How to keep warm without electricity in a power outage

How do you keep warm without electricity?

You keep warm without electricity by heating one small room and keeping your body heat in. Close that room off, add layers and bedding, and cut drafts.

Do this before you reach for any heater. Start with a smaller room and the clothing and bedding you already own. These measures do not generate carbon monoxide (CO).

If a storm is forecast, set the room up while the power is still on. The power outage emergency kit guide covers blankets, lights and other supplies, and what to do before a winter storm covers the rest of the prep.

How do you set up one warm room?

A one-warm-room setup means choosing a single room, moving the household into it and sealing it off from the rest of the house.

1. Pick a small interior room with few or no outside walls. Consumer Reports suggests a room with south-facing windows, which get the most winter sun in the northern hemisphere, and having everyone share it so body heat helps (Consumer Reports, updated 2026-01-23).
2. Close the doors between that room and the rest of the house. Hang a blanket over any doorway that has no door.
3. Block drafts at door gaps and window edges with towels, weather stripping or plastic sheeting.
4. Cover windows at night with blankets or heavy curtains. In the day, open curtains on sunny windows.
5. Bring in bedding from the rest of the house, plus water, a light and your phone charger.
6. Keep a CO alarm in the room. Use a battery-operated alarm or one with battery backup, as the CPSC advises.

Skip the bathroom and any room with a gas appliance. Gas appliances are covered below.

What should you wear to stay warm during a power outage?

Wear several loose, dry layers, plus a hat and dry socks, and take off any layer that gets damp.

The Red Cross advises layers of loose clothing, a coat, a hat, mittens and water-resistant boots, and covering the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers and toes, which are the first parts to get frostbite. Consumer Reports adds that staying dry matters because sweat can raise the risk of hypothermia.

For sleeping, put a sleeping bag or extra blankets on the bed and dress in dry layers. Make the warm room your sleeping room too. Bedding and layers keep you warm overnight; an unvented fuel-burning heater does not belong in that room.

Which heat sources are safe to use indoors?

Only a few heat sources are safe indoors without electricity. Never run an unvented fuel-burning appliance where people sleep, turn portable heaters off before bed and never sleep with a wood fire burning. The table marks each source as the named agency describes it, as of 2026-10-26.

Heat source	Indoors?	What the source says
Layers, blankets, sleeping bag, shared room	Safe	Red Cross and Consumer Reports advise layers and a shared room. No fuel, no CO.
Gas oven, range or cooktop used for heat	Unsafe	CPSC: “Never use gas appliances such as ranges, ovens, or clothes dryers to heat your home.” NFPA: “Never use your oven to heat your home.” Red Cross: never heat with an oven or stove.
Charcoal grill or charcoal, even smouldering	Unsafe	CPSC: “Never burn charcoal inside a home, garage, vehicle, or tent.” CDC lists charcoal grills as a CO source.
Portable gas camp stove	Unsafe	CDC: never use a portable gas camp stove indoors. CPSC: no portable fuel-burning camping equipment in a home, garage, vehicle or tent unless designed for enclosed use.
Generator in a house, garage or next to a window	Unsafe	CDC: run generators outdoors, more than 20 feet (6 m) from windows, doors and vents, and never inside a home or garage.
Car or truck running in an attached garage	Unsafe	CDC: never, even with the garage door open.
Unvented fuel-burning heater in a bedroom	Unsafe	CPSC: “Never operate unvented fuel-burning appliances in any room where people are sleeping.”
Wood fireplace or wood stove	Only if vented and maintained	Red Cross and NFPA: use care, keep burnables 3 feet (1 m) away, have the chimney checked every year. Consumer Reports says never sleep with a fire burning.
Electric space heater on a generator or power station	Fire risk, CO-free	NFPA: 3 feet (1 m) clearance, turn off when leaving the room or going to bed. The generator itself must stay outdoors.
Indoor-rated propane heater	Read the manual	Consumer Reports says to use only indoor-rated units, keep a window slightly open and never run one unattended or while sleeping. CPSC’s rule on unvented appliances in sleeping rooms applies.

Sources for the table: CDC, CPSC, NFPA, Red Cross, Consumer Reports.

