Smart Hacks For Keeping Your Home Warm If The Power Goes Out
When the power goes out in winter, it can be scary and dangerous. You probably already know a few tips, like closing doors, wearing layers, and using blankets. These are all good tips, but sometimes they’re just not enough. What actually helps is thinking less about heat sources and more about how heat behaves. Warmth moves, escapes, and settles in ways you might not notice. The tips in this article focus on working with heat to keep your house warm. They’re a little unexpected, very practical, and surprisingly effective when the power goes out.
Seal Doorways With Plastic Wrap
Towels under doors help, but plastic wrap goes one step further. Try stretching plastic wrap across doorways to rooms that you aren’t using. It blocks air movement while still letting light get through (unlike foil). This can create a noticeable temperature difference quite quickly. Painter’s tape or masking tape works well to stick the wrap to walls and doors and removes cleanly later. It’s an old trick that has been used in drafty buildings for ages.
Turn Your Mattress Into Insulation
Mattresses trap heat extremely well. If the outage lasts more than a few hours, move your mattresses into your main living space or lean them against the exterior walls of your house. This adds insulation where cold seeps out the most. Sleeping or sitting near the mattresses keeps body heat from escaping into cold walls too. It looks odd, but it works far better than piling more blankets on a couch to try to fight against a freezing home.
Use Foil To Redirect Heat Through Your House
If you have any heat source at all, like a fireplace or candles used safely, aluminum foil can help move the heat around. Place foil behind the heat source with the shiny side facing inward, toward the heat. It reflects radiant heat back into the room instead of letting it soak into walls or the chimney. Even without active heat, foil placed behind radiators before an outage can help keep any lingering warmth longer than bare walls do.
Use Hot Water As A Slow-Release Heat Source
If you still have access to hot water when the power goes out, fill sturdy bottles, jars, or hot water bottles and place them around where people sit or sleep. Hot water releases heat slowly over hours. Tuck them into blankets, under tables, or near feet on the floor. Unlike candles, this warmth lasts for a while and doesn’t risk a fire. It’s one of the most underrated ways to stretch heat without using electricity.
Add Humidity To Feel Warmer
Dry air makes cold feel even colder. If it’s safe to do so, place bowls of warm water around the room or hang damp towels near where people sit. Higher humidity helps your body hold heat and makes the air feel warmer than it actually is. This is especially noticeable if the power outage lasts overnight. It’s a small thing, but it cuts down on that sharp, biting cold feeling. Just don’t get wet, or you’ll increase your risk for hypothermia.
Build A Low-Ceiling Zone
Heat rises, which works against you in the case of a winter power outage. Lower the ceiling in your main space using sheets or blankets hung across furniture like a fort. This traps warm air lower where people are, instead of up on the ceiling. You don’t need to make a full tent, even a partial canopy reduces heat loss dramatically. It’s one of the fastest ways to make a room feel warmer without adding any heat source at all.
Close The Fridge And Use It For Thermal Mass
It sounds backward, but a full refrigerator can help stabilize room temperature. Keep it closed and let the cold air inside absorb warmth slowly instead of letting it leak into the room. The fridge acts like a thermal sponge. This doesn’t heat the house, but it stops any sudden temperature swings in small spaces when the rest of the house else is quickly cooling down.
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When the power goes out in winter, it’s super important to keep your house as safe and warm as possible. These small, slightly unconventional ideas work because they keep heat trapped in your house and stop it from escaping quickly. You probably won’t be warm and toasty, but these tips can keep you safe until the power can get turned back on.
Bliss Donahue-Power
