Backup Power

Backup Power at Home: A Household Guide

When the power goes off, first establish whether the problem is inside your home or affects the wider network. Check the trip switch near your electricity meter. If it is still on, contact your electricity network operator; if it has switched off, follow the official reset procedure, unplugging appliances if it trips again. For a wider cut, call 105 or use the Power Cut website to find the operator for your area.¹

While you wait, keep fridge and freezer doors closed, switch off appliances such as straighteners and stoves, check on vulnerable neighbours and leave one light on so you know when the supply returns.³ For backup power, start with the essentials: a charged power bank for phones or compatible medical devices, reliable lighting, a radio and a battery backup for essential medical equipment.⁴

What to do first when the power goes off

Work through the immediate checks before setting up backup equipment. This avoids treating a tripped circuit as a network failure and reduces the chance of appliances coming back on unattended.

1. Check your trip switch. It is part of the circuit-breaker fuse system near your electricity meter. If it is still on, call your electricity network operator. If it is off, switch it back on; if it switches off again, unplug all appliances and reset it. If only part of the supply has failed and the trip will not reset, contact a registered electrician.¹
2. Report a wider outage. Call 105 or visit the Power Cut website to be directed to the operator for your area. Use the power cuts guide to check reporting and restoration information.²
3. Make the home safe. The Met Office advises switching off electrical appliances that should not be left unattended, leaving a light on and checking on neighbours.⁹
4. Protect food and warmth. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed, and keep blankets and thick jumpers available. Tell a friend or neighbour if you are anxious.³
5. Use safe lighting first. Make torches, lanterns and head torches your first light source. The emergency lighting guide covers these options and why candles present a fire risk when the power is off.

Keep away from hazards such as damaged power lines. Official guidance warns that electricity at high voltages can jump gaps without warning.⁵ If the loss of power follows flooding, turn off the electricity until a qualified electrician or utility company has checked all switches, sockets and appliances. Use a circuit breaker with electrical equipment used in or to clean and repair the property.¹⁰

Deciding what to keep running

Start with consequences rather than with a piece of kit. A phone that lets you receive updates, a medical device someone depends on and food that must stay cold present different needs. The guide to deciding what to keep running helps put those needs in order before you compare equipment.

Ready Scotland advises using a battery-powered or wind-up radio during an outage and trying both digital and FM stations.¹² Keep a wind-up or battery FM radio with spare batteries at home, because updates may be given on the radio.⁶

Once you know what matters, check the electrical demands before assuming one battery can cover everything. Watts, watt-hours and surge are the measurements that decide whether an appliance can be powered and for how long. This is particularly important where equipment starts with a higher demand than it uses while running. Avoid adding appliances merely because a backup output is available: the purpose is to keep essential services going, not to reproduce normal household electricity use.

Power banks for phones and small devices

A power bank is the straightforward backup to keep charged for a phone, tablet or other compatible device. Official preparedness advice also includes compatible medical devices, but the device requirements still need to be checked.⁴ Keep important telephone numbers on paper as well: a charged phone is less useful if its battery runs out before you can retrieve a stored contact.¹¹

• Keep the power bank fully charged and available rather than packed away.⁸
• Store a torch and spare batteries alongside it.¹¹
• Check cables and charging compatibility before an outage.
• Use Power Banks: Keeping Phones Charged in an Emergency for the detailed choices and USB-C charging for connectors and power delivery.
• Compare the two scales of equipment in Power Bank or Portable Power Station before relying on either for more than small devices.

For radios, torches and other small battery-powered equipment, rechargeable AA and AAA batteries may form part of the same kit. Wind-up and small solar chargers are another subject to consider for phones and radios, alongside a conventional radio with spare batteries. Do not leave all your communications dependent on one phone or one charging accessory.

What a portable power station can run

A portable power station should be matched to named appliances, not chosen on the assumption that “home backup” means the whole home. Check the appliance demand, starting surge, battery capacity and expected runtime. The portable power station guide explains the options, while capacity sizing and runtime for a fridge or laptop deal with the detailed calculations.

One example shows why the maker's exact wording matters. Fogstar describes one of its portable power stations as providing high-capacity LiFePO4 power for home backup, off-grid systems, campervans, workshops and mobile energy applications. The maker also lists UPS/EPS backup functionality to support backup power during mains interruptions.¹³

The maker's intended uses and UPS/EPS statement do not establish a runtime for your own appliances. Treat those as separate checks, especially for medical equipment and heating controls.

Recharging from solar or the car

Solar and vehicle charging can be part of a plan, but neither should be assumed to work with every installation or power station. Start by distinguishing fixed rooftop solar from a portable panel used to charge a battery.

Official guidance says that some solar-panel and battery-storage installations with power backup capability can continue providing power during a cut if they are designed and configured to operate independently of the electricity grid. This may help keep essential appliances running.¹⁴ It does not mean that every home solar system supplies power when the grid fails. Do home solar panels work in a power cut? examines that distinction, and home battery storage looks at whether a battery keeps the lights on.

For a domestic battery, the Centre for Alternative Technology says the best setup, environmentally and financially, allows charging from the grid as well as from solar panels, and exporting from the battery to the grid during chosen periods.¹⁵ That is a fixed-storage consideration, separate from emergency charging with portable equipment.

Keeping the router and landline working

A digital landline or broadband router needs a power arrangement if you want it to remain usable during a cut. Keep a charged mobile phone and written emergency numbers as alternatives, and use the staying informed guide to plan communications beyond the broadband connection.

