How to Keep Warm Without Electricity | 10 Winter Survival Hacks

Massive winter storms happen a lot and with the continuous and drastic climate change, we should happen it to happen more. These weather disturbances, when in extreme conditions, can cause power outages and could affect a lot of lives.

Knowing how to keep warm without electricity is a survival skill that most people should know. Read on for survival hacks in keeping yourself and your family safe and warm during winter.

RELATED: Winter Survival Kit: The Prepper’s Guide To Winter Survival

How to Keep Warm Without Electricity

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1. Keep Everyone Together

If possible, take everyone in the house and isolate them to a single room. Pick one cozy and small room in your house and designate it to become a warm room.

Consider all the necessary conditions when choosing a room. Choose the one with the most comfortable place to accommodate everyone and if possible, has a stove or a cordless heater working.

Containing everybody in a single room can help capture everyone’s body heat and keep it in a single area to warm everybody.

2. Maximize Your Hot Water Heater’s Capability

When the power goes out, your hot water heater will still work and could store hot water for at least 12 hours more since it is well insulated.

Collect as much hot water by using insulated bottles or containers. They can radiate heat and having more can help keep a room warmer.

Most campers use this technique as well on chilly nights. Fill up a thermos or a water bottle with hot water and the heat can dissipate for a few hours keeping you warm.

3. Light up Candles

Candles produce fire and that fire can be enough to keep you warm.

You probably have some lying around your home unlit. Setting up three to five candles on a table where you and your family members are isolated can keep you warm. Think of it as a mini bonfire.

Just be careful about the candles since they are fire hazards, especially when you have kids in your house.

4. Seal Up Air Gaps

Window glass is not really a good heat insulator that is why houses usually have double pane windows. Argon is collected in between the two panes and that gas acts as a heat insulator.

But for those homes that have single-pane windows, insulating and sealing up the tiny crevices in between panes can help keep your room warm.

How can you do it easily? Use plastic or shower curtains. Simply seal the space between panes by taping the plastic over the entire window which can create an airtight seal to prevent cold air from coming through.

For doors, you can seal the openings by rolling up a towel and placing it by the gaps.

5. Go Camping Indoors

Go camping and set up a tent inside your room if the space will permit. As discussed above, people when cramped up in a smaller space can radiate body heat and can keep everyone warm.

The same idea applies to having a tent inside your room. Aside from being near each other, the materials of a tent can give you extra warmth and help avoid gusts of wind, which can make it really cold.

RELATED: Tent Heater | 10 Best Tent Heaters for Camping

6. Use the Sun

The sun is a great heater during the day and is one of the best ways on how to keep warm without electricity.

If going out of your house is not an option, remove the plastic coverings we told you to do to insulate your windows first. Save that for tonight.

Let the warmth of the sun radiate inside your home. Although cold air may come in, direct sunlight can make your room warmer more than cold wind makes your room chillier.

7. Do Not Let Your Water Pipes Freeze

Frozen water pipes can spell more disaster when the power goes out during a cold winter day. It can lead to the pipes bursting and water dripping everywhere inside your house.

What you can do to prevent this from happening is to keep your faucets running slightly. The idea is flowing water will likely not freeze faster than steady water.

8. Wear Layers

Wear plenty of them. A secret on how to keep warm without electricity especially during winter is wearing multiple layers of clothes.

Keep in mind that your feet and hands should be warm all the time and wearing socks and gloves is essential.

I have a friend that went on a trek in the Himalayas for a week and said that sleeping was unbearable. But thankfully he had warm socks and gloves to make the cold nights warm.

9. Exercise

Aside from the benefits, exercising can help your body temperature warm, especially after an intense workout.

Keep yourselves active inside the house to get your blood flowing.

10. Use Your Car As Last Resort

If you have nothing else to do to keep yourself warm inside your home, use your car’s heater for heat. But do this only as a last resort.

If you plan to spend the night and sleep in your vehicle, make sure you don’t do it inside your covered garage. Do it outside if you really have to.

If there is a huge snowstorm, make sure that the exhaust pipe is not covered by snow.

Here’s an infographic guide that you can use. Feel free to download, save and share it with your loved ones:

Watch this video from Canadian Prepper to learn how to prepare for a dark winter including how to keep warm without electricity:

Learning how to keep warm without electricity is a great survival skill you should know because you can never tell what can happen especially during cold winter nights. Knowing what to do can help a lot with surviving snowstorms and extreme weather

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Do you have other tips on how to survive in the winter if the power goes out? Share it with us in the comment section below.

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