How to stay warm at home without power

When the power goes out in a cold snap, the instinct is to look for something that gives off heat. That is almost always the wrong instinct: it pays far more to stop heat escaping than to try to manufacture it.

Shrink the space before anything else

Heating a whole house without heating is impossible. Heating one small room with three bodies and a couple of blankets is entirely feasible.

1. Pick an interior room, small, with few windows.
2. Close the doors to the rest of the house.
3. Block the gaps under that door with rolled towels.
4. Cover windows with blankets, cardboard or bubble wrap.
5. Concentrate beds, food and flashlights there.

Dressing well beats a heater

Layer	Function	Material
Base	Move moisture off the skin	Synthetic or wool, never cotton
Mid	Trap warm air	Fleece or down
Outer	Block wind	Windproof fabric
Extremities	Cut losses	Hat, gloves, dry socks

Cotton against the skin is the classic mistake: it absorbs moisture, stays wet and accelerates heat loss instead of slowing it.

Eating and drinking also warms you

The body generates heat by metabolising. Eating regularly and drinking fluids — preferably warm ones, if there is a safe way to heat them — keeps internal heat production going.

Avoid alcohol: it produces a sensation of warmth while dilating peripheral vessels and speeding up actual heat loss.

Signs of hypothermia

Violent shivering, clumsy hands, slurred speech, drowsiness and confusion. In infants, bright red cold skin and very low energy.

At any of these signs: move the person somewhere warmer, remove wet clothing, wrap them in dry blankets starting with the trunk, and seek medical care.