Keeping warm without heating

In winter, a heating failure is uncomfortable – it usually only becomes dangerous because of what people then do to get warm. With warm clothing, blankets, a well-chosen room and a few rules about carbon monoxide, you can manage well for quite a while. This guide goes deeper than the "Warmth" section of the Power cut guide.

At a glance

• Almost every heating system needs electricity – gas, oil and district heating too, because pumps and controls run on mains power. In frost, homes can then cool down quickly.
• One room instead of the whole home: everyone stays in one room that is easy to keep warm. Doors closed, shutters and curtains closed at night – and still air the room briefly and regularly.
• Clothing, blankets and sleeping bags replace the heating for a while. Several thin layers keep you warmer than one thick one. Get dressed before you start to feel cold.
• The biggest danger is carbon monoxide (CO): barbecues, cartridge camping stoves, patio heaters, generators and gas ovens never belong in your home for heating. CO has no smell – a tested CO alarm warns you.
• Look out for others: older people, babies and small children, people who are ill and people in need of care get cold more easily. During long outages, many local councils open warming rooms or emergency shelters.

Start small

You don't need any new equipment for this. Pick one of these small tasks each day – none takes longer than ten minutes:

• Understand your heating. Check what heats your home: gas boiler, oil boiler, district heating, heat pump, stove? Almost all of them need electricity. Note down under Home where the heating and the main stop tap are.
• Choose a warm room. Walk through your home: which room is more on the inside, has few outside walls and a door that closes well? That is your warm room.
• Count blankets and sleeping bags. Is there enough for everyone in the household? Whatever is missing goes on the shopping list or into your supplies.
• Warm things in one place. Hat, scarf, gloves, thick socks, wool cardigan – gather them so you can find them in the dark.
• Look for draughts. On a cold day, hold your hand near windows and doors. Where is there a draught? A draught excluder for the door is quickly made.
• Check your CO alarm. Do you have one? Then press the test button. If not: put a tested alarm on your shopping list.
• Know your neighbours. Who in your building lives alone, is older or ill? A short chat today makes it easier to knock in an emergency – more in the Neighbourhood guide.

Understanding

Why the heating fails without electricity

In most heating systems the heat does not come straight from the socket – and yet without electricity it stays cold. The reason is the small helpers: the circulation pump pushes the hot water through the radiators, and the controls make sure the burner runs and the temperature is right. If they stop, the heat stays in the boiler or never arrives.

• Gas and oil heating: many fail because the controls, circulation pumps and regulation need electricity.
• District heating: the heating plant may keep running – but if the pumps in the district heating network have no power, no heat reaches you. That is what happened in January 2026 in Berlin-Steglitz-Zehlendorf: around 12,000 homes had no district heating, and all electrically controlled flat and block heating systems failed as well.
• Heat pumps and electric heating do not run at all without electricity.
• Some wood, coal or log-burning stoves work without mains power.

It can also happen the other way round: the heating can fail while the power is still on – for example because of a fuel shortage or a technical fault. Electric fan heaters are tempting then. But the Greifswald fire service points out that many fan heaters at once can overload the power grid.

How quickly it gets cold

There is no fixed figure. How fast a home cools down depends on the outside temperature, the insulation and the heating system. The BBK (Germany's Federal Office of Civil Protection) writes that rooms can cool down quickly in winter; the Greifswald fire service expects noticeable restrictions within just a few hours of a heating failure. In Berlin in January 2026, the continuous frost made homes cool down quickly. In frost there is another problem: water pipes can freeze and burst.

As a guide: the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advises heating rooms you spend a lot of time in to at least 18 °C where possible. Without heating you often can't manage that – which makes clothing, blankets and the warm room all the more important. A simple thermometer shows you how warm it really is.

Who needs to take extra care

Cold does not affect everyone equally. Health agencies name in particular:

• people aged 65 and over, especially if they live alone, have low mobility or rarely leave the house,
• babies and children under five,
• people with long-term health conditions or disabilities, pregnant women,
• people who drink alcohol or use drugs.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explicitly names older adults with inadequate food, clothing or heating and babies sleeping in cold bedrooms. The Berlin report after the 2026 power cut also describes how older people tend to refuse help and stay in their homes even when it gets uncomfortable – often out of fear of burglaries. That is why keeping an eye on your neighbours matters so much.