For propane heaters, Consumer Reports sets the conditions: indoor-rated unit, window slightly open, never unattended, never while sleeping. NFPA adds that fuel-burning equipment should vent to the outside. The propane heater indoors guide goes through the details, and the battery-powered space heater guide covers the no-fuel option.

Why is heating with a gas oven or grill dangerous?

Heating with a gas oven, grill or generator indoors can fill a home with carbon monoxide, a gas you cannot see or smell. Keep generators the recommended distance from the house.

The CDC lists headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion as the common symptoms. It says people who are sleeping or intoxicated can die before they notice any. The CDC counts more than 400 unintentional CO deaths a year in the US that are not linked to fires.

If you feel sick, dizzy or weak while using any fuel source, the Red Cross says to get to fresh air right away and not to delay. Call 911 or your local emergency number from outside.

What happened in Texas when the power stayed off?

In the February 2021 Texas winter storm, outages lasted days, many households used unsafe heat, and CO poisoning followed. The Texas Comptroller and a University of Houston survey supply the figures below.

Measure	Figure	Source and date
Texans who lost power at some point, 14 to 20 Feb 2021	69%	Texas Comptroller, Oct 2021
Average disruption among residents who lost power	42 hours, 31 in a row	Texas Comptroller, Oct 2021
Gas oven or cooktop used for heat, among those who stayed home without power	26%	UH Hobby School, YouGov survey of 1,500, 9 to 19 Mar 2021
Grill or smoker used indoors	8%	Same survey
Outdoor propane heater used indoors	5%	Same survey
CO visits to ERs and urgent care, 13 to 20 Feb	More than 1,400	ProPublica, 29 Apr 2021, from Texas health department surveillance data
Share of CO cases who were children	42%	ProPublica
Cold-exposure or hypothermia visits, 13 to 20 Feb	At least 1,175	ProPublica
Confirmed CO deaths when reported	At least 11	ProPublica
Deaths the storm contributed to	At least 210	Texas Comptroller

The Comptroller reports that many residents found indoor temperatures at or below freezing. The CO count covers only people who sought care at clinics reporting to the state, so the true toll ran higher, as ProPublica notes.

A 31-hour stretch without power covers a full night and more. Plan the warm room for sleeping, not just for an evening. How long power outages last shows what to expect for other causes.

How fast does a house cool down without heat?

Cooling time depends on insulation, wind, outdoor temperature and house size, so no single number fits every home. The how cold a house gets without heat guide breaks down the factors.

Measure your own house. Put a thermometer in the warm room and one in a closed-off room, and write down the readings every few hours. You get your home’s real cooling rate, which beats any rule of thumb.

What is the safest plan hour by hour?

A timed checklist helps you decide what to do while the power is off, starting with what costs nothing.

• First hour: Choose the warm room. Close doors, block drafts, put on layers and gather bedding. Place a CO alarm in the room.
• Hours 2 to 12: Stay in the warm room. Keep portable heaters, if you have any, at least 3 feet (1 m) from anything that burns and turn them off when you leave the room.
• Before sleeping: Turn off every portable heater. Check that any generator is outdoors, more than 20 feet (6 m) from windows, doors and vents. Use bedding and layers, not fuel, to stay warm overnight.
• Hours 12 to 36 and beyond: Decide whether to go somewhere warm. The Red Cross says to go to a friend’s house, a library, a mall or a warming center if the home gets too cold.
• At any time: If anyone shows signs of hypothermia, treat it as an emergency.

When is it time to leave or call for help?

Leave for a warm place, or call emergency services, if anyone shows signs of hypothermia or CO poisoning, or if the home is too cold to manage.

The CDC says that in adults, watch for shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness. In babies, the signs are bright red, cold skin and very low energy. A temperature below 95°F (35°C) needs medical attention immediately. The CDC advises moving the person to a warm room or shelter, removing wet clothing and warming the center of the body under dry layers.

Babies, older adults and people with medical conditions are at higher risk. If someone in your household depends on powered medical equipment, ask your utility about a backup plan before winter.

Where this guide applies

The guidance comes from US agencies and Texas 2021 data. Readers elsewhere should check national guidance too; in the UK, 999 is the emergency number.

Stock the room with a winter storm emergency kit, and see the food in fridge or freezer guide for the other timing question in an outage. More outage guides are on the guides page.