How Long Can Food Last in a Fridge Without Power?
- How Long Does a Refrigerator Stay Cold Without Power?
- How Long Can a Freezer Keep Food Frozen Without Power?
- After a power outage: what to keep and what to throw away
- Medications in the refrigerator
- Reasons for Canadians to be ready for an extended outage
- Food safety checklist for a 72-hour outage
- Appliance priorities
- How much power a refrigerator will need
- EcoFlow options for the home
- Conclusion
- Frequently asked questions
It is not long before a loss of power has an impact on the contents of your refrigerator or freezer, be it food or anything else that is temperature-sensitive. The duration of the cold is a matter of room temperature, how often one opens the door, and how much is in the appliance to begin with. Put the same refrigerator in a warm house and it will get hot quicker than in a cool room.
Those first hours are critical since the margin can be narrow for refrigerated items. There is also the question of health as some have temperature-sensitive medications in the fridge, which is another worry alongside food safety.
While provincial advice may differ in small ways, we have made Health Canada our national point of reference for this guide. We go beyond the first few hours of an outage to cover what to make a priority, the backup energy requirements and how to be prepared so as to limit losses should the power be out longer than you think.
How Long Does a Refrigerator Stay Cold Without Power?
In the view of Health Canada, leaving the door shut will help a refrigerator keep its food cold for about four hours; the norm is 4°C or under. One might see provincial guidance of four to six hours under the right conditions, but the national figure of four is a prudent benchmark. Rather than just by the clock, a thermometer in the unit will tell you what is going on inside. And the door should be left closed to prevent the cold air from getting out.
How Long Can a Freezer Keep Food Frozen Without Power?
Health Canada advises that a full freezer with the door unopened will hold food in a frozen state for some 48 hours. If the freezer is only half full, you are looking at 24 hours or thereabouts, the frozen stock being what keeps the temperature down.
Once the power is back on, do not judge whether to keep the food on time alone. The condition and the temperature are what count. Should it still be very cold or have ice crystals in it, refreezing is an option if one can accept a change in texture or quality.
After a power outage: what to keep and what to throw away
The contents of a refrigerator are likely to include the bulk of a household’s weekly groceries and several days’ worth of meals. A freezer will have in reserve advance-prepared meals, bulk items and other food for weeks to come. Should temperatures get out of hand, some of it may have to be thrown out.
It is not enough to judge the safety of food by its look, taste or smell. The kind of food, how long it has been exposed and the temperature it has reached are all relevant factors. For particulars on any given food, one can consult the provincial food-safety authorities.
Then there is the matter of expense; making good on what has been lost from the fridge or freezer is a costly proposition for a household. That alone makes it worthwhile to be prepared before an outage drags on.
Medications in the refrigerator
Certain medications have to be kept at a set temperature. When they have been put outside that range, what to do next is a function of the medication in question as well as the duration and degree of exposure. There are no hard and fast time rules for every refrigerated drug. In case of doubt, refer to the storage instructions on the product or put in a call to a pharmacist prior to its use or disposal. Households with a need for electrically powered medical equipment or refrigerated drugs should make preparation a priority.
Reasons for Canadians to be ready for an extended outage
Once an outage has run into the following day, it is more than just a refrigerator issue. One has to consider the freezer too, the appliances that must be left on and the energy on hand.
It becomes a matter of what has to be kept running until the power comes back. Preparation is what makes the difference here.
Freezing rain, high winds, wildfires, and severe storms are among the things that put a strain on or do damage to the electrical grid in Canada. A large area can be impacted, and it will take longer to get the power back on than with a brief interruption in the neighbourhood.
The Government of Canada has advised that in an emergency people be prepared to manage on their own for 72 hours at the least. To be so prepared is to have made provision in advance for backup energy, water, food, communication, devices that will be first in line for electricity and the like.
Food safety checklist for a 72-hour outage
Before an outage
Have a thermometer in both the refrigerator and the freezer. A digital model with a sensor in the appliance will show you the temperature without having to open the door. The refrigerator should be 4°C or under; the freezer no higher than -18°C.
Make sure you have a cooler and ice packs to hand. See which of your medications are to be refrigerated. Put away non-perishable food and drinking water, and if a major storm is in the offing, charge up the backup power system.
Put together a laminated guide of sorts for the side of the refrigerator or a wall nearby where it will be at hand in an outage. Make note of the priority appliances, how much energy they use, and for how long they are to be powered. Decide in advance which devices should receive backup power first, knowing that those priorities may change with the season or household needs.
