How long will food last in the fridge without power?

Per the FDA, it's about 4 hours in the refrigerator and 48 hours in a full freezer (24 in a half-full one), as long as you keep the doors shut. After that, perishable food — meat, dairy, eggs, leftovers, cut fruit — isn't safe once it's been above 40°F for more than two hours. An appliance thermometer takes the guessing out of it. When you're unsure whether something crossed the line, throw it out; a few dollars of groceries isn't worth food poisoning during an emergency.

Can I run my refrigerator off a power station?

Yes, and it's one of the best reasons to own one. A mid-size power station — roughly 1,800 watts of output and about 1,000 watt-hours of battery — can generally start and run a standard full-size fridge, and because the fridge cycles on and off rather than pulling full power, a battery that size will usually keep it cold for the better part of a day. Exact runtime depends on your fridge, so check its wattage against the station's rating. Add solar and you can keep it going for days. A gas generator works too, but it has to run outside because of the exhaust; a power station puts out no exhaust, so it can run indoors safely — which is why apartment dwellers prefer it.

Is it safe to use candles during a power outage?

It's best not to. Candles are a leading cause of house fires during outages — they get knocked over in the dark by kids, pets, or someone navigating an unfamiliar room half-asleep. A battery flashlight or LED lantern gives more usable light, runs for days, and carries zero fire risk. If candles are all you have, keep them in a sturdy holder, never leave them unattended, and keep them well away from anything that can catch.

What do I do if someone in my home uses medical equipment?

Plan for it before an outage ever happens. Call your equipment supplier and doctor about battery backups, and ask your utility about a medical-priority list that flags your address for faster restoration. Keep a power station or extra batteries sized to the device, and know how long it runs on each. For oxygen, dialysis, or anything you can't pause, set a clear trigger for leaving early for a place with reliable power — that's the smart move, not a last resort.

How do I keep my house warm or cool during a long outage?

Pick one room and manage that, not the whole house. In the cold, choose a small interior room, close it off, block the draft under the door, and gather everyone in there with layers and blankets — body heat and a small space go a long way. In the heat, move to the lowest, shadiest floor, pull the blinds, and drink water steadily. A battery fan helps in summer; never use a fuel-burning heater indoors in winter.

Most Common7 min read

Power Outage Preparedness

Power outages are the most common emergency events. Here is how to keep your household safe and comfortable.

What’s really going on

Most power outages are short — a flicker, an hour, back before dinner. But the ones that matter are the ones that don't come back. A storm takes down lines across the county, or the grid strains in a heat wave and the utility starts rolling blackouts, and suddenly you're looking at a day or more in the dark.

Here's what's actually at stake, in order. Your fridge and freezer start a slow countdown the moment the power dies — food is safe for a while, then it isn't. Your phones, the one link to news and family, drain with nothing to recharge them. If someone in the house relies on powered medical equipment, that clock is the loudest of all. And depending on the season, the house itself slowly drifts too cold or too hot to be comfortable, or safe.

None of this is cause for panic. A power outage is one of the most predictable emergencies there is, which means it's one of the most preparable. Handle a few things before it happens, know what to do while it's dark, and a multi-day outage becomes an inconvenience instead of a crisis.

Phase 1

Before: Prepare Now

Keep items cold

Freeze a few plastic bottles of water and keep them in your freezer. They help everything stay cold longer when the power's out, and once they melt you've got extra drinking water. A full freezer holds its temperature far better than a half-empty one, so fill the gaps with those bottles.

Secure backup power

Keep flashlights and a battery lantern where you can find them in the dark, with fresh batteries nearby. Skip the candles — they cause house fires every year during outages. A power bank for phones and, if you can swing it, a power station for the fridge turn a long outage from stressful to manageable.

Protect your electronics

Put surge protectors on your TV, computer, and other expensive electronics, and unplug them when the power first goes out. The surge that comes when power is restored — not the outage itself — is what fries equipment. A few dollars of surge protection saves you from replacing a television.

Maintain your vehicle

Keep your gas tank at least half full during storm season. Station pumps run on electricity and won't work in a blackout, and your car can charge phones and run its heater in a pinch. If you drive an electric vehicle, keep it charged for the same reason — it's a giant battery on wheels.

Phase 2

During: Stay Safe

Keep doors closed

Leave the refrigerator and freezer shut as much as humanly possible. An unopened fridge keeps food safe for about 4 hours, and a full freezer holds for 48. Every time you open the door you let the cold out, so decide what you want first, grab it fast, and close it.

Use generators safely

If you run a portable generator, run it outside — always — at least 20 feet from the house, with the exhaust pointed away from windows, doors, and vents. Generator exhaust is carbon monoxide, and it kills people every single year. Never run one in a garage, even with the door open.

Regulate temperature

In summer heat, move to the lowest floor, pull the shades, and drink water steadily — heat is the real danger in a warm-weather outage. In winter, gather everyone into one room, close it off, and layer up. Heating or cooling one room is doable; the whole house is not.

