Lantern or Torch: Which Lights a Room Better

If the power goes off tonight, the light you reach for matters more than you might think. A torch throws a beam where you point it, which is what you want for checking the fuse box, finding the stopcock or moving down a dark hallway. A lantern spreads light around a room, so you can sit and read or eat without holding anything. Most well-prepared households keep both, plus a spare set of batteries for each.

The one thing the official advice is unanimous on is what not to use. National Grid says candles and paraffin lights can be dangerous, so it does not recommend using them during a power cut¹. Other power cut guidance says not to use candles or paraffin heaters, and to keep wind-up, battery or solar powered torches ready instead². A battery or wind-up torch, or a battery operated candle, gives you light without a flame in a room where the electricity has just failed.

This page sets out what to keep, where to keep it, how to store the batteries, and how to check a torch charger against a known recall. It is about choosing and using the light, not about buying a particular model.

Use a torch or lantern, never a candle, in a power cut

Every official source that mentions lighting in a power cut says the same thing: use a torch. The government's power cut preparation advice says to use a battery or wind-up operated torch or lantern instead of a candle, keep spare batteries and keep it in an easily accessible location³. Fire and rescue services across the UK repeat it. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service advises using battery operated lights or torches as an alternative light source in a power failure⁸. National Grid says candles and paraffin lights can be dangerous, so it does not recommend using them during a power cut¹.

The network operators, who deal with power cuts every day, are just as direct. National Grid says candles and paraffin lights can be dangerous and does not recommend using them during a power cut¹. Its easy-read leaflet lists not using candles or paraffin heaters among its preparations⁹. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks says to keep warm and use safe lighting such as torches rather than candles¹⁰. Northern Powergrid says to avoid candles because they can pose a fire risk, and that a battery-powered or wind-up torch is the safest option⁴.

If you want the flame look without the risk, battery operated candles are the answer. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service describes them as heatless and flameless, using a small bulb to emit light instead of a lit flame¹¹. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service suggests having a torch or battery operated candles ready for a power cut¹². For more on the alternatives, see LED Candles or Real Candles: Which Is Safer? and Candle Fire Safety at Home.

Torch or lantern: what each one does best

The choice comes down to what you are lighting. A torch is directional: it puts a bright spot where you aim it, which suits checking the consumer unit, reading a meter, or finding your way along a corridor. A lantern is diffuse: it lights a space so several people can sit in it, which suits a kitchen table, a living room or a child's bedroom during an evening without power.

The Anglesey winter-ready advice puts it simply: store a battery or wind-up torch somewhere you can access easily, so you can use it to check the fuse box and move around the house safely¹³. That is the torch's job. The lantern's job is the room you sit in afterwards.

For households where someone needs care through the night, the NHS advice for families of technology-dependent children notes that chargeable lamps and head torches are useful because they leave your hands free for care such as suction, and suggests getting them in advance because there may be a shortage in the shops if an outage is announced¹⁴. More on this in Lights for Older and Disabled People in a Power Cut.

Keep spare batteries with every light

A torch without working batteries is a paperweight. The consistent advice is to keep the spare set with the light, not somewhere else in the house. National Grid says to keep a lantern or torch somewhere easy to find, check the batteries are working, and always make sure you have a spare set¹. The Met Office winter checklist lists a torch and spare batteries together¹⁵. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service says to keep a torch and spare batteries at home¹⁶.

The Horsted Keynes parish council's power cut tips add a point that matters in a household with more than one person: keep torches and spare batteries to hand in case the power cut happens when it is dark outside, and make sure everyone in the home knows where they are kept⁶. A light only one person can find is no use if that person is out.

• Keep the spare set with the torch, in the same drawer, box or hook¹.
• Check the batteries work before winter and again at the start of any storm season¹.
• Tell everyone in the household where the torches and batteries live⁶.
• Consider a separate battery charger so you can top up rechargeables without relying on the mains¹⁷.
• Store the power cut helpline number, 105, on your phone so you can report a cut once you have light¹⁸.

For a fuller list of sizes and types, see Spare Batteries to Keep for Your Lights and Torch Batteries: AA, AAA, 18650 and Built-In Packs.