Carbon monoxide – the invisible danger

When something burns – wood, coal, gas, charcoal, petrol – and there is not enough oxygen, carbon monoxide (CO) is produced. The gas has no colour, smell or taste. In the body it blocks the transport of oxygen in the blood – a kind of "suffocation from the inside", but without feeling short of breath.

The first signs are easy to mistake, for example for flu: headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, weakness, drowsiness, confusion, and chest pain. At high concentrations a few breaths are enough to cause unconsciousness. According to the CDC, people who are asleep or have been drinking can die before they notice anything. Babies, older people and people with heart or breathing conditions become seriously ill more quickly.

Fire services in North Rhine-Westphalia report CO call-outs caused by faulty gas boilers, wrongly operated wood stoves and "indoor barbecuing". Particularly treacherous: a barbecue on an enclosed balcony or right in front of a window can also cause poisoning without anyone noticing. A burning or even just smouldering charcoal barbecue inside the home is an acute danger to life.

Sources for this section: BBK guide (11/2025, pp. 5, 22–23), BBK "Stromausfall – Vorsorge und Selbsthilfe" (2026), Spandau district office "Stromausfall", Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office, after-action report (6/2026), Greifswald fire service (10/2025), UKHSA (4/2026), NHS "Keep warm, keep well", CDC "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning" (10/2026) and "Preventing Hypothermia" (8/2026), VdF NRW/AGBF NRW, CO recommendation (2012).

Preparing

The BBK puts it simply: with warm clothing, blankets and sleeping bags you can bridge a heating failure for a while. You already have most of that. The supplies calculator shows whether there are enough blankets and sleeping bags for everyone in your household; lamps and stoves are under Equipment.

Choosing the warm room

Keeping the whole home warm hardly works without heating. A single room is more realistic. Authorities recommend choosing one room to stay in that is easy to keep warm, and keeping its doors closed. The CDC advises closing off unused rooms on the outside walls and gathering together in a single interior room.

A good warm room is therefore:

• on the inside of the home, with few outside walls and few or small windows,
• with a door that closes well, so the warmth doesn't escape into the hallway,
• big enough for everyone to sit and sleep there,
• easy to air, because even the warm room needs fresh air regularly,
• if you have a stove or fireplace: the room it is in.

The other rooms stay closed. Only go into the kitchen and bathroom briefly.

Sealing windows and doors

A lot of heat is lost through windows and leaky doors. A few simple things help:

1. Close the shutters at night. The consumer advice centre of Rhineland-Palatinate advises closing roller shutters at night when it is cold in winter – this can greatly reduce heat loss through the window.
2. Draw the curtains. Closed curtains add to the effect. The bigger and poorer the windows, the more it helps.
3. Stop draughts at the door. A draught excluder at the bottom of the door is simple and cheap. If need be, a rolled-up towel will do.
4. Air the room anyway. The BBK recommends regular short, intensive airing: open the window wide for a few minutes, then close it again. This improves the air and is especially important when candles are burning or a stove is running.

Clothing: the layering principle

Several thinner layers keep you warmer than one thick one – warm air stays trapped between the layers, and you can take one layer off before you start to sweat. The CDC describes three layers:

1. Inner layer: fabrics that hold body heat and don't soak up moisture – wool, silk or synthetic fibres are better than cotton.
2. Middle layer: an insulating layer that traps air close to the body – for example wool, fleece or down.
3. Outer layer: tightly woven, ideally wind- and water-resistant.

Add a hat, thick socks and sturdy slippers. Mittens are warmer than gloves. And two rules that many people forget:

• Stay dry. Wet clothing chills the body quickly – change out of wet things straight away.
• Don't start sweating. If you get warm, take off a layer. Sweat cools you down.

Put together a "cold kit" for each person: long underwear, a wool jumper, hat, scarf, socks, gloves. A few warming pads for hands and feet, as the city of Dresden suggests for emergencies, go well with it.