The landline rules depend on the customer and service:

Ask your landline provider which arrangement applies before an outage. The minimum one-hour provision is not a promise that every call service, router or connected handset will run for the same period without its own power arrangements.

Keep a battery or wind-up radio for updates rather than relying solely on internet access.⁶ Agree what will happen if somebody who needs support cannot be reached: official advice suggests arranging for you or another trusted person to visit in person if an outage happens and you cannot call.⁴

Power station or generator

The choice starts with the load, the setting and the safety arrangements. A power station may be described by its maker for home backup and mains-interruption support, while official flood-property advice says you may need a backup generator for an electric pump if there are power cuts.¹³ Neither statement makes one option suitable for every household.

Use Portable Power Station or Petrol Generator for the full comparison. The generator types guide covers petrol, diesel, dual-fuel and inverter models, while generator sizing and runtime on a tank address the load and operating questions.

If fuel forms part of the plan, read the specific guidance on petrol storage, diesel storage and LPG cylinders and regulators. Do not let the availability of a generator lead to an unsafe indoor setup or an improvised connection to household wiring.

Using a generator safely

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland gives two direct instructions: “Keep your generator outside your home and fuel your generator outside.” It also warns that connecting the generator to your home could cause an electrical surge resulting in injury or death to you or your family.⁷

Read generator safety, running a generator indoors or in a garage and connecting backup power to the home before setting up this kind of backup.

Carbon monoxide is the other central danger. The Health and Safety Executive describes it as a colourless, odourless, tasteless, poisonous gas and warns that levels can quickly kill without warning. Early symptoms include drowsiness, headaches, breathlessness and nausea.¹⁷ Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service states: “You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but CO can kill quickly without warning.”¹⁸ The generator carbon monoxide guide covers the warning signs in more detail.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service identifies these risk factors around fuel-burning appliances:

• incorrect or bad installation;
• no annual safety check and service;
• a blocked chimney or flue, or one that has not been swept regularly;
• no audible, working carbon monoxide alarm.¹⁹

Warning signs around appliances can include yellow or orange rather than blue flames, soot or yellow-brown staining, pilot lights that frequently blow out and increased condensation inside windows.¹⁷

Belfast City Council advises switching off the appliance immediately and opening a window or going outside if you suspect fumes. Do not use the appliance again until a registered engineer has tested it, and do not sleep in a room where you think carbon monoxide fumes are present.²⁰

Lithium battery safety at home

Power banks and power stations bring lithium batteries into the household backup plan, so their condition matters as much as their charge level. Surrey County Council's fire and rescue guidance says that if a battery shows signs of failure, immediately turn off the device, unplug it from the power source and remove it from your home.²¹

Use lithium-ion battery safety for the wider precautions and warning signs a lithium battery is dangerous to check the symptoms before handling the device. If a battery catches fire, follow the specific battery fire guidance rather than improvising.

Do not put a questionable battery back into routine charging or storage. Surrey County Council advises checking your local authority's website for information on safe disposal in your area.²¹ The guides to damaged battery disposal and a safe charging setup provide the detailed household checks.

Getting ready before the next cut

Build one accessible kit rather than collecting separate items during an outage. The power cut backup power checklist brings the equipment together, and the winter readiness checks help you review it before cold weather.

• Lighting: keep a battery-powered torch or light at home, with spare batteries. Include lanterns or head torches where they suit the household.²²
• Information: keep a battery or wind-up radio and spare batteries.⁶
• Charging: keep a power bank charged for phones and other compatible devices.⁸
• Contacts: maintain a hard copy of emergency and utility numbers, not just entries stored in a mobile phone.²²
• Food and water: keep at least 3 days' worth of bottled water at 3 litres per person per day, plus non-perishable food that does not need cooking.⁵
• Warmth: keep blankets and thick jumpers available.³
• Home knowledge: know where the utility cut-off points are and develop a home emergency plan.²²
• Community: keep an eye on vulnerable neighbours and agree visiting arrangements for anyone who may need extra support.²²

Official Northern Ireland advice includes keeping a supply of candles, but candles should be treated as a fire risk. Use the lighting guide to compare them with torches and lanterns rather than making a naked flame your default backup light.²³

The wider emergency kit guide covers household supplies beyond power. Keep the electrical items together where they can be found in the dark, and check that the people who may need them know the plan.

Medical equipment and extra help

If somebody relies on electrical medical equipment or refrigerated medicines, a power cut can have a significant impact, particularly during winter.¹¹ Make sure essential medical equipment has a battery backup so it can continue to be used while the power is out.⁸ Use Powering CPAP, Oxygen and Other Medical Devices From a Battery for device-specific considerations rather than assuming a general-purpose power bank or station is suitable.

Wigan Council advises households with medical equipment to keep a hard copy of emergency telephone numbers and torches close by, ensure phones are well charged and consider a battery backup for essential medical equipment.³

Put the human backup arrangements in place as well:

1. Agree a plan with anyone who might need extra support, particularly if they live alone.
2. Arrange for a trusted person to visit if an outage happens and you cannot call.⁴
3. Check on vulnerable neighbours when it is safe to do so.³
4. If someone relies on powered equipment, check how to join the Priority Services Register through the power cuts guide.
5. Use the extra help guide to consider older, disabled and medically dependent household members in the wider emergency plan.

Keep the equipment instructions, backup provision and contact details accessible to the person who would actually have to use them during an outage.