A winter power outage is more dangerous than a summer one because the cold itself becomes the threat, so the goal of winter prep is to keep your household warm, your pipes from freezing, and combustion fumes out of the house. According to Ready.gov, winter storms raise the risk of hypothermia, frostbite, and carbon monoxide poisoning, and a long outage during a cold snap can also freeze and burst the pipes inside your walls.
This guide walks through what to do before the storm, how to stay warm without poisoning anyone, how to protect your plumbing, and how to handle water and food. The single most important rule comes first, because it is the one that kills people every winter.
⚠️ Never heat your home with a stove, grill, or generator
Gas ovens, charcoal and propane grills, camp stoves, and generators all give off carbon monoxide (CO), an odorless, colorless gas, and must never be used indoors to heat. Run a generator outdoors only, at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent. Keep a battery-powered or battery-backup CO alarm where you sleep, and watch for hypothermia in children, older adults, and pets, who lose heat fastest. If someone is shivering uncontrollably, confused, very cold, or hard to wake, call 911 right away (CDC).
Before the storm: build your kit and charge up
The work that keeps a cold outage survivable happens before the power goes out. Ready.gov recommends an emergency kit you can live on for several days without electricity: at least one gallon of water per person per day, a few days of no-cook food, a manual can opener, flashlights and spare batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, any medications, and a first-aid kit. For winter specifically, add extra blankets, sleeping bags, warm layers, hats, gloves, and dry socks for everyone in the house.
When a storm is in the forecast, charge everything while you still have power. Top off phones, laptops, battery banks, and any portable power station, since a full battery is worth far more once the grid is down. Fill a few extra water containers, and if you heat or cook with fuel, make sure you have a safe outdoor supply for a generator and never store fuel indoors. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and replace the batteries, because CO risk climbs in winter when people improvise heat.
A few minutes of prep on the house itself pays off too. Drain and disconnect garden hoses, shut off and drain outdoor spigots, and locate your main water shutoff valve now so you are not hunting for it in the dark with water spraying. Knowing where it is can save you from thousands of dollars in damage if a pipe later bursts.
| Cold-outage risk | Why it spikes in a winter outage | What lowers it |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothermia | No heat plus falling indoor temperatures; hits children, older adults, and pets first | Heat one room, layer up, share body heat, eat and sip warm fluids |
| Carbon monoxide poisoning | People burn fuel indoors to stay warm | Never run generators, grills, or camp stoves inside; keep a battery-backup CO alarm |
| Frozen or burst pipes | Unheated water lines drop below freezing and split | Let faucets drip, open cabinets, keep heat up, know the main shutoff |
Staying warm safely
Pick one small room to ride out the outage in, ideally an interior room with few windows, and close it off from the rest of the house. The CDC advises closing off unneeded rooms, avoiding opening doors and windows more than you have to, and stuffing towels or rags into the cracks under doors. Move everyone, including pets, into that one space, since several people in a small room hold noticeably more heat than the same people spread across the house.
Dress in several loose, thin layers rather than one bulky coat, and cover your head, hands, and feet, which lose heat fastest. Keep clothing dry, because damp fabric pulls warmth away quickly. The CDC suggests drinking warm, sweet beverages or broth to help keep your body temperature up, and avoiding alcohol and caffeine, which work against you. For sleeping, a cold-rated sleeping bag or a pile of blankets traps body heat better than a thin cover, and sitting on cushions keeps the cold floor from stealing your warmth.
The only heat sources that belong indoors are electric ones, and only if you have a safe way to power them. A space heater run from a battery power station produces no fumes, but it draws roughly 1,500 watts on high and drains most portable batteries within an hour or two, so a heated blanket is usually a far better use of limited backup power. Keep any space heater at least 3 feet from drapes, bedding, and furniture. A fireplace or wood stove is fine only if it is built for heating and vented properly to the outside. Whatever you use, keep a working CO alarm nearby and never bring an outdoor heater, grill, or generator inside.
