About 4 hours. That's how long the USDA says a closed refrigerator keeps food safely cold once the power goes out. A full freezer holds its temperature for about 48 hours, and a half-full one for about 24, as long as nobody opens the door.

Now look at how long outages actually run. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found the average home went 11 hours without power in 2024, nearly twice the yearly average of the decade before. That's almost three times longer than your fridge can hold. What you do in the first few minutes decides how much of that food you get to keep.

The numbers to remember

• Refrigerator: about 4 hours with the door closed.
• Full freezer: about 48 hours with the door closed.
• Half-full freezer: about 24 hours.
• Safe temperatures: 40°F or colder in the fridge, 0°F or colder in the freezer.
• The cutoff: perishable food that sat above 40°F for more than 2 hours goes in the trash.

What to do in the first hour

Cold air spills out every time a door opens. This order keeps it in.

1. Shut both doors and leave them shut. Write down the time the power went out, so you know where you stand later.
2. Get light before you touch anything. If it's dark, a Backup Light in the kitchen outlet has already turned on by itself. Lift it out and it works as a flashlight, so you aren't sorting the fridge by phone light with one hand.
3. Plan for coolers if the outage will run past 4 hours. The USDA suggests keeping a couple of coolers and frozen gel packs on hand for exactly this. Move milk, meat, eggs and leftovers into them with ice.
4. Pack the freezer tight. If it isn't full, group items close together. They keep each other cold longer.
5. Find ice early. The USDA says about 50 pounds of dry ice can keep a full 18-cubic-foot freezer cold for about 2 days. Know where to buy it before your whole street goes looking.

How to tell if food is still safe

Your nose won't help you here. The USDA says you can't judge safety by how food looks or smells, and you should never taste it to check. Go by temperature and time instead.

That's why the USDA recommends keeping an appliance thermometer in the fridge and another in the freezer, all the time. When the power comes back, one look tells you whether the fridge stayed at 40°F or colder. If you don't have one, check anything you're unsure about with a food thermometer before you cook it or eat it.

Fridge food to throw out

Once the fridge has been above 40°F for more than 2 hours, FoodSafety.gov says these go:

• Raw or cooked meat, poultry and seafood
• Milk, cream and yogurt
• Fresh eggs and egg dishes
• Soft cheeses, shredded cheese and low-fat cheese
• Cooked pasta, rice and potatoes
• Cut fruits and vegetables
• Opened creamy dressings, and custard or cream-filled pies

These are usually fine to keep: hard and processed cheeses, butter and margarine, whole fresh fruits and vegetables, opened fruit juice, bread, peanut butter, jelly, mustard, ketchup, pickles and opened vinegar-based dressings. Mayonnaise, tartar sauce and horseradish go if they sat above 50°F for more than 8 hours.

Freezer food: refreeze or toss

Check each item on its own. Food that still has ice crystals, or reads 40°F or colder, can go back in the freezer. It may lose a little quality, and it's still safe. Throw out anything that touched raw meat juices.

Thawed meat, poultry, seafood, ice cream, soups, casseroles and frozen meals that sat above 40°F for more than 2 hours should be thrown out. Hard cheeses, plain breads, flour and nuts can usually be refrozen.

Medicine in the fridge

Some medicines need the fridge too, and they warm up with everything else. The Red Cross says to ask your doctor or pharmacist whether refrigerated medicine that got warm is still OK to use.

Set up before the next outage

Do this now, while the lights are on:

• Put an appliance thermometer in the fridge and one in the freezer.
• Keep a couple of coolers and frozen gel packs where you can grab them.
• Know where you'd buy ice.
• Store water. The CDC says at least 1 gallon per person, per day, for at least 3 days.
• Plug a Backup Light into the kitchen and the hallway (here's where else they help).

For the rest of your list, use our power outage checklist.

The Backup Light lives in the outlet, charging all the time. On normal nights it's a night light. The second the power cuts out, it turns on by itself and lifts out as a flashlight, with up to 3 hours of light on a full charge. Nothing to find, press or flip. Get the Backup Light before the next storm, or see all our survival essentials.