A wind-up light needs no batteries at all

The strongest argument for a wind-up light is that it removes the one thing most likely to fail: the battery. Wiltshire and Swindon Prepared says wind-up torches or lanterns are available which require no batteries at all⁵. That makes them a sensible backstop for a household that does not want to think about battery rotation, or for a light kept in a car or a shed where batteries might corrode.

The Met Office's winter car kit advice makes the same case for the vehicle: a large torch with spare batteries, or a wind-up torch which does not require battery power, is essential for your vehicle, because a phone light will not really give you visibility if you are stuck by the side of a country road in winter¹⁹. That is a useful test of any emergency light: would it work if the batteries in it were flat and you had none to replace them?

Wind-up lights are not the only option. The Met Office's summer preparedness advice suggests knowing where you can find a torch and considering a separate battery charger¹⁷. The Scottish Government's emergency kit guidance lists a battery operated or wind-up radio, and the same logic applies to lights: either a battery light with spares, or a wind-up one that needs nothing²⁰. Carmarthenshire Council's household emergency kit lists a battery torch with spare batteries, or a wind-up torch²¹.

For more on the battery-free options, see Solar and Wind-Up Lamps That Need No Batteries.

Where to keep a torch so you can find it in the dark

The advice is consistent: accessible, known to everyone, and in more than one place. Northern Powergrid says to keep a torch with spare batteries in an accessible location³. Other power cut guidance says to keep a torch handy in case you are without power during the night⁸. The Anglesey guidance explains why: so you can use the torch to check the fuse box and move around the house safely¹³.

In practice, that means a light by the bed, because a power cut at night is when you most need one, and a light near the door or the meter cupboard, because that is where you will go to investigate. A third in the kitchen helps if you are cooking when the power goes. The point is not the number but that each one is where a hand will reach for it without thinking.

• By the bed: so you are not searching in the dark if the power goes at night¹³.
• Near the meter or fuse box: so you can check the trip switch safely¹³.
• In the kitchen: so you can finish what you were doing.
• In the car: a large torch or wind-up torch for winter breakdowns¹⁹.

If the power goes off, Northern Powergrid's advice is to check whether neighbours or street lights still have power, then check your trip switch, which should be in the UP position, then call 105 or report it online²². Do that with a torch in your hand, not a flame.

Checking a torch charger against a recall

Rechargeable torches and their chargers are electrical products, and occasionally one is found to be unsafe. In June 2022, Electrical Safety First published a recall for an "18650 Lithium Battery Charger for LED Torch Rechargeable Flashlight with UK Plug", model number 224051475865⁷. The recall notice describes it as a black one-slot battery charger with a supply cord and a three-pin plug.

The safety warning is electric shock and fire⁷. When tested, the construction of the product was found to be unsafe. The notice says the creepage and clearance distances are insufficient, that the product failed a 3kV dielectric strength test between phase connectors and earth, and that the fuse fitted in the plug contained no silica and is considered counterfeit⁷. It also says the product is not supplied with an approved supply cord, that the plug does not meet the dimensional requirements of BS1363, and that the product is not compliant with the marking requirements of the relevant standard, with no instructions provided⁷.

The legal basis is set out plainly: the product does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 or the Plugs and Sockets Safety Regulations 1994⁷.

To check your own equipment, look up the product on the Electrical Safety First product recall pages and compare the model number exactly. If it matches, follow the recall notice's instructions rather than continuing to use it. For more on spotting unsafe equipment, see Recalled and Unsafe Torches and Chargers: Checking and Reporting and Charging and Storing Rechargeable Torches Safely.

Getting the light you need before the next cut

The pattern across all the official advice is simple. Keep a torch, keep spare batteries with it, keep it where you can find it, and tell everyone in the house where it is. Add a lantern if you want to light a room rather than a spot, and a wind-up light if you want a backstop that needs no batteries at all. Never rely on a candle.

The wider emergency kit advice from the Scottish Government and Carmarthenshire Council puts a torch alongside bottled water and a wind-up radio, which is a fair picture of what a household actually needs when the power goes²¹. The National Risk Register makes the same point: keep basic supplies at home such as bottled water, a torch and batteries, which is safer than candles, and a wind-up radio to get updates during a power cut²³.

If you are building the rest of your kit, start with Torches: Types and How to Choose One for Home and Battery and Rechargeable Lanterns for Lighting a Room. For the full picture of lighting through an outage, see Lighting Your Home Safely When the Power Goes Off and the Emergency Lighting at Home section.