i'm not a writer, so dunno if this helps, but just wondering ...
1) how silent is this silence? like a supernatural, 'the entire world has stopped', freaky kind of silence?
no traffic. no birds. no air movement. so silent that you can hear your heart beating and the blood rushing through your body like in an anechoic chamber?
that would raise the anxiety level very quickly when you can hear everything going on in your body very clearly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_chamber
or 2) is this a 'where is everybody' kind of silence? where the sounds of daily activity are missing?
when the character wakes up, he wouldn't instantly notice it, but it would dawn on him slowly in bits and pieces.
- like maybe the sound of someone singing in the kitchen making breakfast is missing. he's used to waking up to the smell of (insert favorite food) in the morning, but it's not there. but he thinks maybe the person slept in late. maybe that person has been feeling sick.
- or there is no sound of running water and someone brushing their teeth in the bathroom. he thinks, 'lucky! no one's using the bathroom, so i don't have to wait for the others!'
- then the sound of a sister arguing with her little brother isn't there. 'good, i don't have to deal with their nonsense this early in the morning. such a bother.'
then he realizes that it's odd that NONE of the usual sounds are there, and the anxiety starts to creep in.
using folksy details might add to the anxiety element because you are creating nice, family images in the reader's mind, but then threatening them by eliminating them.
also, he could go into denial or try to come up with a calm, rational explanation.
- could check the clock. maybe he woke up really early/late, etc. but nope.
- maybe they all went out for some reason. goes downstairs. no signs of activity.
- looks outside. mode of transportation - bicycles, cars, etc. still there.
- goes back inside. checks their rooms. odd.
- looks for notes or messages, etc.
since he's a calm character, he goes through quickly, logically, and thoroughly every possibility, but they are all dead ends.
perhaps he gets more and more frightened/desperate with each action. always thinking to himself that there's probably some simple explanation that he's overlooking ... but there are NONE. muahahahahahah!
if u want to keep the character in denial longer, perhaps there had been a similar incident in the past. they had all gone outside for some reason (stare at a ufo, car accident, naked man running down the street). not exactly the same since they all came back inside the house after a few minutes. but this could make him wait or delay action longer, if the plot requires it.
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anyhoo, dunno if that's what you were looking for without more details about the plot/story.
just rambling ideas off the top of my head. haven't really thought them through, so might have logic errors or there might be better ways to do it.
pretty much i try to run the scenario through my head realistically. how would the main character react? how would i react if i were the main character? and keep the things that might be interesting/useful in building up the story. and maybe also reveal things about the characters, personalities, plot, their relationships/bonds at the same time.
g'luck and have fun with the story. =)
edit: another possibility is calling their cellphones. and each and every ring coming from within the house. lots of ideas to play around with.