside. 4. Wake-up plan: 3 AM and 6 AM heat / temp / CO / sleeper check. 5. Check pipes at wake-ups. 6. Sleep in shifts if monitoring needed. Watch for: Bedside thermometer below 95°F = clinical event, call 911.

T+24–72 hr — Maintain or escalate 1. Morning brief: temp, ETA, fuel, food, water, health, pipes. 2. Watch cumulative cold stress in elders, kids, adults. 3. Source more fuel/food/water today. 4. Refresh relocate-or-stay decision; 2+ triggers fire = relocate today. 5. Plan power restoration: wait 30–60 min before reconnecting electronics; thermostat to 68°F; check every pipe after thaw. Watch for: Follow-on storm forecast — restoration doesn't end the incident.

FAQ

Why is the gas oven so dangerous for indoor heating?

A gas oven is designed to vent combustion byproducts (carbon monoxide, water vapor, nitrogen oxides) into the kitchen exhaust system, which requires a working exhaust fan and a properly-vented hood. Without grid power, the exhaust fan doesn't run, and combustion byproducts vent directly into the kitchen and from there throughout the house. A single hour of gas-oven-as-heater operation in a closed kitchen can produce CO concentrations that cause headache and dizziness; several hours can be fatal, especially if anyone is asleep. The same applies to gas dryers, gas clothing dryers, and any indoor combustion appliance that depends on an active exhaust system. Use only heaters rated and labeled for indoor use, and follow their ventilation instructions.

Can I use a fireplace for heat if I have one?

A conventional open masonry fireplace is a net negative for whole-house heat in cold weather — it pulls more warm interior air up the chimney than it radiates back into the room. The exception is a closed fireplace insert (a sealed wood-burning unit installed inside the masonry), which can heat a warm room effectively. If you have an open fireplace and no other heat source, you can still gain useful local warmth by closing the doors to other rooms and treating the fireplace room as the warm room — but be aware the net house heat budget is negative. Long-term, install an insert. See shelter/warmth.md § Fireplaces and wood stoves.

How cold is too cold for the house before I should relocate?

Three thresholds, each more serious than the last:

  • 50°F (10°C) indoor: Uncomfortable for most adults; safe for short stretches; pipes are not yet in immediate freezing danger. Acceptable transit-through temperature on the way to active warming.
  • 40°F (4°C) indoor: Pipe freezing risk in 6–12 hours along exterior walls. Active hypothermia risk for elders, infants, and immobile household members. Time to take active measures.
  • 35°F (2°C) indoor: Hypothermia risk for healthy adults over hours; pipe freezing imminent. Relocate or take aggressive warming measures.

If the trend is downward without a clear way to reverse it, relocate before crossing the next threshold rather than after.

What about my pets during a winter outage?

Dogs and cats tolerate household cold better than humans (their thermoregulation is more efficient), but they are not immune. Move pet beds into the warm room. Provide more food than usual (cold metabolism burns more calories). Older pets, very young pets, short-haired or hairless breeds, and pets with health conditions (kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, weight loss) need extra care — often a sweater or coat indoors during the outage. Check their paws and ears for cold injury same as you would a human. Keep them indoors; don't let them outside for extended periods in deep cold.

My pipes are frozen — how do I thaw them without bursting them?

Slow thaw with a hair dryer or warm towels, starting at the faucet end and working back toward the frozen section. Never use a torch, propane heater, or other open-flame device on pipes — uneven heating causes bursting and the fire risk is significant. Open the faucet at the frozen pipe's far end before thawing; running water carries melt-water away as the ice releases. If you cannot locate the frozen section, or the frozen section is in an inaccessible space (inside a wall), close the house main and call a plumber. A pipe that's frozen in an inaccessible space is at risk of bursting when it thaws regardless of your intervention. See water/plumbing.md § Thawing frozen pipes.

Is it okay to bring the propane tank for my outdoor grill indoors during the outage?

No. Propane tanks for outdoor grills (typically 20-lb / 9 kg cylinders) are not rated or safe for indoor storage. They can leak; leaked propane is denser than air and pools in basements and low areas; the smallest ignition source becomes an explosion. Outdoor grill propane tanks stay outdoors, full stop. Small camp-stove and indoor-rated heater cylinders (typically 1 lb / 450 g disposable cylinders) are designed for indoor use within their specified appliances and following the manufacturer's storage and operation instructions.

What's the difference between a kerosene heater and a propane heater for indoor use?

Both can be safe when operated per manufacturer instructions in an appropriately ventilated room with a working CO detector; both can be fatal otherwise. Practical differences:

  • Kerosene is liquid fuel (easier to store in large quantities, lower per-BTU cost than disposable propane), produces a distinct smell during start and shutdown, and requires a wick that needs periodic replacement.
  • Propane is gaseous fuel (cleaner burn, no wick), uses disposable or refillable cylinders, and is generally more expensive per BTU but more convenient for short-duration use.

For a household that experiences outages routinely, kerosene makes economic sense and the smell is manageable; for occasional emergency use, propane is more convenient. Either way: indoor-rated unit, CO detector, ventilation per manual.

How do I know when to stop sheltering in place and go to a warming center?

The relocation triggers from the playbook, with two or more firing meaning relocate today: heat source endurance below 18 hours with no refresh path, indoor temperature trending below 50°F overnight and not recoverable, cumulative cold stress in vulnerable household members, caregiver exhaustion at impaired-judgment level, frozen pipes in critical zones, ETA stretched beyond your supplies. The single trigger that should always cause same-day relocation: anyone in the household with hypothermia (bedside thermometer below 95°F / 35°C) or moderate cold stress (slurred speech, confusion, lack of shivering when clearly cold).

When to escalate beyond this playbook

This playbook is the right tool when the outage is bounded (24–72 hours), the household is healthy enough to manage with reduced heating, and home is still viable for everyone in the house. Switch out when any of these are true: the outage is a regional event lasting more than 5 days (go to guides/grid-down-survival.md), anyone develops moderate or severe hypothermia (911 and emergency care), the household includes someone medically dependent on devices (overlay scenarios/no-power-medical-device.md), an evacuation order is issued, the home itself becomes uninhabitable (burst pipes flood the structure, structural damage from wind or weight of snow, fire). For the regional or extended case, the longer-arc guide is the right reference; for the medical-overlay case, the medical playbook takes priority.

Tier 1 sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-20 · Page Action Block: STANDARDS § 13 · Scenario format spec: SCENARIO-PLAYBOOK-FORMAT.md v1.1