Official guidance, two separate answers

Fridge & Freezer Outage Clock

First, see how much of the federal closed-door planning window remains. Then make a separate, conservative food decision from what you actually know about the door and temperature. The countdown never certifies an individual food item.

Guidance source check: August 4, 2026 · See official sources

This interactive clock needs JavaScript. The fixed guidance is still listed in the table below: up to 4 hours for a closed refrigerator, about 48 hours for a full closed freezer, and about 24 hours for a half-full closed freezer.

Check the outage clock

No account and no free-text fields. Results stay in your browser; a share link contains only the four bounded choices below.

Which appliance?The 48-hour reference requires a known completely full freezer. A known freezer at least half-full uses the shorter 24-hour half-full reference. Below half-full or unsure gets no fixed countdown because the federal guidance does not publish one.

Hours with neither power nor another confirmed cold sourceUse 0.25 for 15 minutes, 0.5 for 30 minutes. This clock assumes no added cold source continuously maintained safe temperature. If ice, a cooler, or backup power did, use measured temperature history and the official chart—not outage hours alone. Maximum: 336 hours (14 days).

Did the appliance door stay closed?The 4-, 24-, and 48-hour references assume the door remains closed. An opening makes time remaining unknowable from the clock alone.

What do you know about the food now?Use a food or appliance thermometer. Ice-crystal guidance applies only to freezer food; the tool will not apply it to a refrigerator.

1 · Planning time remaining

WINDOW OPEN

4 hr planning buffer remains

This is the remaining part of the official up to 4 hours closed-door reference. It is not an item-by-item food-safety clearance.

Official reference: up to 4 hours, door closed
Elapsed: 0 min

2 · Food decision

KEEP CLOSED

Keep the refrigerator closed

You are inside the fixed closed-door planning window. Avoid opening the door, stage a cooler and ice if the outage may pass 4 hours, and verify temperature before deciding about individual food.

Never taste food to decide whether it is safe. When in doubt, throw it out. Use theofficial food-by-food outage chart.

The fixed guidance this clock uses

These are planning windows for an appliance that started cold and stayed closed. Door opening, an unknown starting temperature, a failed seal, a warm room, or food already above its safe temperature can shorten the real window. That is why the result keeps planning time separate from the food decision.

Appliance	Closed-door reference	What happens next
Refrigerator	Up to 4 hours	After 4 hours without power or another cold source, discard refrigerated perishables.
Completely full freezer	About 48 hours	Check packages individually after restoration. Ice crystals or a measured temperature of 40°F or below support refreezing or cooking; quality may suffer.
Half-full freezer	About 24 hours	Check packages individually after restoration. Ice crystals or 40°F-or-below readings support refreezing or cooking.
Known above half-full, but not full	Tool uses 24 hours	Conservative tool rule: use the shorter official half-full reference instead of extrapolating toward 48 hours.
Below half-full or fill unknown	No fixed countdown	Federal guidance does not publish a fixed window for this state. Keep the door closed; use temperature and ice-crystal evidence when action is necessary.

A current temperature does not reconstruct an unknown earlier temperature history. For thawed food above 40°F, use the official chart item by item instead of treating the freezer countdown as clearance.

Official sources

The calculator rules were checked against primary U.S. government guidance on August 4, 2026. The tool does not add a longer or more permissive window.

FDA · Food and Water Safety During Power Outages and Floods — closed-door windows, refrigerated-perishable discard guidance, and the ice-crystal / 40°F refreeze rule.
CDC · Keep Food Safe After a Disaster or Emergency — the 4-, 24-, and 48-hour windows, cooler guidance, and “never taste” instruction.
USDA FSIS · Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies — appliance thermometers, closed doors, coolers, and freezer timing.
FoodSafety.gov · Food Safety During Power Outage — item-by-item refrigerated and frozen food keep/discard charts.

Turn the clock into an outage plan

Read the full food-safety guide

Stage thermometers, a cooler, ice, and one deliberate door opening before the clock runs out.

Measure the fridge's real load

Separate running watts, compressor surge, and daily average before sizing battery backup.

Check a battery you already have

Estimate runtime with conversion losses and reserve included, then verify the surge rating.

This site provides planning estimates, not electrical, medical, or emergency safety advice.

This clock summarizes general federal food-safety guidance; it cannot inspect an appliance, reconstruct temperature history, or determine whether a specific item is safe. Follow local emergency instructions and discard food when safety cannot be established.