Sleeping without freezing

Night is the coldest time, and you don't move while you sleep. So prepare your sleeping place well:

• Insulate from below. Cold ground draws away a lot of heat – for hypothermia, the German Red Cross (DRK) advises putting a blanket underneath. Put a sleeping mat, a blanket or a second mattress under your sleeping bag, especially if you sleep on the floor.
• Sleeping bag plus blanket. The BBK names sleeping bags explicitly. A blanket on top keeps you even warmer.
• Hat and socks at night too – for adults and older children, not for babies (see below).
• Windows closed at night. Health agencies advise keeping bedroom windows closed at night. Air the room during the day and before going to bed.
• No candles while sleeping. Candles must never burn unattended – so put them out first.
• No device with a flame in the bedroom unless it is explicitly approved for indoor use.

Hot-water bottle – but with care. A hot-water bottle is pleasant, but it can cause serious scalds. A British health service (NHS Wales) advises:

1. Let boiled water cool for a few minutes, don't fill it with boiling water.
2. Fill it no more than two thirds, always use it with a cover.
3. Don't sit or lie on it.
4. Don't leave it against the same part of the body for more than 20 minutes.
5. Replace hot-water bottles about every two years.

If you have little feeling in your hands or feet, be extra careful. In hypothermia, a hot-water bottle does not belong on the body (see below).

Food and drink

Food is energy, and your body uses more of it in the cold. The CDC advises regular, well-balanced meals and warm, sweet drinks or broth. Avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks – they make your body lose heat faster.

For hot food without electricity: a gas hob often keeps working. Indoors you can also use a food warmer with a tea light or a fondue set with fuel paste; a gas stove only if it is approved for indoor use. Cartridge camping stoves and barbecues outdoors only. A vacuum flask keeps tea or broth warm, so you have to cook less often. More about cooking without electricity: the Power cut guide and the Food supplies guide.

Safe heat sources

This is where a heating failure stays merely uncomfortable – or becomes dangerous.

Safe

• Clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, hot-water bottles and warming pads – the foundation, with no risk from fumes.
• A stove or fireplace, if it has been properly installed and maintained. The BBK advises keeping a supply of wood, briquettes or coal. More under "House" below.
• Heaters approved for indoor use that run without electricity: the BBK names gas heaters, ethanol fireplaces and paraffin (kerosene) heaters. With gas-powered devices, make sure they have an oxygen depletion and ignition safety device. Only use them according to the manufacturer's instructions and make sure there is ventilation.

With care

• Candles: never unattended, on a fireproof base, away from anything flammable, and air rooms with candles regularly. Torches and head torches are better for light – candles can cause fires.
• Electric heaters, when there is power: keep them away from curtains, furniture and bedding (the CDC says about three feet, roughly one metre), choose models with automatic shut-off, no extension leads, don't leave children alone with them. And remember the strain on the grid when many people heat at once.

Never for heating in your home, cellar or garage

• charcoal and gas barbecues,
• cartridge camping stoves,
• patio heaters and outdoor radiant heaters,
• generators,
• the gas oven or the hob,
• a running car in an attached garage – not even with the door open.

A carbon monoxide alarm

The BBK recommends installing tested and approved CO alarms. They go off when the CO concentration becomes critical. The fire services in North Rhine-Westphalia have summed up what matters:

• Tested to EN 50291, with a visual and audible alarm, a low-battery warning and an end-of-life indicator. An alarm with a battery also works during a power cut.
• Where? If you only have one: in the sleeping area or the hallway outside it. Not in the kitchen, bathroom or very dusty rooms.
• How long? Depending on the device, the sensors last several years. Replace the alarm as the manufacturer says.
• No substitute: a CO alarm does not replace a smoke alarm or servicing the heating.

You can record smoke alarms and CO alarms with their location under Home; if you don't have a CO alarm yet, put one straight on the shopping list.

Fire safety

When gas, candles and open flames are used for heat and light during a power cut, the risk of fire rises. The BBK therefore recommends smoke alarms in every living space and extinguishing equipment such as a fire extinguisher, fire blanket or garden hose. More in the Fire guide.

Variations for your household

Flat in an apartment building: you usually can't simply fit a stove, and a generator is not an option in a flat. Clothing, blankets and the warm room are all the more important. The balcony is not a safe place for a barbecue to warm up either: a barbecue on a fully or partly enclosed balcony or in front of a window can bring CO into the flat. Gas cartridges do not belong in the cellar. With district or central heating it can take a while after the power returns before the heat is back – then your landlord or building management is the one to contact.

