"In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered a major power crisis, which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11, 13–17, and 15–20. The storms triggered the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history, leading to shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, some for several days. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly, with some estimates as high as 702 killed as a result of the crisis." Source: 2021 Texas power crisis

What if "The Great Texas Freeze" happens again?

What if the North American cold wave and accompanying winter storms come again? If they had an air-activated hand warmer to keep warm when the power outage happened, they probably wouldn't have died. So, why air-activated hand warmer can generate heat when there is a power outage? This is because the disposable hand warmer uses the oxidation reaction of iron powder to generate heat. Disposable hand warmers contain a mixture of iron powder and other chemicals. When you open the package, the iron powder and oxygen inside the hand warmer will come into contact with each other, and then the iron powder will react with oxygen to generate heat. The oxidation reaction of iron powder is usually a process in which iron powder is oxidized to iron oxide by oxygen. This process is an exothermic reaction that releases warmth.  That's why disposable hand warmers still generate heat during a power outage.

So how many hand warmers do you need to prepare to prevent power outages?

In 2021, there were 3 large-scale power outages in Texas, and the power outages were 2 days, 4 days, and 5 days respectively. Taking this as an example, the heating time of a one-time hand warmer is about 8-12 hours, so 2-3 pieces of hand warmers are needed a day. Then, in Texas in 2021, 22-33 pieces of hand warmers were needed. The average temperature of a pocket hand warmer is 52℃ which is a comfortable temperature.

Winter storms come every year, but we cannot predict when the power plant will fail, so in order to prevent possible power outages, it is necessary for us to stock up on some air-activated hand warmers. Don't be afraid to stock up too much and not be able to use it, because the shelf life of the disposable hand warmer is 3 years, and we can also carry one to keep warm when we go out every day.