The Quarter On A Cup Of Ice Trick (In case of a power outage)

If you found this simple trick because you’re looking for hurricane prep for the upcoming storm season, check out our How To Prepare For A Hurricane Guide for more hurricane safety tips.

The Quarter On A Cup Of Ice Trick (In case of a power outage)

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The quick rundown of the quarter on a cup of ice trick is that you freeze a cup of water, then put a coin on top of the cup of ice. Then, put that cup of ice in your freezer (often, people put it on the freezer door but if you don’t have space, just putting it on a freezer shelf is fine).

If the coin is still on top of the ice when you’re back, your fridge never lost power during the entire time you were gone and your freezer’s contents have remained at a safe temperature.

If the quarter is a little lower in the cup, you lost power for a little while.

And, if the coin is on the bottom of the cup, you lost power long enough that the entire cup of ice melted back to water, the coin sank all the way to the bottom, then the power came back on and refroze the ice.

​In that case, the fridge was warm or at room temperature for sure a long time, you should discard your perishable foods and the contents of your freezer.

What To Do:

Fill a clear cup with water and stick it in the freezer until it turns into ice. Take it out, place a quarter on top, and then put it back in the freezer.

What Does The Quarter On A Cup Of Ice Do?

The concept of this freezer trick for power outage is that when the power goes out, food in your freezer will start to thaw. And the ice in the cup will melt. That will cause the quarter to fall. When the power returns, the water will freeze again, encapsulating the quarter within it.

If you come home and the quarter is still on top, you know you didn’t lose power and your food is fine.

If you return home and see the quarter at the bottom of the glass, you know your food has (most likely) thawed and refrozen. And, then, you want to check this article with food safety tips from Washington State University. It will let you know what refrigerator and freezer food is fine and what needs to be discarded.

And, if the quarter is somewhere in the middle of the cup, you know you lost power for a while.

Does The Quarter On A Cup Of Ice Trick Work?

In theory, it’s a great idea. But the quarter on a cup of frozen water trick doesn’t tell you the exact temperature of your fridge during the time the power was out. It also doesn’t tell you how long the power was out.

Plus, if you think about ice cubes, they don’t actually just melt from the top down. Ice melts all around, basically equally. So you’ll be losing from the bottom as well as the top and sides.

Also, do you know what the time lapse of ice melting is? I don’t.

So, with this freezer trick for a power outage, you’ll know if you lost power. And if the quarter is on the bottom of the glass, you’ll know you lost power for a significant amount of time and that you should probably discard your raw meat and other items.

But, without an appliance thermometer, you won’t really know if you lost power for the whole time you were gone or what the fridge temperature was.

And, if you do have an appliance thermometer to determine the temperature of your freezer, the FDA has a great article about Food and Water Safety During Power Outages and Floods, which tells the right temperature for the safety of your food and more.

Deep Cleaning Your Refrigerator:

Unfortunately, after the aforementioned hurricane we evacuated for, we had to discard all the contents of our full freezer and refrigerator. We lost power for nearly three days when we were gone and we didn’t want to risk it. Our fridge being completely emptied gave us a great excuse to deep clean our refrigerator.

So, if you do lose power and your food thaws and needs to be discarded, check out our post about How To Deep Clean Your Fridge. At least that’s a silver lining.