House: if you have a fireplace or stove, keep a supply of fuel and have the stove and chimney checked regularly – blocked or damaged chimneys, poor draught and self-installed stoves are typical causes of CO. Check whether an alternative heat source is possible and get expert advice on it. Pipes in unheated rooms and outdoor areas are particularly at risk in frost (see "Water pipes" below). And: never let the car run in an attached garage.

With babies and small children: small children get cold more easily. For safe baby sleep, the same applies in a crisis: the baby sleeps on its back in a baby sleeping bag, in its own cot, without blankets, pillows or sheepskins – they can cover the baby and make it overheat. Babies regulate their temperature through their uncovered head, so no hat while sleeping. You can dress your baby warmly, but don't let it overheat. Ideally, talk to your midwife or paediatrician beforehand about how to dress your baby if the home gets cold. According to the CDC, babies with hypothermia often have bright red, cold skin and very low energy. Baby food that can be prepared without electricity belongs in your supplies. More in the Children guide.

Older people: they are at greater risk from the cold. A thermometer in the warm room helps (the CDC advises older people to check the temperature often), as do warm drinks within reach and a firm arrangement about who drops by regularly. Collect medicines in good time before cold weather or storms are forecast.

With care needs: make arrangements so that you can look after relatives who need care yourself for a while if necessary. Ask the care service how it works during a long outage, and clarify what happens to devices that need electricity. The Berlin report shows that large emergency shelters are poorly suited for people who are ill or need care. So think in advance about whether you could stay with relatives or friends who are not affected. More in the Care & pets guide and the Power cut guide.

With pets: take dogs and cats with you into the warm room. Short-haired, small, old or sick dogs get cold more easily. Rabbits and guinea pigs that live outside need a frost-free shelter, and their drinking water must not freeze. Mice, rats and hamsters belong indoors all year round anyway. Carbon monoxide is dangerous for animals too. Don't forget a supply of food – more in the Care & pets guide.

Sources for this section: BBK guide (11/2025, pp. 22–23, 34–35), BBK "Stromausfall – Vorsorge und Selbsthilfe" (2026), BBK web page "Stromausfall", CDC "Winter Storm" (8/2026) and press release (1/2010), Verbraucherzentrale Rhineland-Palatinate (10/2023), Federation of German Consumer Organisations (1/2026), UKHSA (4/2026), NHS "Keep warm, keep well", NHS Wales (hot-water bottles), DRK "Erfrierungen und Unterkühlungen", VdF NRW/AGBF NRW (2012), City of Dresden (11/2024), Spandau district office, Berlin Senate "Sicherer Babyschlaf" (8/2024), German Animal Welfare Federation (1/2024), Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office (6/2026), State of Schleswig-Holstein (3/2026).

In an emergency

When the heating fails

1. Find the cause. Is the power off, or only the heating? Check the fuse box, ask the neighbours, switch on the battery radio. What to do in a power cut is in the Power cut guide.
2. Switch off electric heating devices that were running: fan heater, electric blanket, cooker, iron. Otherwise they switch back on uncontrolled when the power returns.
3. Keep the heat in: windows and doors closed, shutters and curtains closed at cold windows.
4. Get dressed in good time. Don't wait until you feel cold – put on the layers while you are still warm.
5. Set up the warm room: blankets, sleeping bags, a vacuum flask, a lamp, the radio and water go in. Everyone stays there, the other doors stay closed.
6. Check on others: children, older or ill people in your household and in the neighbourhood.

The day in the warm room

1. Air briefly and regularly: open the window wide for a few minutes, then close it. More often if candles are burning or a stove is running.
2. Eat and drink warm things, spread over the day. Tea, broth, sweetened drinks; leave out alcohol.
3. Move: don't sit still for more than an hour or so. If getting up is hard, even stretching your arms and legs helps.
4. Stay dry: change damp socks and sweaty clothes straight away.
5. Candles only under supervision – out when you leave the room.
6. Switch on the radio at set times: that's where you'll hear when the power will be back and where there are warming rooms.

