When your home loses power during an outage, that means your refrigerator does too. To keep perishable food cold for as long as possible, leave your refrigerator and freezer doors closed.

Your fridge can keep food cold for about four hours after an outage if it's unopened. Your freezer can maintain its temperature for 24 to 48 hours, depending on how full it is.

Once the power comes back on, throw out any refrigerated food that has been at temperatures above 40°F for four hours or more.