Keep Food Safe Using Dry Ice During a Power Outage

Summertime power outages

During a temporary or long-term power outage, dry ice may by your best answer to keep your frozen and refrigerated foods safe. Summertime is the most common time for power outages in many parts of the country.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture all confirm the importance of dry ice in the event of a power outage.

How do you use dry ice in refrigerators & freezers? During a power outage, place dry ice on the top shelf of the freezer to keep foods frozen for up to four days. Place the same quantity of dry ice in the lower part of the refrigerator to keep foods cold. Dry ice sublimates [turns from a solid to a gas] at about 3.5% per day, so care must be taken that the gas pressure is not allowed to build up. Continental Carbonic locations have charts that will assist you in determining the correct amount of dry ice you will need. If you are evacuating an area, having a cooler with dry ice will allow you to transport perishable food or medicines while you are traveling.

Take Safety Precautions When Working with Dry Ice during a Power Outage:

• DO NOT store dry ice in an airtight container, or in an ice chest with the latches locked down. The gas pressure of the sublimating solid dry ice will become explosive. Even if the container does not rupture, the force on the lid or top may be enough to cause severe injury. Leave the lid unlatched. As pressure builds, it will be relieved and kept safe.
• Keep the cooler or container in an area with good ventilation. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will settle in the lowest areas of a room. The best place for storing a container with dry ice is a garage, or room with a ground level door or window that can be left open.
• Wrap dry ice in a towel or newspaper and place on top of items to be kept frozen and below items to be kept cool.
• Do not allow bottles or cans to come in direct contact with dry ice. They will freeze and may rupture as their content expand.
• Dry ice is a solid with a temperature of -109 degrees Fahrenheit. Contact with bare hands or skin may cause severe frostbite. Touching dry ice can be like touching a hot coal -- the cold can burn just as quickly and just as severely as fire.
• Depending on how often the cooler is opened, contents will stay cold for three to four days.
• Do not allow children to play with dry ice.

Where can you buy dry ice during a power outage?

Continental Carbonic has 29 dry ice locations throughout the United States to serve you. Walk up to any of them or call them and purchase dry ice. Continental Carbonic will sell you the dry ice products you need at the quantity you need with the appropriate containers, gloves, and machines you need to use the dry ice.

Call Continental Carbonic toll-free at 800-DRY-ICE2 to buy dry ice. Visit our News Archive to find out about more ways to use dry ice.