Your home in a power cut: household plan
Sources awaiting check
Work it out for your home
Worked example
For 2 adults, 1 older person, 1 child, 1 pet, with a telecare alarm; gas boiler, electric cooker and a landline through the broadband router:
- Stops working: gas boiler (combi or system), electric or induction hob and oven, landline that plugs into your broadband router, broadband and wifi router, fridge and freezer, lights.
- First hour: 7 steps, starting "Check whether it's just your home: look at your fuse box for a tripped switch, and see if neighbours' lights are off too."
- Who to call: 105 (power cut helpline (great britain)), 999 (emergency services), 111 (nhs non-emergency help).
- Kit to keep: 14 items, with the everyday ones marked so you can check what you already have.
Source: National Grid, awaiting check; Power Cut 105, awaiting check; gov.uk Prepare, awaiting check; Ofcom, awaiting check; Food Standards Agency, awaiting check; Priority Services Register, awaiting check; British Red Cross, awaiting check; NHS, awaiting check
Kit lists tell you what to buy. This plan starts with your home instead: who lives there, how it's heated, how you cook, and how your phone and internet work. Then it tells you what stops working, what to do first, who to call, and the few things worth keeping in a cupboard.
How it works
- Tell us who lives with you, including anyone who needs extra help.
- Tick what your home has. We've ticked a few common ones to start you off; untick anything you don't have.
- Your plan updates as you go. Print it, or save it as a PDF from the print dialog.
Every step comes from official advice from gov.uk Prepare, the network operators and the Priority Services Register. The sources are listed under your plan, with the date we checked them.
If you need more power than a power bank
If your home relies on things a power bank can't run, such as a heat pump, a well pump or medical equipment, your plan points you to our sister site Ferncharge, which compares portable power stations. We don't size them here.
FAQs
Is my information saved?
Only in your own browser, so it's there next time you visit. It isn't sent to us.
Does this replace the gov.uk plan?
No. It follows official advice and adds the parts that depend on your home. You can also fill in our household emergency plan, which follows the gov.uk headings.
Read the guide: Power cut: what to do
More tools
- Backup power: which do I need?Tick what you'd want to keep going in a power cut. We'll tell you whether a power bank is likely to be enough, or whether to look at a portable power station on our sister site Ferncharge.
- What stops working in a power cutTick what your home has, from the boiler to the landline, and see what stops in a power cut, what may keep going and what to do about each.
- Who to call in a power cutPick where you live and get the number to call, a link to find your local network operator, and where to report a cut or check for updates.
Sources
- Which heating works in a power cut (National Grid), awaiting check
- What to do in a power cut (network operators) (Power Cut 105), awaiting check
- gov.uk Prepare power cut advice (gov.uk Prepare), awaiting check
- Digital landlines and power cuts (Ofcom), awaiting check
- Food safety in a power cut (Food Standards Agency), awaiting check
- gov.uk Prepare emergency kit list (gov.uk Prepare), awaiting check
- Who the Priority Services Register is for (Priority Services Register), awaiting check
- gov.uk Prepare household emergency plan (gov.uk Prepare), awaiting check
- British Red Cross emergency kit list (British Red Cross), awaiting check
- Power cut helpline (Great Britain) (Power Cut 105), awaiting check
- Emergency services (NHS), awaiting check
- NHS non-emergency help (NHS), awaiting check