If the CO alarm goes off or you suspect CO

Headache, dizziness or nausea, and something is burning or an engine is running somewhere? Then act immediately:

1. Everyone straight outside into the fresh air – children and animals too. Don't look for the cause first.
2. Call 112 (in Germany and the EU), describe the symptoms and say that you suspect carbon monoxide.
3. Don't go back in to rescue someone or switch off the device – don't put yourself in danger.
4. Guide the fire brigade and ambulance crew to the scene.

Recognising hypothermia and frostbite

Hypothermia doesn't only happen outdoors, but also in a cold home – especially in older people and babies. Watch for these signs:

• Hypothermia, early stage: shivering, the person is agitated or restless, later calmer. In adults also: very tired, confused, fumbling hands, slurred speech, memory loss.
• Hypothermia, late stage: breathing slows down, the muscles become stiff, the person gets more and more tired, up to unconsciousness.
• Babies: bright red, cold skin, very low energy.
• Frostbite (often fingers, toes, ears, nose): numbness, skin first bluish-red, later white-yellow or white-grey, soft and painful at first, later hard and numb.

What you do: call 112. In the early stage, bring the person to a warm place and warm them up slowly, take off wet clothing, wrap them in warm blankets or a rescue blanket, give warm sweetened drinks only if fully conscious, no alcohol. In the late stage, no more active warming – no rubbing, no hot-water bottle – just cover them, put them in the recovery position if unconscious and keep checking their breathing. Don't rub or move frostbitten areas. The detailed steps are in the First aid guide. This section does not replace a first aid course.

Water pipes in frost

In hard frost, water pipes can freeze and burst – that is exactly what happened in Berlin in January 2026.

1. Prevent it: close cellar windows. Pipes in unheated rooms are particularly at risk; check them regularly.
2. If a pipe has frozen: shut it off immediately, if necessary close the main stop tap. Otherwise water will leak out when it thaws.
3. Thaw slowly – with hot cloths or hot-water bottles. Never with an open flame such as a gas torch or blowlamp – risk of fire.
4. Afterwards, let the water run slowly and check the pipe for leaks straight away. If it is damaged or you are unsure: call a plumber.

You can note down where your main stop tap is under Home.

Warming rooms and help points

If it gets too cold at home, you don't have to hold out alone. During long outages, many local councils set up warming rooms ("Wärmeinseln", "Wärmestuben"), emergency shelters or help points – in Berlin they are called "Katastrophenschutz-Leuchttürme" (civil protection lighthouses).

• What they offer: a heated room for a few hours, warm drinks, information, often a chance to charge your phone or make an emergency call. Emergency shelters also provide food and a place to sleep.
• Who runs them: in Berlin in January 2026, alongside town halls, church congregations, neighbourhood centres, youth centres and clubs also opened warming rooms; the public transport company set up heated buses at terminal stops. The emergency shelters were used mainly during the day as a place to warm up and meet people.
• How to find them: on the radio, from your council, on notices – and ideally in advance. Some towns publish their locations; Greifswald, for example, suggests pinning the leaflet with the warming rooms to your fuse box. Ask your council calmly.

Especially for older, ill or lone people, going to a warming room can be the better choice. Offer to go with someone. If possible, a night with relatives or friends outside the affected area is also a good solution.

Checking on your neighbours

Keep in touch with neighbours, friends and family and ask whether they feel unwell or need help – for example with shopping, medicines or a hot meal. Knock especially on the doors of people who live alone, are older or ill. Watch for signs of hypothermia. If someone refuses help at first, stay in touch anyway and drop by again later. How to organise yourselves in your building is in the Neighbourhood guide.

The most important points for the moment, in short: Emergency mode: cold.

Sources for this section: BBK guide (11/2025, pp. 13, 23), BBK "Stromausfall – Vorsorge und Selbsthilfe" (2026), VdF NRW/AGBF NRW, CO recommendation (2012), DRK "Erfrierungen und Unterkühlungen", CDC "Preventing Hypothermia" (8/2026) and "Winter Storm" (8/2026), UKHSA (4/2026), enercity/Hannover.de (frost protection), Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office (6/2026), Greifswald fire service (10/2025), State of Berlin and Spandau district office "Stromausfall", City of Dresden (11/2024).

