How to stay warm with no heating
The biggest danger is usually warming up the wrong way.
Every tip comes from an official source, listed on the sources page.
All of this, put into a plan for your home, is in the guide Ready in 7 Days.
1
Before
- Pick a warm room: small, with a door, ideally without outside walls.
- Blankets, sleeping bags, hats and thick socks for everyone.
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm, and have boilers, stoves and chimneys checked every year.
- Watch your national weather service's cold warnings.
2
During
- Everyone in the warm room, doors shut, gaps blocked with towels.
- Layers of clothes, a hat and socks. Hot drinks and hot food.
- Air the room for a few minutes a day, even when it's cold.
- Babies, older people and anyone unwell feel the cold more: check on them often.
- If the house gets too cold, go to family, friends or a warm public place.
3
Hypothermia
- Heavy shivering, drowsiness or confusion: call 112, take off wet clothes and wrap them in blankets.
4
Carbon monoxide
- Headache, tiredness or sickness, often in several people at once: open the windows, switch off the heater, get out and call 112.
Don't
- Heat the house with the oven, the hob or a barbecue.
- Run a generator indoors or in the garage.
- Sleep with a heater or candles burning.
- Block air vents or chimneys.
This does not replace instructions from the authorities or 112: if they say something different, do what they say.
What to have ready beforehand
All of the above is easier if this is already at home before the next cold spell:
Safety at home
For the two risks a blackout brings into the home: carbon monoxide and fire.
See in the kitLight
One light per person, and no candles.
See in the kitBattery and charging
Keep the phone and the radio going for three days.
See in the kitThe grab bag
One per person, by the door, in case you have to leave.
See in the kit
The basics in one go? This pack goes straight to your Amazon basket. To pick another model or leave out what you already have, the full kit.
Links go to amazon.de and are affiliate links: if you buy through them we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra.
The plan, before the next cold spell
In Ready in 7 Days this page comes with space to write down your warm room and where you go if the house gets too cold, alongside your home's plan for three days with no help.
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