Fortress: What the Kit Is and How It Fits a Household Emergency Plan

Fortress is a maker of home backup power equipment, and for a UK household getting ready for emergencies the useful question is not what the brand is called but what its kit does when the mains supply fails. A portable power station supplies appliances through its own sockets, without being wired into your home, so it can keep a phone charged, run a lamp or power a small medical device during a power cut. What it can run, and for how long, depends on the model's capacity and output, which the maker states for each unit.

The kit only helps if it is ready. That means storing it dry, keeping it charged as the maker instructs, and knowing before an incident what you would plug into it and what you would leave off. A power station is not a substitute for the home's wiring, and it must never be connected to your household circuits yourself; anything that feeds the home's wiring needs a qualified electrician.

This page explains what Fortress makes, how each type of kit fits a household plan, how to keep it ready between emergencies, and the safety rules that matter most. It also sets out where the arrangements for floods, storms and power cuts differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, because the help available and the warnings you receive are not the same across the UK.

The short answer: what Fortress kit is for

Fortress makes home backup power equipment for households that want electricity when the mains supply fails. In an emergency preparedness plan, that kit sits in the same place as a torch, a battery radio and a store of water: it is there so that a power cut, a storm or a flood does not leave the household without light, communication or the small electrical items that keep daily life going.

The distinction that matters most is between a portable power station and a generator. A battery power station stores energy and releases it through its own sockets; it produces no exhaust fumes, so it can be used indoors within the maker's instructions. A petrol or diesel generator burns fuel and produces carbon monoxide, which is why the fire and rescue service is emphatic that generators must never be run indoors. If you are weighing up which kind of backup power suits your household, the Backup Power at Home: A Household Guide sets out the options side by side.

For most households the realistic use of a power station in an emergency is modest: charging phones so you can call for help and receive warnings, running a lamp after dark, keeping a small medical device going, or powering a radio. It is not there to run the central heating, the oven or an electric shower. Knowing that before an incident stops you from overloading the unit or being disappointed when it cannot do what you hoped.

The other half of the answer is that the kit is only one part of a plan. The Getting Started: Preparing Your Household for an Emergency guide covers the wider picture: knowing your risks, storing documents where you can grab them, and having a bag ready by the door. Fortress kit supports that plan; it does not replace it.

What to do now, before you need the kit

The first job is to work out what you would actually want to power in a cut. Walk through the house and list the small items that matter: phones, a radio, a lamp, a router if you rely on it for warnings, and any medical device the household uses. That list tells you what capacity and output you need, and it stops you buying more than the household can use.

The second job is to store the kit where you can reach it. Official advice on grab bags is to keep them in a place that is easy to reach because you might need them at short notice². The same logic applies to a power station: a unit buried at the back of a shed is no use in a cut at night. Keep it somewhere dry, accessible and away from where flood water could reach it.

The third job is to keep it charged. A power station that has sat unused for months may have lost its charge, so check it periodically and top it up as the maker instructs. Keep the manual with the unit, and note the model and serial number somewhere you can find them.

• List the loads: phones, radio, lamp, router, medical device
• Check the output: match each item to the model's rated output
• Store it dry and reachable: not in a shed at the back of the garden²
• Keep it charged: check and top up as the maker instructs
• Keep the manual and serial number: needed for support and warranty

What you need: the kit types and what each does

Fortress's range is built around portable power, and the way to choose between units is by what each does for the household in an emergency, not by which is newest. The table below sets out the questions to ask of any model, and the sections that follow explain how each type fits a plan.

Portable power stations

A portable power station is the core of the range: a battery unit with sockets that supplies appliances directly. In a power cut it keeps the small loads going, and because it produces no exhaust fumes it can be used indoors within the maker's instructions, unlike a generator. The limits are capacity and output: a unit sized for phones and a lamp will not run a heater, and trying to do so will drain it quickly or trip its protection. Match the load to the model, and keep a short list of what you will and will not plug in.

Charging and solar accessories

How you refill a power station matters in a long outage. The maker's manual states the charging methods for each model, and if solar charging is supported, a panel gives you a way to top up without mains power. That is useful in a prolonged cut, but it depends on daylight and on the panel being compatible with the unit. Check the maker's specification before relying on it, and treat solar as a supplement rather than a guarantee.