Afterwards

1. Check the heating. When the power is back, first check that the heating, fridge and freezer and medical devices are working. Reset clocks and heating controls.
2. Be patient if the heat doesn't come back. With district heating or large residential complexes, the heat can return later than the electricity – in Berlin in 2026, circulation pumps and district heating transfer stations were damaged after the outage. Report problems to your landlord or building management, and stay in the warm room until then.
3. Watch the pipes, especially after frost: look out for damp patches, drips and unusual noises. Damage often only shows later.
4. Keep looking out for others: older people and people with disabilities may still need help after the outage.
5. Restock: fuel, batteries for lamps, radio and CO alarm, gas cartridges, warming pads. Enter them in your supplies or on the shopping list.
6. Learn from it: which room worked best? What was missing – a blanket, a sleeping mat, gloves? Who in the neighbourhood needed help? Write it down.

Common mistakes

• Heating with a barbecue, camping stove, patio heater or gas oven. Danger to life from carbon monoxide – on an enclosed balcony too.
• Running a generator in the home, cellar or garage.
• Waiting until you feel cold instead of putting on layers in good time.
• Trying to keep the whole home warm instead of one room.
• Not airing at all to save heat.
• Leaving candles burning while you sleep or in empty rooms.
• Filling a hot-water bottle with boiling water or using it without a cover.
• Alcohol "to warm up". It makes the body lose heat faster.
• Rubbing a hypothermic person hard or warming them with a hot-water bottle in severe hypothermia.
• Thawing frozen pipes with an open flame.
• Putting a baby to bed with blankets, pillows and a hat.
• Not checking on the neighbours – or giving up when they say no at first.

Checklist

• Warm room chosen (on the inside, door closes well)
• Warm clothing in layers for each person: long underwear, jumper, jacket
• Hat, scarf, gloves or mittens, thick socks, slippers
• Blankets and sleeping bags for everyone, plus sleeping mats or underlays
• Hot-water bottles with covers, warming pads for hands and feet
• Vacuum flask and thermometer
• Draught excluder for the door of the warm room
• Tested CO alarm (EN 50291) with battery, in the sleeping area
• Smoke alarms tested, fire extinguisher or fire blanket
• Torches or head torches instead of lots of candles
• Stove for indoors (food warmer, fondue) or for outdoors, with fuel
• With a stove or fireplace: fuel supply, stove and chimney checked
• If wanted: heater approved for indoor use with safety device, and fuel
• Main stop tap and heating noted under Home
• Baby sleeping bag, baby food that works without electricity
• Food and a warm place for pets
• Know where your council sets up warming rooms or help points
• Arrangement with neighbours: who checks on whom?

Sources

All links checked on 5 November 2026.

• Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK): Vorsorgen für Krisen und Katastrophen, 2nd edition (as of 11/2025), https://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Mediathek/Publikationen/Buergerinformationen/Ratgeber/ratgeber-notfallvorsorge.pdf
• BBK: Stromausfall – Vorsorge und Selbsthilfe, edition 4 (as of 2026), https://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Mediathek/Publikationen/Buergerinformationen/stromausfall-vorsorge-selbsthilfe.pdf
• BBK: Vorsorge und Handeln bei Stromausfall (web page, accessed 5 Nov 2026), https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Vorsorge/Stromausfall/stromausfall_node.html
• Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office, Berlin: Bericht zur Nachbereitung der Krisenbewältigung durch das Bezirksamt nach dem Anschlag auf das Stromnetz im Januar 2026 (after-action report, 06/2026), https://www.berlin.de/ba-steglitz-zehlendorf/politik-und-verwaltung/bezirksamt/protokolle/2026/2026-07-07_stromausfall-jan-2026---nachbereitungsbericht-fuer-bezirksamt_top-01pdf.pdf
• Spandau district office, Berlin, civil protection: Stromausfall (web page, accessed 5 Nov 2026), https://www.berlin.de/ba-spandau/service/katastrophenschutz/stromausfall-1631493.php
• State of Berlin, civil protection: Informationen zu Vorsorge und Verhalten bei Stromausfall (web page, accessed 5 Nov 2026), https://www.berlin.de/bevoelkerungsschutz/notfallvorsorge/stromausfall/artikel.1653256.php
• University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald, fire service: Verhalten bei einem flächendeckenden Heizungsausfall – Bekanntgabe der Wärmeinseln (as of 10/2025), https://www.greifswald.de/de/.galleries/Feuerwehr-Docs/2025-10-09_Heizungsausfall-Waermeinseln.pdf
• City of Dresden, fire and civil protection office: Stromausfall – wie vorsorgen und handeln?, 3rd edition (11/2024), https://www.dresden.de/media/pdf/feuerwehr/katastrophenschutz/pdfHZStromausfall_DEUTSCH_2024.pdf
• State of Schleswig-Holstein, kommklar: Sicherheit und Alltag bei Stromausfall (as of 17 Mar 2026), https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/landesportal/kampagne/kommklarsh/ernstfall-alltag
• Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband): Was tun bei Stromausfall? Gut vorbereitet und richtig handeln (as of 19 Jan 2026), https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/energie/was-tun-bei-stromausfall-gut-vorbereitet-und-richtig-handeln-116320
• Verbraucherzentrale Rheinland-Pfalz: Mit geringem Aufwand Heizenergie sparen, press release (24 Oct 2023), https://www.vg-altenkirchen-flammersfeld.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Klimaschutz/Energiespartipps/231024-EnT-Einfache_Heiztipps-VZRLP.pdf
• Association of Fire Services in NRW, AGBF NRW and AGHF NRW: Fachempfehlung zur Gefährdung durch Kohlenstoffmonoxid (CO) – Hintergrundinformationen für die Bevölkerung (2 Apr 2012), https://www.presseportal.de/download/document/595c8e273f0000133ea8c143-fae-2012-04-02fachempfehlungco-bevlkerung-01.pdf
• German Red Cross (DRK): Erfrierungen und Unterkühlungen (web page, accessed 5 Nov 2026), https://www.drk.de/hilfe-in-deutschland/erste-hilfe/erfrierungen-und-unterkuehlungen/
• enercity on Hannover.de: Schutz von Wasserleitungen und Zählern (updated 2/2018), https://www.hannover.de/Kultur-Freizeit/Freizeit-Sport/Feste-Saisonales/Winter-in-der-Region-Hannover/Meldungen/Schutz-von-Wassserleitungen-und-Zählern
• Berlin Senate Department for Science, Health and Care: Sicherer Babyschlaf – Wie mein Baby sicher und gut schläft (08/2024), https://www.berlin.de/sen/gesundheit/_assets/schwangerschaft-und-kindergesundheit/kindergesundheit/flyer_babyschlaf_dinlang_de_barrierefrei.pdf
• German Animal Welfare Federation (Deutscher Tierschutzbund): Protect pets outside from the cold, press release (8 Jan 2024), https://tierschutzbund.de/en/about-us/news/press/notification/protect-pets-outside-from-the-cold
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): Top tips for keeping warm and well this winter (updated 28 Apr 2026), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-warm-and-well-staying-safe-in-cold-weather/top-tips-for-keeping-warm-and-well-this-winter
• NHS: Keep warm, keep well (reviewed 16 Nov 2022), https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/keep-warm-keep-well/
• NHS Wales, Swansea Bay University Health Board: Burns patients' stark warning about the potential dangers of hot water bottles (web page, accessed 5 Nov 2026), https://swanseabay.nhs.wales/news/swansea-bay-health-news/burns-patients-stark-warning-about-the-potential-dangers-of-hot-water-bottles/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – Basics (reviewed 26 Oct 2026), https://www.cdc.gov/carbon-monoxide/about/index.html
• CDC: Safety Guidelines – During & After a Winter Storm (reviewed 25 Aug 2026), https://www.cdc.gov/winter-weather/safety/stay-safe-during-after-a-winter-storm-safety.html
• CDC: Preventing Hypothermia (reviewed 25 Aug 2026), https://www.cdc.gov/winter-weather/prevention/index.html
• CDC: Frigid Temperatures Bring Health Risks, press release (5 Jan 2010, archived), https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/media/pressrel/2010/a100105.htm