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Heating and cooling

What to do when the heating stops

What to do when your heating stops working: keeping one room warm, safe portable heating, and looking out for older relatives

By Slightly Anxious

1st July 2026 27 minute read

IN SHORT

Move everyone into one room and warm people, not the air: layers, hats and rechargeable hand warmers put the heat where it is needed. A heatwave needs planning too.

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At Slightly Anxious we’re here to help you endure a crisis situation to the best of your ability. This involves ensuring that you are fully prepared and we hope that when you take a look at our range of articles here, which look at the issues you may have to face and the solutions we have found for you, you will think that a partnership with us will turn what could, unfortunately, be a traumatic time, into an adventure, much like a camping holidays indoors with the advantages of indoor toilets and warmth.

Warmth is what we’re dealing with in this article. In emergency planning we have to plan for the worst and while we’re not like most prepping sites, who think that the end of civilisation is around the corner and a Zombie Apocalypse imminent, we do think it's possible that you could have to spend up to a week without your utilities. This means you may not have water, gas or electricity. As you will have read in our articles, there are many things you can do to ensure you still have the ability to cook, clean, go to the toilet, wash and have light to see, this article will deal with what you can do to keep warm and to keep cool. Yes, the title is ‘What to do when the heating stops’ and we will focus mainly on keeping you warm, but as history tells us that crisis often happen in heat waves and many can be caused by them. Yes, we know we don’t get many in the UK, but if you’ve noticed the weather is getting far more unpredictable these days and therefore, as with everything, it's always best to be prepared and you may need help keeping cool as well as keeping warm.

The facts about home heating

Let's start by looking at some facts: about three quarters of households in the UK are heated by gas, mostly via combi-boilers, nearly an eighth are heated by electricity and the rest is a mixture of heating oil, heat pumps and coal and wood. The unfortunate truth is that all of these methods with the exception of coal and wood fires/stoves depend on mains electricity. Combi-boilers need electricity to work as do heat pumps and even heating oil needs electricity to pump it. So unless you’ve got an ‘old-fashioned’ fire/stove or are very modern and have solar panels and a household battery, see our article ‘What to do when the power goes out’, you’re going to have problems if the electricity goes out. 95% of UK homes’ heating are effected if there is a power cut. The next fact is even more worrying, the UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe. The older they are, the ‘leakier’ they get. The majority of UK houses will rest at a temperature of between 12°c-15°c (dependent on outside temperature) if there is no heating for a couple of days, older houses will get there quicker as will properties in the north and Scotland and if you’re in an exposed position. The World Health Organisation and the UK Health Security Agency have set the minimum safe indoor temperature at 18°C, at 12°c-15°c there is an increased risk of respiratory issues and cardiovascular strain, especially for the elderly. Below 12° there is a high risk of hypothermia for vulnerable groups and significant risk of damp and mould forming on walls and of water pipes freezing. Heating is not just about being comfortable, it's also about keeping healthy and in extremes, keeping alive.

Staying warm

Move everyone into one room, ideally south-facing
The floor is your enemy: insulate under you
A tent indoors holds warmth around you
Warm people, not the air: layers, hats, heated clothing
Any gas or kerosene heater needs a carbon monoxide alarm

If the heating fails without warning

Let us first look at what you should be doing if you wake up one day and either the electricity or the gas have been switched off. You first need to check that this is due to an external issue and not something in your property, like a fuse board tripping. You can ring 105 to check if there has been a power cut and the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 to check if the gas has been cut off. It is more likely the electricity goes off than the gas, but as stated, you need electricity to make the gas boilers work.

If you’re in such a situation and there is no indication that things will be rectified in the next few hours and you’ve decided not to take us up on our suggestions outlined below, then your options are unfortunately a bit limited and life will be a bit tough. The first thing you need to do is move everyone into one room. Preferably a south facing one with windows as the sun shining in will increase the internal temperature. People and pets give off their own heat and getting them all together in one room will increase the heat in your new communal living area. Obviously, put on layers of clothing, use blankets and sleeping bags if you want. If you have a tent, set it up in the room and use it, the more closer you are together, the more confined the area, the more heat there will be. Use ‘sausage dog’ draft excluders against the bottom of doors, if you don’t have one, roll up a towel and use that. If you think there may be drafts coming from your windows put tape over them. You can even use cling film and tape to put an extra level of ‘glazing’ across your windows. If you’re not gaining any sunlight through them, consider closing the curtains to keep the heat in. Eating protein-rich food generates internal heat (thermogenesis) so use this as an excuse to gorge on peanut butter, chocolate, and nuts.

