A silent furnace means the house is already losing heat, so stop trying to warm all of it. Gather everyone in one room, close its door, and put on loose layers. “NEVER use a generator, camp stove, charcoal grill, gasoline or propane heater indoors.” Choose the room now, shut it off from the rest of the house, and dress for the cold before you feel it.
The first things to do when the heat goes out
Start with the rule that keeps you alive. Ready.gov, FEMA’s preparedness site, states it in capitals: “NEVER use a generator, camp stove, charcoal grill, gasoline or propane heater indoors.” Its power outage page adds one for the kitchen: “Do not use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.” The warmth steps come after that, and none of them needs a fuel-burning device.
Dress the people first
Clothing is the fastest heat you have. The American Red Cross (Georgia Region) advises: “Stay indoors and wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight warm clothes.” Ready PA, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s preparedness site, puts it the same way: “Put on layers of warm clothing if it is cold outside.”
Start with socks and a hat, then add a sweater and a second pair of pants over the first. Pull blankets or sleeping bags from the closet before dark so you are not hunting for them with a flashlight. Stay put and stay dressed, because moving around the house opens doors and lets the warm air out.
Shrink the house to one room
The Oregon Office of Emergency Management gives the instruction in five words: “Close off unused rooms to conserve heat”. In practice, pick one room and make it the only room you live in. Shut the doors to the bathrooms, spare bedrooms and any rooms on the far side of the house. Body warmth from a few people can then work on a small volume of air instead of a whole floor plan.
Seal what you can with what you have. Roll a bath towel and lay it along the bottom of the door you are using. Hang a blanket over a doorway that has no door, such as a wide archway. Close the curtains on every window once the sun is down, and open the ones that catch sun during the day. If one person is sleeping, move the others into the same room rather than letting several rooms cool at once.
Carbon monoxide: what never to do
Anything that burns fuel makes carbon monoxide, and a closed-up house in a cold snap is the worst place to make it. Fuel-burning equipment stays outdoors.
Where generators, grills and camp stoves go
The American Red Cross says: “Only use generators, grills, and camp stoves outdoors and away from windows.” The Washington State Department of Health sets a distance for generators: “Gas powered generators should be at least 20 feet away from buildings.” That distance is measured from buildings, which means your house and your neighbor’s. Outdoors but close to a window does not meet the Red Cross rule.
Ready.gov’s list is the one to keep on the fridge. These stay out of the house, every time:
- Generators
- Camp stoves
- Charcoal grills
- Gasoline heaters
- Propane heaters
Fuel type, wattage and hookup are outside what the sources above cover, so read your generator’s manual, and call a licensed electrician before wiring anything into the house.
The kitchen range is not a heater
An oven door open in a cold kitchen feels like a solution. The Red Cross is direct: “Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.” Ready.gov repeats it: “Do not use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.” Use the stove for cooking and nothing else. If you want to understand how the same hazard applies to a heating system you rely on every winter, carbon monoxide and the furnace explains it.
Keeping pipes from freezing when the heat is off
A house with no heat can lose its plumbing as well as its comfort. Letting water move through the pipes is the step the sources agree on. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor says: “Turn at least one faucet on and let a small, pencil-size stream run”. The City of Portland Water Bureau words it more lightly: “Turn your faucets on to let a slight drip of water run.” Both describe a small flow, not a gush.
Which faucet, and how much
The two agencies differ in wording, so treat them as two separate pieces of guidance and do not blend them into one rule. Indiana asks for at least one faucet with a pencil-size stream. Portland asks for a slight drip from faucets. If you are unsure which applies to your home, your own water utility is the place to check, since local conditions differ.
Open the faucet before the house has gone cold, not after you notice a problem. Put a bucket or pot under it if you want to reuse the water.
Know where the water stops
Find the water shut-off valve now, while you can see it. If a pipe splits, you will want to turn the water off in seconds. The page on frozen pipes covers how to spot a pipe that has stopped flowing, and what to do about a burst pipe walks through the cleanup once the water is off. A faucet that stops running when you open it is the signal to read both.
When to leave for somewhere warm
Staying home is not always the right call. Ready.gov’s #WinterReady page says: “Go to a community location with power if cold is extreme and you can’t heat your home.” If you cannot keep the room warm with clothing, closed doors and body heat, go. Your county emergency management office or your utility can tell you which community locations are open.
Fireplaces, pellet stoves and space heaters
Do not treat a stove or fireplace as a way around the rules above. Whether yours works in an outage depends on how it is built, so read the pages on a gas fireplace in a power cut and a pellet stove in a power cut, and check your own manual before lighting either. For the electric kind, space heaters have their own safety rules, and an outage will not run them anyway. Gasoline and propane heaters belong outside the house, per Ready.gov.
Common questions
Can I use my gas oven to heat the kitchen if I crack a window?
No. The Red Cross says: “Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.” Ready.gov says the same about gas stoves and ovens. Neither source makes an exception for an open window.
Can I run a generator in the garage with the door open?
No. The Red Cross says generators go “outdoors and away from windows,” and the Washington State Department of Health says gas-powered generators should be “at least 20 feet away from buildings.” A garage is part of a building, so it does not meet either rule.
Should I drip hot or cold water, and from how many faucets?
The sources do not say. Indiana’s utility counselor asks for at least one faucet with a small, pencil-size stream, and Portland’s water bureau asks for a slight drip. Check with your own water utility for local advice.
I live in Canada. Do these rules apply?
Use your provincial or municipal emergency guidance where it differs, especially for generator distances and local warming centres.
Rules and local guidance change, so confirm current rules with your utility, county emergency management office or the official source before acting.