What to do in an outage
Note the time the outage begins so you have a record of how long it has been. Do not open and close the refrigerator or freezer needlessly; check the temperature but otherwise leave the doors shut. Should you have to relocate any food, put it in a cooler with ice packs.
Conserve your energy for what is of prime importance. A medical device or the means to heat or communicate can take precedence over refrigeration as the situation develops. In the case of backup power, resist the temptation to hook up all your usual home appliances so the reserve holds out.
With the power back on
Before making a call on what to keep, see what the temperatures are in the fridge and freezer. Never taste food to test its safety; when in doubt, the guidelines from Health Canada or the province should be heeded. Medication that has been in the refrigerator and may have been subjected to the wrong temperature warrants a look at the storage instructions or a word with the pharmacist before one uses or throws it away. Recharge the backup system at the first opportunity, given that a severe weather event in the area could cause another interruption.
Appliance priorities
The checklist is a general guide only; the way one puts available electricity to use will vary from household to household and with the season or any health and safety risks at hand. If the indoor temperature is dropping on a night in January, heating is going to be the priority. For those dependent on an electrically powered medical device such as an oxygen concentrator, that equipment comes first.
In winter, one might make do with the cold outside for a while to keep some food cold, but in summer there is little scope for that. And communication is no less essential: a phone with charge or an internet connection is what is required for alerts and restoration updates, or to put in a call for assistance. There is no one-size-fits-all list. One must safeguard health and safety and then apportion the rest of the energy to other needs, after which it is a matter of ascertaining the backup energy called for.
How much power a refrigerator will need
You cannot go by the wattage on the appliance alone to figure out consumption over a number of hours since the compressor does not run at full tilt all the time. It cycles. The calculation is straightforward: Watts × hours = watt-hours.
Take an appliance at 100 W for 10 hours, and it will have used 1,000 Wh (1 kWh). The backup system also has to be able to cope with the initial surge of the compressor. Then factor in a modem, lights, phones, medical gear or a freezer. EcoFlow has a Power Calculator in its Canadian Power Kits section for a quick way to compare your needs with various backup setups. There is no point in working out every last watt. What matters is knowing if the reserve has to see you through with one refrigerator for a few hours or a host of devices for a day.
EcoFlow options for the home
If the object is to simply gain some time during a brief interruption, the DELTA 3 Plus from EcoFlow is a sound choice. It will run the refrigerator and still have capacity for a couple of smaller things without requiring a bigger setup.
For a longer drawn-out outage where the freezer is as much a concern as the refrigerator, the DELTA 3 Max Plus offers more leeway. The extra breathing room is an advantage for a household wanting to power some other essentials while preserving what is in the frozen reserves.
When the outage is protracted, or the household demands are greater, the DELTA Pro Ultra is the most robust of the three. Scalability is its forte. With the Smart Home Panel 2, it can be made part of certain home circuits and expanded beyond a single battery. According to EcoFlow’s whole-home backup information for Canada, the platform can be configured for as much as 90 kWh.
It is thus better for a household that has to contend with several priority appliances, be they for heating, medical or communication purposes, in a longer outage. A base system is no assurance of a few days’ runtime; that is a function of what is connected and the energy in store. The DELTA Pro Ultra allows the system to be constructed around the actual priorities of the home instead of having to make them conform to a given battery.
Conclusion
By the time an outage is upon you, you cannot increase the home’s store of backup energy. With a system in place, you are able to respond at once rather than look for answers in the midst of it. Such forethought spares you the last-minute decision-making and the stress that goes with it, not to mention unnecessary excursions and expenses. In the case of medical devices, heating or the need to communicate, it is a matter of health and safety.
If a stopgap measure is not enough for a household, something like the EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra offers an expandable reserve to see one through longer outages and greater demands. You cannot control the grid, but whether or not your home is prepared to cope with an outage is up to you.
Frequently asked questions
Is it all right to put food out in the open when there is a winter power outage?
The cold outdoors can be of some use, but one should not make a habit of leaving food on a balcony or in the snow. A cooler with the lid on will shield it from the sun and animals as well as any fluctuation in temperature, provided the conditions outside are stable and cold enough.
What about refreezing after an outage?
There are times you can. If the food has stayed cold or still has ice crystals in it, refreezing is an option if you do not mind a change in quality or texture.
How can you tell if what was in the refrigerator is safe to eat?
You would have to consider the kind of food and how long it has been unrefrigerated and check the temperature. Do not go by smell or the way it looks or tastes alone in making that call.
Is it advisable to unplug things during an outage?
To guard against surges when the power comes back on, some electronics and appliances should be unplugged during the outage. As for essential equipment on backup power, let your own household priorities and the manufacturer’s directions be your guide.