I think you can see that without any preparation, when the heating goes out things get pretty Spartan, pretty quickly. Which is why we do strongly recommend you consider some of the following purchases to make any such eventuality a little less like Scott of the Antarctic and wondering who will be the ill-fated Captain Oates (Google it!).

Tents and sleeping bags indoors

The first things we would recommend you purchase in order to be prepared for an emergency where the heating is turned off are essentially camping equipment. As you hopefully will of read in our many articles, found on our website, much of emergency preparation requires camping gear. It has the theoretical advantage that you can actually use it for camping holidays as well thus justifying the expense, but for this author at least, camping is only defined as a hotel that is less than 4 stars! We think the expense will become instantly justifiable in the first minute of any emergency.

An option is to go for a tent. If you purchase the heaters and other equipment listed below you probably won’t need it. But, if you’re that kind of person, you can use it to go camping with, so it should be a consideration. Remember that the point of a tent in an emergency is to keep heat in, so you want the smallest one that will fit the number of people you have, which may be the opposite from when you’re choosing purely for a comfortable camping holiday. Examples are:

Night Cat Pop Up Tent 2 Person at c.£100-£140 – this tent erects itself at the touch of a button, is well ventilated to help prevent the build-up of condensation and it packs away into a tiny bundle.
Coleman Darwin 2 Plus Blackout 2 Man Dome Tent at c.£100-£140 – similar features as above, while not self-erecting with a button, it is still one of the easiest to erect.
Coleman Galiano 4 Pop Up Tent at c.£80-£100 – quick set up and takes up to 4 people so more room for clothes and kit

Things to remember when trying to erect a tent indoors. Firstly, you obviously can’t hammer tent pegs in to your floor, which is why we have chosen fully free standing tents. If you already have a tent but it uses guy ropes and tent pegs, tie the guy ropes to furniture, weights, heavy books or filled bottles of water (5litre). Guy ropes become an extreme trip hazard in the dark, so ensure they are out of people’s walk ways and even better still use Fluorescent Tape, 10m × 15mm Waterproof Luminous Tape, Glow in the Dark Self-adhesive Tape at c.£5-£7 or 10Pcs Glow Rope Tensioner Tent Rope Fastener at c.£8-£12 to alert people to the hazard.

The most important thing is that the floor is your enemy, it will be cold, so lay a rug down, use yoga mats to sit underneath your tent and provide an insulating layer. Ideally you will have a number of layers including rugs and a 200*200CM Aluminium Foil Camping Mat, Insulating Waterproof Thermal Foam Sleeping Mat For Camping at c.£15-£25. Equally, you can aid the heat in the tent by laying a blanket over the roof or even better use a Mylar blanket such as one of the Emergency Foil Thermal Blanket (Pack of 6), Survival Blankets at c.£8-£10. We recommend these for your emergency grab-bag so they are a worthwhile investment. The flipside of trying to stay warm in a tent is condensation, people breathe moisture, so the more difficult you make it for air to escape, the more likely you will be to wake up in the damp and cold. You will have to manage the vents in your tent to prevent this, so stay wary. And of course, the number one rule: you never bring any gas lit heater or light or candles inside the tent as that is the quickest way to a horrible death.

The next luxury option are sleeping bags. Obviously, most sleeping bags are designed for bad weather while they intended use here, is for indoors. This means we have avoided the ones most overtly designed for bad weather and have focussed on warmth and comfort, although they are still waterproof. Examples are:

Berghaus Transition 300C Sleeping Bag at c.£45-£65 – it has a 3 season rating, so is designed for the winter cold and is ‘mummy’ shaped so designed to trap heat around your head and shoulders but not feel claustrophobic. Designed for long term storage and washable.
Snugpak Softie 6 Sleeping Bag at c.£120-£160 – this is the British Army’s chosen option. As well as being British made, designed for cold desert nights, has a packed size of just 7 inches by 7 inches that will fit into space restricted rucksacks and is ‘mummy shaped’. Definitely one to consider if evacuation is a potential risk, do read our article ‘Slightly Anxious says get a grab bag’.
Nemo Forte Endless Promise at c.£175-£225 – also rated for 3 seasons, designed for long term storage and washable, this one is ‘spoon’ shaped so ideal for slide sleepers as it provides extra room around the elbows and knees. Has a zip ventilation system to help regulate the heating.

