SURVIVAL BUNKER

Lights Out

What stops working first in your home when the power goes off? The answers below start as a typical home with a gas boiler: change any that don't match yours, and the timeline and the things worth sorting first follow.

How is your home heated?
How do you cook?
Where does your hot water come from?
How does water reach your taps?
How full is your freezer?
How do you make calls at home?
Getting in and out
Does anyone rely on powered medical equipment?
What do you drive?

Sort these first

  1. 1
    Staying warm

    One warm room, layers and an electric blanket on a power station go a long way.

    What a power station would run
  2. 2
    Staying in touch

    Keep a charged mobile and a power bank, or put the router and fibre box on a small power station.

    What keeps the internet on
  3. 3
    Saving the freezer

    Keep it shut. For longer cuts, see which power stations would keep a fridge-freezer going, and for how long.

    See which power stations last

Edit answers

Sort first: 1. Staying warm 2. Staying in touch 3. Saving the freezer Details

What happens when

  1. At once
  2. Lights and plug socketsEverything on the mains goes off together.
  3. HeatingYour gas boiler needs electricity for its controls, ignition, fan and pump, so it stops even though the gas is still there.
  4. Hot waterA combi boiler or electric shower stops, so there's no hot water.
  5. Broadband and Wi-FiThe router and the fibre box need mains power, so the internet stops unless they have a backup. Ofcom
  6. Your landlineDigital landlines go through the broadband and stop in a power cut. If you depend on your landline and have no working mobile or reliable signal, your provider must offer you a free way to call emergency services in a power cut, lasting at least an hour. Ofcom
  7. After about 4 hours
  8. The fridgeFood stays cold for about 4 hours if the door stays shut. Food Standards Agency
  9. After about 2 days
  10. The freezerA full freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours with the door shut. Food Standards Agency
  11. Keeps going
  12. Your gas hob, maybeThe electric oven stops. Some gas hobs keep working in a power cut; others need electricity.
  13. Water from the mainsUsually keeps flowing in a local power cut. In a long or widespread one, check your water company's updates.
  14. The carIt still runs and can charge phones, but forecourt pumps need electricity, so nearby petrol stations may be shut too.

Timings are only given where an official source states them; everything else depends on your home. In an emergency call 999. For a power cut, call 105 (Northern Ireland: 03457 643643).

Sort first: Staying warmSee the answer