Home backup and installation

Anything that feeds your home's wiring is a different proposition from a portable unit. Connecting backup power to the household circuits must be done by a qualified electrician, because of the risks of shock, fire and backfeed. The fire and rescue service and the Health and Safety Executive both treat mains wiring as work for a competent electrician, and the maker's instructions for a portable unit will not cover wiring it into the house. If you want a standby supply for the whole house, plan it as an installed system, not a DIY job.

Staying safe: the rules that matter most

The safety rules for backup power fall into four groups, and each one names the body giving the advice.

Carbon monoxide. The fire and rescue service warns that generators must never be used indoors because of carbon monoxide¹. If you use a fuel generator at all, run it outdoors, well away from windows and doors, and fit a carbon monoxide alarm. A battery power station avoids this risk entirely, which is one reason it suits a household that wants to use backup power indoors.

Mains wiring. Never connect a portable power station to your home's wiring yourself. Anything that feeds the household circuits must be installed and checked by a qualified electrician. A portable unit is designed to supply appliances through its own sockets, and that is how it should be used.

Batteries and charging. Follow the maker's manual for charging, storage temperature and load limits. Do not charge a unit that has been wet, do not cover it while charging, and keep it away from children. If a unit becomes hot, swollen or smells unusual, stop using it and contact the maker.

Candles and flames. If the power is out and you are using candles as well as a power station, keep them away from curtains, never leave them unattended and put them out before you sleep. A battery lamp is the safer choice for a household with children or pets.

That quotation is from the police's RUN HIDE TELL advice, which is the official guidance for a firearms and weapons attack. It is included here because a household emergency plan should cover the unlikely as well as the likely: the police advice is to run to a place of safety if you can, and if you cannot, to hide, silence your phone and barricade yourself in⁴. The Major Incidents: A Household Guide to Terror Attacks, Chemical and Radiation Emergencies covers this in full.

Keeping the kit ready between emergencies

A power station is only useful if it works when you reach for it. The routine is simple: check the charge periodically, keep the unit dry, and run a short test before storm season. The Met Office names storms in advance, and its advice for households before strong winds is to secure bins, plant pots, garden furniture, trampolines and sheds⁵. Add the power station to that list: bring it inside if it lives in a shed, and check it is charged before the weather arrives.

• Monthly: check the charge level and top up as the maker instructs
• Before storm season: test the unit with the loads you plan to use
• After any flood: do not use a unit that has been wet; contact the maker
• Annually: check the manual for any updated safety guidance

If your area floods, the official advice is to turn off utilities, move valuables to higher ground and deploy property defences⁶. A power station should be on the list of things moved upstairs, along with documents and medication. The Flooding: A Household Guide sets out the full sequence.

Where Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ

The kit is the same across the UK, but the warnings you receive and the help available differ. In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's national flood risk assessment found that 1 in 8 properties are at risk in a medium likelihood scenario, a sharp rise from 284,000 in its 2018 assessment⁷. That scale matters for households weighing up backup power: more properties face flooding, and more cuts may follow.

In Wales, community flood groups can apply for grants to buy property level protection for buildings of importance, and volunteers are trained as flood wardens⁸. Flood wardens can contact you if there is a flood risk, keep in touch during a flood, advise where you can get sandbags and support the local authority if it opens a rest centre⁹. If you live in a Welsh community with a warden scheme, ask what it offers before an incident.

In Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure maintains over 500 kilometres of coastal and fluvial defences and 6,900 kilometres of designated watercourses¹⁰. The advice for heavy rain includes checking your property's flood risk, charging your mobile phone, moving your car out of flood risk areas and storing valuables high up¹¹. A charged power station supports that advice directly: it keeps the phone charged when the mains fails.

Across all four nations, the police advice on RUN HIDE TELL is the same⁴, and the fire and rescue service's warning about generators and carbon monoxide applies everywhere¹. Wherever you live, the Staying Informed and in Touch in an Emergency: A Household Guide explains how to receive warnings, and the Extra Help in an Emergency: Older, Disabled and Medically Dependent Households covers households that depend on powered medical equipment.