Appliance repair in Copperton, UT

Put an appliance thermometer in each, and leave them there. USDA says the fridge should read 40°F or below and the freezer 0°F or lower. The thermometers then show how cold each stayed, however long the power was out. Keep a couple of coolers and some frozen gel packs on hand for an outage of more than 4 hours. Know where to buy dry ice or block ice, too. USDA says 50 pounds of dry ice should keep a full 18-cubic-foot freezer frozen for 2 days. If the freezer isn’t full, keep its food close together, which helps it stay cold longer.

Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency (updated July 30, 2013).

When it can. For a planned wildfire shutoff, the company says it sends notices by phone, text and email before, during and after, going by the preferences you’ve set. But when an active wildfire gets too close to its lines, it may cut the power with no warning. So make sure it has your current phone number and email, and sign up for its alerts. Its online outage map shows each shutoff as it happens. Copperton sends alerts of its own by text, too, and its website explains how to sign up.

Sources: Rocky Mountain Power, Emergency de-energization (undated, read October 11, 2026); Copperton, Copperton (undated, read October 11, 2026).

Often, yes. Read the freezer’s appliance thermometer first. USDA says that if it reads 40°F or below, the food is safe to refreeze. With no thermometer, check each package: food that still has ice crystals, or is 40°F or below, can go back in. Never taste food to decide, and don’t go by how it looks or smells. Refreezing can lower the quality of some foods, USDA says, but they stay safe to eat. Throw out anything that touched raw meat juices.

Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency (updated July 30, 2013).