Avoid carbon hazards

Never bring an outdoor cooking device inside to cook or heat — not a charcoal grill, not a camp stove, not the gas oven left open. They all give off carbon monoxide indoors. Cook outside, or eat food that doesn't need heating. A hot meal isn't worth your life.

Phase 3

After: Recover Safely

Verify food safety

When the power's back, check your food before you trust it. Toss anything perishable that's been above 40°F for more than two hours — meat, dairy, leftovers, cut produce. If a freezer item still has ice crystals, it's fine to refreeze. The rule that saves you a stomach bug: when in doubt, throw it out.

Plug in slowly

Reconnect your big appliances one at a time over a few minutes rather than all at once. When everyone's power comes back together, flipping everything on can overload the freshly restored line and trip it again. Give the grid a chance to settle, then bring things back gradually.

Check on neighbors

Walk the block and check on anyone elderly, alone, or medically fragile — a long outage hits them hardest, and they may not ask for help. A two-minute knock on the door is the most reliable safety check there is, and it's how a street gets through hard days together.

Avoid

Common Mistakes

Running a generator in the garage

This is the one that actually kills people every year. A portable generator pours out carbon monoxide — invisible, odorless, and deadly — and an open garage door or a cracked window is nowhere near enough ventilation. Even running it on the porch near a window can pull fumes inside. Always run a generator outside, at least 20 feet from the house, with the exhaust pointed away from doors, windows, and vents. And put a battery-powered CO alarm inside as backup.

Opening the fridge to 'check' on the food

Every time the door opens, the cold pours out and the countdown speeds up. People peek in out of worry and cut their food's safe window in half. Decide what you need, open the door once, grab it, and shut it. If you want to know the temperature, keep an appliance thermometer inside so you can read it at a glance instead of standing there with the door open.

Lighting candles for light

Candles feel cozy and old-fashioned, and they start house fires during outages every year — knocked over by a kid, a pet, or someone half-asleep in an unfamiliar dark room. A cheap LED flashlight or lantern gives more light, lasts for days on a set of batteries, and can't burn the house down. Save the candles for birthdays.

Assuming it'll be back in an hour

Most outages are short, so it's natural to wait it out and do nothing. But the households that struggle are the ones who assumed and got caught — phones not charged, no water stored, fridge opened freely. Treat the first hour as if it might last days: charge devices, fill water containers, and keep the fridge shut. If it comes back fast, you've lost nothing.

Questions people actually ask

How long will food last in the fridge without power?: Per the FDA, it's about 4 hours in the refrigerator and 48 hours in a full freezer (24 in a half-full one), as long as you keep the doors shut. After that, perishable food — meat, dairy, eggs, leftovers, cut fruit — isn't safe once it's been above 40°F for more than two hours. An appliance thermometer takes the guessing out of it. When you're unsure whether something crossed the line, throw it out; a few dollars of groceries isn't worth food poisoning during an emergency.
Can I run my refrigerator off a power station?: Yes, and it's one of the best reasons to own one. A mid-size power station — roughly 1,800 watts of output and about 1,000 watt-hours of battery — can generally start and run a standard full-size fridge, and because the fridge cycles on and off rather than pulling full power, a battery that size will usually keep it cold for the better part of a day. Exact runtime depends on your fridge, so check its wattage against the station's rating. Add solar and you can keep it going for days. A gas generator works too, but it has to run outside because of the exhaust; a power station puts out no exhaust, so it can run indoors safely — which is why apartment dwellers prefer it.
Is it safe to use candles during a power outage?: It's best not to. Candles are a leading cause of house fires during outages — they get knocked over in the dark by kids, pets, or someone navigating an unfamiliar room half-asleep. A battery flashlight or LED lantern gives more usable light, runs for days, and carries zero fire risk. If candles are all you have, keep them in a sturdy holder, never leave them unattended, and keep them well away from anything that can catch.
What do I do if someone in my home uses medical equipment?: Plan for it before an outage ever happens. Call your equipment supplier and doctor about battery backups, and ask your utility about a medical-priority list that flags your address for faster restoration. Keep a power station or extra batteries sized to the device, and know how long it runs on each. For oxygen, dialysis, or anything you can't pause, set a clear trigger for leaving early for a place with reliable power — that's the smart move, not a last resort.
How do I keep my house warm or cool during a long outage?: Pick one room and manage that, not the whole house. In the cold, choose a small interior room, close it off, block the draft under the door, and gather everyone in there with layers and blankets — body heat and a small space go a long way. In the heat, move to the lowest, shadiest floor, pull the blinds, and drink water steadily. A battery fan helps in summer; never use a fuel-burning heater indoors in winter.

Not sure what size you need? Size your backup power for your household →

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Sources we consulted

Official Reference Materials

FEMA Power Outage Safety Sheet
CDC Food Safety Guidelines for Power Outages
Red Cross Safe Generator Operation Manual