After the Power Comes Back: Food and Appliances

Summer thunderstorms roll through with high wind and falling limbs. Winter brings ice-coated lines and heavy wet snow. Either way, a lot of homes in Allegheny County find themselves in the dark every so often, most of them on Duquesne Light's system, waiting for crews to restore service.

This is a two-part checklist. The first part is about your food, because that's the clock that starts ticking the moment the power drops. The second is about your appliances, and how to bring them back without adding damage to the list.

Part one: the food

While the power is out

The USDA and FoodSafety.gov give simple guidance:

• •Keep the doors closed. A refrigerator that stays closed keeps food safe for about 4 hours.
• •A full freezer holds its temperature for about 48 hours if the door stays shut. A half-full freezer holds for about 24 hours.
• •Group frozen food together so it stays colder longer.
• •Use ice or dry ice if the outage looks like it will run long. Handle dry ice with gloves, keep it out of direct contact with food, and make sure the space is ventilated.

If you have an appliance thermometer in each compartment already, you'll know exactly where things stand when the power returns. If you don't, this is a good reason to buy two.

When the power returns

• •Refrigerator: perishable food such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, eggs, soft cheeses and leftovers should be thrown out if it's been above 40°F for two hours or more.
• •Freezer: food that still has ice crystals, or has stayed at 40°F or below, can be safely refrozen, though some quality may suffer.
• •Never taste food to decide. When in doubt, throw it out.

FoodSafety.gov has a detailed chart for specific foods if you need to sort through a full fridge item by item.

Part two: the appliances

During the outage

• •Unplug sensitive electronics and appliances you can reach, or switch them off. When power comes back, there can be a surge or several quick on-off cycles, and anything plugged in takes the hit.
• •Leave one lamp switched on so you know when power returns.
• •Never run a generator indoors, in an attached garage, or near windows and doors. Carbon monoxide from a generator can kill quickly. Follow the generator maker's guidance on distance from the house, and don't plug a generator into a wall outlet to feed the house.
• •If you have a gas range, the surface burners on many models can be lit with a match during an outage. Check your manual first. Most gas ovens can't be used without power, because the igniter and safety valve need electricity.

Restarting in order

When the power comes back, don't bring everything online at once.

1. Wait a few minutes. The first restoration is sometimes followed by another brief drop as the utility switches circuits.
2. Plug in or switch on the refrigerator and freezer first. Many refrigerators wait several minutes before starting the compressor, as a built-in protection. Give them time. Some models show an alert or flashing display after a power loss; the manual explains how to clear it.
3. Reset clocks and controls on the oven, microwave and dishwasher.
4. Bring back the rest gradually: washer, dryer, electronics.

A refrigerator that was warm when the power came back can take many hours to pull back down to temperature. Keep the doors closed, check with a thermometer, and don't restock with warm groceries until it's cold again.

Checking breakers and GFCIs

If an appliance still doesn't work once the house has power:

• •Check the breaker panel. Look for a breaker that's in the middle position or off. Switch it fully off, then on.
• •Check GFCI outlets. Kitchens, laundry areas, basements, and garages often have ground-fault outlets with test and reset buttons. A GFCI upstream can cut power to other outlets on the same circuit, including ones that look ordinary. Press reset. If it won't reset or trips again immediately, don't keep forcing it; that's a sign of a real fault in the circuit or the appliance plugged into it.
• •Try the appliance on another outlet where that's practical, to separate the appliance from the circuit.

If a breaker trips again every time a particular appliance starts, leave it off and call for service. If breakers trip with nothing plugged in, call an electrician.

Signs of surge damage

Most appliances come through an outage just fine. When one doesn't, the damage is usually in the electronics:

• •Dead display or control panel while the appliance has power at the outlet
• •Partial function: the refrigerator light works but the compressor never starts; the dishwasher lights up but won't start a cycle
• •Error codes that weren't there before the outage and won't clear with a reset
• •A burnt electrical smell from the back or underside of the appliance
• •Erratic behavior: random beeping, controls that respond to the wrong buttons, a range that turns itself off

A hard reset can clear some confused controls. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker for a few minutes, then restore power. If the fault comes back, it's not a glitch.

If you smell burning, see scorch marks, or hear crackling, leave the appliance unplugged and don't try it again.

Basements and water

For many homes, the more serious outage risk is a flooded basement if the sump pump stopped. If water reached your washer, dryer, water heater or furnace, keep them off until they've been inspected. Water in a motor, a control board or a gas valve is a safety issue, not only an appliance repair.

Protecting against the next one

• •Surge protection. Whole-home surge protection installed at the panel by an electrician is one option. Plug-in surge protectors are fine for electronics, but check the appliance manual before using one on a refrigerator or other large appliance.
• •Thermometers in the fridge and freezer, so you know rather than guess.
• •A full freezer holds temperature longer. Jugs of water fill empty space and double as ice.

When to call

Call if the refrigerator or freezer isn't cooling a few hours after power returns, if an appliance shows surge symptoms, or if one keeps tripping a breaker. A technician diagnoses it at your home, explains what failed, and quotes the repair for your approval before starting.

If a control board or component failed in a storm, your homeowner's insurance may be worth checking. Keep a note of what failed and when.

Call or book online to schedule.