No heat in winter: how to stay warm safely¶

A cold home is dangerous for babies, older adults, and people with health conditions. This page helps you stay warm safely, avoid fires and carbon monoxide, and decide when to leave.

Do this now¶

1. Put on layers and gather everyone in one room, preferably a small room with few windows.
2. Check why the heat is out: thermostat settings, fuel supply, the breaker, and the pilot light only if you know how to relight it safely.
3. Never use an oven, stove, charcoal grill, or camp stove to heat your home.
4. If anyone is shivering, confused, or very drowsy, get them warm and call your local emergency number (911 in the United States and Canada, 112 across the European Union, 999 in the United Kingdom).
5. If you cannot warm the home, go to a warming center or a friend's home.

... danger "Never heat a home with an oven, grill, or camp stove" Ovens and stoves are not made for heating, and burning fuel indoors can fill a home with carbon monoxide, which has no smell and can kill. Use grills and camp stoves outdoors only, away from windows. See carbon monoxide.

Stay warm indoors¶

• Wear several thin layers, a hat, socks, and slippers, even inside
• Use blankets, sleeping bags, and a hat in bed
• Close doors to rooms you do not use, and keep curtains closed at night
• Place a rolled towel at the bottom of drafty doors
• Stay in one room and share body heat
• Eat regular meals and drink warm drinks, which help your body make heat
• Keep moving a little, such as walking around, to stay warm without sweating

Avoid alcohol. It makes you feel warm but makes your body lose heat faster.

Babies, older adults, and people with health conditions¶

Older adults can become dangerously cold in homes that feel only slightly cool. US health agencies advise keeping a home at 20 degrees C (68 degrees F) or warmer for older adults. Babies under one year should not sleep in a cold room. Do not put pillows or soft bedding in a baby's cot, and use warm sleepwear, such as a sleep sack, instead.

Check on older neighbors and relatives by phone or in person. If someone cannot be kept warm, move them to a warm place.

Space heater safety¶

If you have working electric heaters, or a heater made for indoor use, follow these rules.

• Keep anything that can burn at least 1 meter (3 feet) from the heater, including bedding, curtains, and furniture.
• Plug electric heaters straight into a wall outlet, not an extension cord or power strip.
• Place them on a flat, hard surface, not on a rug or carpet.
• Turn them off when you leave the room or go to sleep.
• Keep children and pets away from them.
• Use only the fuel the maker names, and refuel outdoors when the heater is cold.
• Fit working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.

... warning "Fuel burning heaters need fresh air" Do not use an outdoor heater, charcoal, or a gas heater indoors unless it is made for indoor use and properly vented. If an alarm sounds or someone feels dizzy or sick, get everyone outside and call for help.

Protect your pipes¶

Freezing pipes can burst and flood your home. While the heat is out:

• Open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls
• Let a faucet drip slowly, especially on outside walls
• Close the main shutoff and drain the pipes if you are leaving and cannot heat the home
• Know where the main water shutoff is

Our frozen pipes guide explains how to thaw a pipe safely.

Find out why the heat is out¶

If your heating system or fuel supply has failed, call your landlord or building manager, your fuel supplier, or a licensed heating technician. If a power outage is the cause, read our power outage guide.

Do not repair gas appliances, boilers, or furnaces yourself. If you smell gas, leave and follow our gas leak guide.

When to go to a warming center¶

Go early, before anyone becomes ill. Consider leaving if:

• The temperature in your home keeps falling
• A baby, an older adult, or a person who is unwell cannot stay warm
• You have no safe way to heat the home
• The outage is likely to last a long time

Local governments, charities, and faith groups often open warming centers during very cold weather. Ask your local emergency office (in the United States, you can call 211), or check your local authority's website. Take medicines, warm clothing, documents, and chargers.

Warning signs of cold injury¶

Shivering, tiredness, confusion, slurred speech, and clumsy hands can be signs of hypothermia. US health agencies treat a body temperature below 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) as an emergency. Our hypothermia and frostbite guide explains what to do.

Related guides¶

• Frozen pipes
• Hypothermia and frostbite
• Winter storms
• Power outage at home
• Carbon monoxide