Power Outage
When the power goes out, follow these safety precautions:
- Disconnect sensitive appliances, such as computers, televisions and microwaves, to avoid potential power surge damage when electricity is restored.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut—food will stay six to nine hours in a refrigerator without spoiling. Frozen foods will keep about 24 hours.
- Use generators safely—for detailed information, see the Generators section.
- Flooding—If your home has flooding, check with an electrician before turning on anything.
- Keep warm! Burn only wood or newspapers in your fireplace or woodstove.
Portable Space Heaters
If you use a portable space heater to keep warm, take special precautions:
- Some types of kerosene and propane portable space heaters get hot enough to ignite nearby draperies, carpet, paper, clothing or furniture.
- It's important to periodically check nearby objects to see if they feel hot. It's also important to choose a model that has an Underwriters Laboratories label, which means it has passed certain safety tests.
- If you must use a portable space heater, check to make sure it has a safety information label and an automatic shutoff device that turns the heater off if it tips over or becomes too hot.
