Heating Methods

General Heat Sources


  • The best place for babies is their mother's bodies, either in the arms or using one of the many ways of carrying a baby and still having your hands free.
  • Drink a lot of water, and eat frequent meals with lots of carbohydrates.
  • If you have heat, and your neighbor doesn't, invite them to shelter with you. Work with your community to ensure that nobody is left out in the cold.

Staying Warm While Sleeping


At night, have everyone sleep together and use extra sleeping insulation such as:
  • Blankets
  • Curtains
  • Layered clothing
  • Newspapers
  • Rugs
  • Sleeping bags
Wear a cap to bed. If you have no heat, pitch a tent in the middle of a room, and gather the family inside. If you don't have a tent, improvise one from sheets, blankets, newspapers, and furniture. Do not use open flame heating inside a tent.

  1. Clothing
  2. Emergency Heaters
  3. Insulation

Clothing


If electric or gas utilities fail, don't try to heat the entire house. It is easier to heat one room, and it is easier to heat a room if you are bundled up warmly. A winter emergency is not a time to expect that you can walk around the house barefoot and in shorts.
  • Wear loose layers of clothes.
  • Keep dry. Wet clothing loses its ability to insulate, and can suck heat right out of you (wool is an exception).
  • Stay out of the wind as much as possible.
  • Clean clothes keep you warm better than dirty clothes.
  • Make sure your head, hands, and feet are protected.
  • Wear a warm cap inside and outside the house.