Keeping One Room Warm in a Winter Outage

When the power goes out in a winter storm, trying to keep the whole house warm burns through whatever heat you have in hours. The trick old-timers and prepped families use is simple: give up on the house and heat one room.

01Pick the right room

The best room usually has:

• Few or small windows, and ideally on the south side for daytime sun.
• Interior walls on as many sides as possible. A room in the middle of the house loses less heat.
• Doors you can close.
• A safe heat source, if you have one: a wood stove, a fireplace insert, or space for an indoor-rated heater with proper ventilation.
• Access to a bathroom nearby.

On a two-story house, a room on the first floor is often better, since you're not fighting heat rising out of reach. A basement can stay warmer than the rest of the house because the ground insulates it, but only if it's dry and has a safe exit.

02Seal it up

1. Close the door and put a rolled towel or blanket at the bottom.
2. Close off doorways without doors by hanging blankets or a tarp.
3. Cover windows with blankets, quilts, or plastic sheeting. Bubble wrap and insulated curtains help. Open them on sunny days to let the sun in, and close them at dusk.
4. Cover the floor with rugs and blankets if it's a hard floor.
5. Close heating vents in the room so warm air doesn't escape into the ductwork.

03Set up a "tent" for sleeping

A tent set up in the warm room traps body heat even better. A camping tent with sleeping bags rated for the cold can keep a family surprisingly warm. Even a blanket fort over a table works for kids.

04Stay warm, not just the room

• Layers: wool or synthetic, not cotton. A hat and socks at night.
• Sleeping bags rated for cold weather. Doubled up with a blanket on top.
• Eat and drink. Your body makes heat from food. Warm drinks help.
• Stay dry. Sweaty clothes make you colder.
• Huddle. Body heat adds up in a small room.

05Light and power in the room

• Battery lanterns and headlamps instead of candles when you can.
• A power station to run phones, a radio, an electric blanket and lights. See portable power station vs. generator.
• A battery or crank radio for news. See 72-hour kit checklist.

06Heat sources: be careful

Any fuel-burning heater in a closed-up room raises carbon monoxide risk. Before you use one, read heating your home without power, safely:

• Only use heaters rated for indoor use, with the ventilation the manufacturer requires.
• CO alarm in the room. Battery-powered.
• Never grills, camp stoves, outdoor heaters, generators or the gas oven indoors.

07Protect the rest of the house

While you're camped in one room, the rest of the house gets cold. Watch for:

• Frozen pipes. See frozen pipes during an outage.
• Pets that need to come into the warm room.
• Aquariums and plants that can't handle the cold.

08Practice it

Try it for an evening this fall: pick the room, hang the blankets, see what you're missing. It's a lot easier to figure it out on a calm October night than on the second night of an ice storm.

When the house can't be kept safe, it's time to go to a warming center or somewhere with power. Plan for that, too. See how long Midwest power outages really last.

Photo: The Blizzard 33-hour ComEd outage (5413692334).jpg) by artistmac, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Related: Your Neighbor's Generator and Your Bedroom Window