OUR PICK

Berghaus Transition 300C sleeping bag

c.£45-£65. Three-season, built for winter cold.

View on Amazon

Tents and sleeping bags are very useful to have, especially if you have a second use for them and that can be camping for recreational purposes or in a dire emergency where you are forced to evacuate or you are stranded in your vehicle overnight. If we are just looking at an emergency where you are forced to stay indoors without heating they are super useful, but may prove unnecessary if you have alternative heating sources.

Safe ways to heat a room

And here lies the problem. Most appliances we will use in an emergency use electrical power from a battery of some sorts. Heating is one of the most energy demanding of activities there is and so impractical to use battery power. So, as with cooking, when we can’t use mains electricity, we look to gas. Gas is available and relatively cheap but it comes with its own problems for indoor use, namely the quite serious risks of carbon monoxide poisoning, respiratory hazards and explosion and fire. Fortunately, with the right kit and procedures these risks can be mitigated and successfully managed.

Understanding this, companies have designed gas heaters specifically for indoor use, complete with the needed safety features such as an oxygen depletion sensor and a tip-over shut-off. Some of their designs will be reminiscent to some of our slightly older readers as they have been in use for decades. Examples are:

Season Warmth Mobile Cabinet Heater at c.£80-£110 – this will heat a room of about 6m x 6m, a large living room, very quickly . It incorporates a tip-over switch for automatic shut-off and a cool-touch exterior casing as safety features and has castor wheels for easy mobility between rooms. It will take a Calor 15kg Butane Gas Bottle at c. £50-£70 that most people find will last 1-2 weeks of regular daily use. Be aware that when buying gas cannisters you first rent the actual cannister and then buy the gas, so the first time cost is approx. £120 and then c.£60 every time you refill it. We (and Amazon) don't supply them you will need to find a supplier, try here
Universal Innovations Manhattan Contemporary Calor Gas Heater at c.£175-£250. This is for bigger rooms than the Seasons Warmth heater above and comes with a ceramic coals and logs display which gas flames flicker over giving a realistic fire flickering effect. Takes either Calor 7kg or 15kg Butane cannisters.
Lifestyle Mini Heatforce 4.2kw Radiant Portable Gas Heater at c.£120-£160. This is a lot smaller in size than the above and takes a 7kg cannister. This means it will heat a smaller room (5m x 5m) for less time, but still manage on its lowest setting to last 64 hours compared to the 15kg cannister heaters who can manage 130 hours plus. A 7kg cannister of gas will cost new c.£80-£100 and £40-£50 to refill.
If you need a better aesthetic than the arguably dated designs of the above and are willing to pay for it, then there is the Provence Gas Heater at c.£380-£480. This runs off the same gas cannister, but as their marketing states, they have been specifically designed to blend in with the ambience of character cottages and traditional homes, and will bring a touch of ‘country chic’ wherever it is placed’. There is no denying that they do look like an old fashioned coal fire and if it fits in with your design scheme for your home could easily be left out on display rather than being taken out of storage only when needed as you would with the others.

Room heaters compared

Heater

Fuel

Guide Price

Season Warmth Mobile Cabinet Heater

Bottled gas, heats about 6 x 6m

c.£80-£110

Lifestyle Mini Heatforce 4.2kW

Bottled gas, heats about 5 x 5m

c.£120-£160

Universal Innovations Manhattan

Calor gas, bigger rooms

c.£175-£250

Portable Kerosene 6L Stove Heater

Kerosene, 18 hours per tank

c.£70-£100

2-in-1 Kerosene Heater and Stove

Kerosene, 16-21 hours, also cooks

c.£50-£70

Carbon monoxide alarms

One necessary addition is ensuring that you have a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector, which you need anyway if you have gas boiler, such as the FireAngel Carbon Monoxide Alarm and Detector at c.£15-£25. This reinforces the fact that for the safe use of gas heaters you need to ensure there is good ventilation in the room, which can seem counter-intuitive when trying to keep warm! Never place in a bedroom, a bathroom or a shower room. You also need to ensure that they are at least 1m away from curtains, furniture or anything combustible to prevent the chance of fire. Another necessary addition is a fire extinguisher, have a look at the Firexo Mini - Multipurpose All-in-One Fire Extinguisher at c.£25-£30 which is similar in size and use as a hair spray can so easily stored and easily used.