Protecting your pipes from freezing
When the heat is out and temperatures drop, the water sitting in your pipes can freeze, expand, and split the pipe open. The American Red Cross recommends letting the cold water drip from a faucet served by exposed pipes, because even a trickle of moving water makes a pipe much less likely to freeze. Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks so warmer indoor air can reach the plumbing, and move any cleaners or chemicals out of reach of children first.
Hold on to whatever heat you can. Keep garage doors closed, especially if there are water lines in the garage, and if you still have any heat, keep the thermostat set to the same temperature day and night. The Red Cross suggests keeping the house no colder than about 55°F if you have to leave during a cold stretch. Pipes most at risk run along exterior walls, in unheated basements, and in crawl spaces, so those are the spots to watch.
If a faucet stops running or a pipe freezes, it has not necessarily burst yet, and you may be able to thaw it gently. But if a pipe does break, shut off the main water valve right away to stop the flooding, then call a plumber. This is why finding that valve ahead of time matters: when water is pouring out, you want to stop it in seconds, not minutes.
Water and food
Store at least one gallon of water per person per day, with a three-day supply as the minimum and two weeks if you have room, since a winter outage can knock out well pumps and drop municipal pressure. Do not count on melting snow for drinking water unless you have to: the CDC notes that snow can carry germs and chemicals, so bring melted snow to a rolling boil for one minute before drinking it, and even then it is a last resort.
For food, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors shut as much as possible. A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours, a full freezer for roughly 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours. In a hard freeze you can use the cold outdoors to your advantage with coolers, but do not let food sit in direct sun or where animals can reach it, and check temperatures with a thermometer rather than by taste. When in doubt, throw it out. Lean on shelf-stable, no-cook food during the outage so you are not tempted to fire up an unsafe indoor heat source just to cook.
After the power comes back
Once the heat returns, watch your plumbing closely. A pipe that froze can crack and only start leaking once it thaws and water flows again, so check under sinks and along exterior walls for drips and damp spots over the next day or two. If you find a leak, shut off the main valve and call a plumber.
Throw out any refrigerated food that was above 40°F for more than 2 hours or that has an odd smell or color, and toss anything that thawed and sat warm. Check on elderly neighbors and anyone living alone, since the cold can linger in a house long after the lights come back. Then restock what you used, recharge your batteries and power station, and reset your kit so you are ready for the next storm.
If you are planning to lean on a battery for winter outages, do the math before the lights go out. Our Power-Station Sizing calculator helps you match a station to what you actually need to keep running, and the Appliance Runtime calculator shows how long a heated blanket, space heater, or other load will last on a given battery before it runs flat.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stay warm in a winter outage without electricity?
Close off one small interior room and keep everyone in it, stuff towels under the doors, and wear several loose layers with a hat, gloves, and thick socks. Use blankets and sleeping bags to trap body heat, and drink warm, sweet beverages or broth. Do not burn anything indoors for heat. If you have a battery power station, a heated blanket is a much smarter use of it than a space heater.
Why should I let my faucets drip during a winter power outage?
Moving water is much harder to freeze than still water. The American Red Cross recommends letting cold water drip from a faucet served by exposed pipes when temperatures are very cold, because even a trickle relieves the pressure that builds up between the freezing point and the faucet and lowers the chance a pipe will burst.
Is it safe to use a generator or grill to heat my home in winter?
No. Generators, gas and charcoal grills, and camp stoves all release carbon monoxide and must never be run inside a home, basement, garage, or near a window, even for heat. The CDC says to keep a generator outdoors only, at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent, and to keep a battery-powered CO alarm inside. Carbon monoxide is odorless and can build to deadly levels before anyone notices.
How much water and food should I have for a winter outage?
Plan for at least one gallon of water per person per day, with three days as a minimum and two weeks if you can store it. Keep several days of shelf-stable, no-cook food and a manual can opener. A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours and a full freezer for roughly 48 hours, so keep the doors shut and check temperatures with a thermometer rather than tasting.
What should I do if a pipe freezes or bursts during the outage?
If a faucet stops running, the pipe may be frozen but not yet broken, and gentle thawing can sometimes save it. If a pipe actually bursts, shut off your home’s main water valve immediately to stop the flooding, then call a plumber. Knowing where that main valve is before winter is the single best thing you can do to limit the damage.