OUR PICK

FireAngel Carbon Monoxide Alarm

c.£15-£25. Essential with any gas or kerosene heater.

View on Amazon

Gas, kerosene or bioethanol?

The gas heater option can come with problems due to cannisters and regulators needing to hook up properly and the cost and hassle of buying cannisters and refilling them. An old school alternative is to use kerosene or paraffin as the fuel for a portable kerosene heater. As liquids it they are easily accessible and storable. Go for the low odour versions for obvious reasons. They come in handy 5 litre plastic containers, as well as other sizes, and are about half the cost of propane gas, which is good as the heaters are quite expensive, mostly due to the cost of shipping them from China! Some of the heaters look like old fashioned ships hurricane lamps and can even double as a stove to heat a small saucepan of water on. Examples are:

Portable Kerosene 6L Stove Heater at c.£70-£100 – this will last for 18 hours on one tank and heat a small room of 10-20m2. It has a mesh screen around the flame to prevent burns and a carrying handle to make it portable. It has a heat adjustment knob, a fuel gauge and you can boil a kettle on it.
Menduner Portable 2 in 1 Kerosene Heater Non Electric Stove at c.£120-£160 – this has a smaller tank at 5.2L but claims to be able to maintain heating for 20-25 hours. It has the same features as above but comes with a complete accessory set which includes funnel, siphon pump, gloves, and extra wicks for added convenience.
2-in-1 Kerosene Heater & Stove for Indoor Use at c.£50-£70 - a generic and smaller version of the above with a 4.5L tank which gives a 16-21 hour burn time to heat rooms up to 15 square meters with its 9000 BTU output. Use it to boil water during the day and heat your room by night.

This is the real benefit of a kerosene heater is that it can double as a stove. If you read our article, ‘Kitchen in a crisis with Slightly Anxious’ you will see that we recommend camping gas stoves as your emergency option for cooking, with a kerosene heater you can cook and get warm at the same time. We have to remind you that kerosene is like camping gas in that it comes with fire and carbon monoxide poisoning risks. If you go for kerosene then you must have a fire extinguisher, a carbon monoxide alarm and ensure there is good ventilation in the room, which as always can seem counter-intuitive when trying to keep warm! Never place in a bedroom, a bathroom or a shower room. You also need to ensure that they are at least 1m away from curtains, furniture or anything combustible to prevent the chance of fire.

Another option is bioethanol burners. These provide probably one of the biggest opportunities for vast expense for aesthetic reasons and having regular usage outside of an emergency. Bioethanol is similar to paraffin and kerosene in that it is a liquid fuel that once ignited gives a flame and produces heat. The difference is that paraffin and kerosene are made from fossil fuels and bioethanol is made from renewables.

This is very virtuous but the real reason people have bioethanol burners in their homes is that it looks like a traditional fire, as in it has flames, but doesn’t need a flue or chimney and leaves no odour or ash. Thus a large industry has sprung up supplying stylish open and closed fireplaces for people’s living rooms and fire pits for their gardens. As with anything this designed and architectural, the prices are sky high, in a number of websites we looked at had starting prices around £1,500. If you already have one or can incorporate one into your décor then you have a good heat source that is independent of a mains supply. We don’t think we can really justify asking people to spend enormous amounts on remodelling their living rooms to incorporate a bioethanol fireplace, however beautiful, for its use in an emergency scenario.

Warm people, not rooms

As well as using different methods to create heat, you should also consider how people can keep warm individually. It really can be as simple as just dressing for it. Hats, scarves, gloves, coats and jumpers. Even woolly socks, cardigans and long johns, in fact as many layers as possible to keep you warm and the more you use clothes to keep you warm the less warmth you need heat from fuel and so it will last longer. As ever, there is technology out there to help us and we think these options need consideration:

Ororo Men’s or Women's Quilted Heated Gilet with Power Bank at c.£130-£170 – a lightweight and water resistant fitted gilet that has heating panels within its insulated layer. These are powered by an 5kmAh rechargeable battery pack that keeps it heating for 3 hours on the high setting (55°c), 6 hours on medium (40°c) or 10 hours on low (35°c).
Ocoopa Magnetic Rechargeable Hand Warmers 2 Pack at c.£20-£25 – about the dimensions of a credit card just wider, these magnetic warmers can either stick together for ease of carry or be separated so you have one in each hand, they will provide up to 8 hours of warmth. Charged by a USB C cable.
Olutula 180x110cm, Heated Throw Blanket with 9 Heating Zones, Detachable Hood and Zipper Front at c.£60-£70 – without the hood and zipped up front this is a large blanket that needs a 20KmAh rechargeable battery to heat its 9 heating zones for 12-16 hours on high (70°c), 16-20 hours on medium (60°c) or 20-24 hours on low (50°c). Add the hood and zip up the front and you effectively have a heated cloak to walk around in.

These all use rechargeable electricity to put heat directly against your skin. This is a more efficient way of keeping people warm than heating the rooms that they inhabit as much of the heat just heats air. We recommend both!

Keeping cool in a heatwave

As we said at the beginning of this article, we also need to consider what happens when it gets really hot and we don’t have any mains power. Obviously, in the UK, there is far more chance of you being in a cold climate when an emergency happens, but for those handful of days where we have a heatwave almost every year now, the consequences of the heatwave can make the chances of an emergency more likely.

The first things to do is realise that you can use your home to help you keep cool. If the temperature of your home is in the comfortable zone (20°c-23°) or cooler before the sun comes up, use the opportunity to keep it that way. Close all windows and curtains and if possible, cover the windows with aluminium foil or a Mylar survival blanket to reflect sunlight out of your property. As the sun goes up in the sky it will heat the air, if your curtains are open it will heat the air in your rooms and if you open the windows, all the hot air will come in. So close everything and keep it dark. With no mains power you will have no appliances on to increase the temperature but be wary if you are using battery power to keep some appliances going. If you can put the power stations outside. If you cooking with gas, do it outside, as this increases indoor temperature massively. When the sun goes down you can ventilate the building by opening windows on opposites sides of the building to try and cause a draw between them. You can even consider hanging a soaking wet bedsheet over an open window at night. As the breeze passes through the damp fabric, the air temperature can drop by several degrees. Also, remember that hot air rises, so also at night open the windows at the very bottom and the very top of your building (if you have more than one floor!) as this should suck cold air in and push hot air out.

Now let’s look at the devices that can help us keep our cool:

VTHW Camping Fan, 20000mAh Rechargeable Battery Table Fan at c.£40-£50 – designed for camping, with two motors and two sets of fans it provides a strong breeze with13 speed settings and the ability to auto shut-off after 1/2/3 hours, perfect for getting you off to sleep. Its 20KmAh rechargeable battery will last at low speed for up to 100 hours, at medium speed, up to 30 hours and at high speed up to 10 hours.
MeacoFan Sefte® Pro 10" Portable Battery Air Circulator (either table or pedestal) at c.£120-£160 – this is whisper-quiet (25dB) and incredibly powerful, you can get cool from over 30m away. It has a rechargeable battery that will give you up to 40 hours of cooling on one charge
Shark FlexBreeze High-Velocity 12 in 1 Fan, Hybrid Corded & Cordless Portable Cooling Fan at c.£175-£250. This also comes in tabletop or pedestal options. It will keep you cool from 20m and its rechargeable battery will run for up to 24 hours on the lowest of its 5 speed settings. It includes an InstaCool misting attachment that connects to a garden hose for extra cooling, supposedly dropping temperatures by 5°c, but designed for outdoor use.

If you have read our article, ‘What to do when the power goes out with Slightly Anxious’ and gone so far as purchasing a power station then you may already be aware that they may either come with an air conditioner attachment or will power a portable air conditioner. These will heat and/or cool your home. The question you have is whether you use the power station solely for this and purchase another for providing battery power elsewhere or do you juggle using just the one? While almost any of them will work with your power station if it has a mains plug connection, here are some examples that use different power options:

Ylkf Mini Portable Air Conditioner, 4 -in-1 Air Cooler with 1250ML Tank at c.£40-£55 - this is cheap and cheerful. It is an electric fan with a tank of water so it cools and humidifies the air. We suspect that it's not that powerful or that quiet but at this price it’s a budget option. It is powered via a USB-C cable and with a 20KmAh power bank will keep running for up to 25 hours at low speed, 18 hours at medium speed and 12 hours at high speed.
BougeRV New PC35 1kW Portable Air Conditioner at c.£275-£375 – this will plug into a power station and provide 3500 BTU of cooling which will drop the temperature by almost 8°c in 15 minutes, if you’re in a rather small room (its meant for camping). It is rather quiet at 55dB and will keep going for as long as your power station does.
Dreo Smart 3-in-1 Portable Air Conditioner, 12000 BTU Drainage-Free Cooling AC Unit at c.£600-£700 – this is the ‘Mother-of-all-AC’s’. Power it with your power station and it will provide a few hours of superior cooling. Enough to make a bedroom temperature bearable for a night’s worth of sleep. Works with an app, remote control or with Alexa, it is a significant investment but always useful useful in a non-emergency situation as well.

As we found with keeping warm, there are devices for your own personal wear that will help keep you cool, you will be able to justify their expense by taking them on holiday with you:

Civpower Neck Fan: Portable Personal Neck Cooling Rechargeable Bladeless Fan at c.£35-£45 – This neck fan has a headphone design with 78 air vents, innovative turbo fan blades and wind hole design that blows cool air around your neck and head. It has adjustable fan speeds and doesn’t blow directly into your face. With a 4,000mAh rechargeable battery it can last for 3-16 hours dependent on the power setting.
Torras Portable Neck Fan Rechargeable, Neck Cooler with Cooling Plate at c.£250-£350 – this Rolls Royce of neck fans has in-built fans blowing through 8 ducts to cool you, supposedly quickly dropping the temperature around your head and neck to a comfortable 16°c. Powered by a 6,000mAh rechargeable battery it delivers up to 16 hours of continuous breeze.
HandFan 5200mAh Handheld Misting Fan with Portable Charger at c.£25-£30. This is a handheld personal fan that comes with a 1/3rd litre water tank which means it not only provides a cool breeze but a fine water mist that will evaporate on your skin and cool you down. It has a moveable fan head separate from its handle, so it can be placed on a table and directed at your face or the whole device can be hung around the next and directed up at your face. It comes with a 5200mAh rechargeable battery that means the fan can go for 24 hours on its low setting, 11 hours on its medium setting and 6 hours on its high setting. The water tank is sufficient for 20 minutes of continuous misting.
Fernida Cooling Vest, 18 V Cooling Fan Vest with Battery and 2 Fans at c.£70-£90 – definitely out of the Inspector Gadget playbook this, it is a waistcoat/gilet that comes equipped with two electric fans located around your kidney area that blow air up through the underside of the vest, supposedly dropping the temperature by 13°c due to evaporative cooling. The included 20kmAh power bank powers the fans for up to 9 hours at high wind speed.

Don't rule out a summer emergency

Having an emergency during a heatwave can be just as bad as having one during a cold snap. Both extremes demand more power usage for extra heating or cooling. There is more demand on cooking gas in the cold as hot food and drink has more importance. But the flip side to this is in the heat there is an additional need for emergency refrigeration as food goes off quicker. Read our article ‘Kitchen in a crisis with Slightly Anxious’ to explore some solutions to this.

The main thing is not to dismiss the chances of there being an emergency during a heatwave just because they are a bit of a rarity in Britain’s climatic conditions. The fact is that a significant increase in heat can cause emergencies by itself; directly like forest fires or indirectly like causing a massive surge in the demand for air conditioning, both of which can threaten the integrity of the electricity grid. Hot weather is also much more linked to increased rainfall these days, so flood risk also increases. So in summary, be prepared for hot weather just as much as for cold.

We hope that by providing you with some options for how to improve life during a crisis scenario and offering some tips., should you be unfortunate enough to endure an emergency in the cold or heat, you will be fully prepared.

OUR PICK

Ocoopa rechargeable hand warmers

(2 pack)

c.£20-£25. Credit-card sized and magnetic.

View on Amazon

Your to do list is:

1. Pick one room to keep warm and move everyone into it

2. Get a sleeping bag for each person and an insulated mat

3. Choose a safe heater and buy a battery carbon monoxide alarm

4. Store the right fuel for it, safely

5. Add hats, layers and rechargeable hand warmers

6. Plan for a heatwave too: a battery fan at least