It’s Time to Build Your Power Outage Survival Kit!

How many of you have experienced a power outage in the last year?

While, not as catastrophic as almost any other emergency we might face, a few hours, days, or weeks without power can quickly take a toll on your family.

Based on a recent article by Popular Science, “The US has more power outages than any other developed country. Here’s why,” our power grid is underpowered and out of date, meaning power outages aren’t going away anytime soon.

Our country is not immune to power outages.

Tropical Storm took out power for millions on the East coast, the derecho that hit the Midwest created power outages for more than a million homes, California heat waves created the potential for rolling blackouts on the West coast, and Hurricane Laura is now wreaking havoc in the gulf.

Yes, I know it all sounds a little bleak, but that wasn’t really the intention of this post.

Honestly, I started thinking about power outages after being stuck at my in-law’s house without power for about 5 hours. The experience helped me create a more refined list of things I’d like to have on hand to help keep me comfortable, fed, and sane!

The great news is it doesn’t take tons of planning or effort to create a pretty substantial power outage kit to survive common power disruptions.

With a little planning, and some creativity, power outages can be a fun adventure instead of a stressful event.

Let’s talk about how to approach light, water & sanitation, food, comfort, and entertainment!

Light

One of the most obvious and disruptive parts of having no electricity is losing lights.

We are not used to living in the dark, and we are quite spoiled…when we flip a switch, lights comes on. Having flashlights, candles, and lanterns on hand can help make things easier in a power outage. They should be high on your list of items to stock up on immediately to make things a little less chaotic during a storm.

It’s a great idea to have a flashlight (or battery operated night light) in each bedroom and one or two for the common areas. Just don’t forget to get extra batteries for the flashlights. Storing them somewhere accessible will make a power outage less stressful for everyone involved.

After 5 hours of walking around in the dark at my in-law’s house, I’d also recommend getting a headlamp or two. I kept finding myself getting up and forgetting to grab the flashlight when I moved from room to room. Having a headlamp would have made it MUCH easier to take care of normal every day tasks.

Water & Sanitation

I currently live in a city tied to the local water company. In my current situation, water isn’t normally an issue when the power is out. This means I can turn on my faucet and get water, and even more importantly flush the toilet, even when the power is out!

However, my in-laws are on a well for their water, which means when there is no power, there is no water!

This was particularly frustrating for me during the recent outage. No water meant we couldn’t turn on the sink to wash our hands, go to the bathroom and flush the toilet, or use water for cooking.

Luckily I had a case of water bottles available at the house, so I did have water to drink during the outage, which was a huge help.

If you are on a well, you need to come up with a backup plan for getting water into your home without electricity. You can store extra water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and sanitation. Or you might want to consider a generator large enough to run your well so you always have access to water in an emergency situation.

The most important thing regarding water, is making sure your family has the ability to stay hydrated, clean, and healthy during a power outage. Consider your specific situation to determine the best way to accomplish this goal.

Food

If you are into prepping at all, you should already have a supply of non-perishable food for a few days or a few weeks in your home (if you don’t, now is the time to get some!)

Nominally power outages don’t completely limit our food access at first. But it’s important to remember when you don’t have power you need to try and avoid opening and closing your refrigerator and freezer. If you think the power is going to be out for a while, make a plan to eat your food that can spoil in the first day or so.

Keeping a small cooler with some bags of ice available can allow you to have quick access to “must have refrigerator items” without having to open the fridge and freezer over and over.

It’s also a good idea to get a thermometer for your fridge and freezer. Using thermometers allows you to monitor the temperature of your food so you can ensure you aren’t eating food that is no longer safe to eat.

When you think about what foods to store, make sure to keep shelf stable foods that don’t require electricity for cooking. This will help make sure you can feed your family in an emergency situation without power.

While you should absolutely have shelf-stable food, it’s also a great idea to come up with a way to cook your meals without power. If you are like me, you probably already have a propane grill at your house. This can be a great option for cooking when the power is out. If you don’t have a propane grill, consider investing in a small portable camp stove to cook meals at home in all circumstances.

Just make sure you store extra fuel for the alternative cooking source you’ve selected!

Finally, if you are living in an “all electric” home make sure you store a manual can opener or two in your emergency bin. Nothing is worse than realizing you can’t open your canned supplies when the power goes out!

Comfort

Now it’s time to talk about comfort items…because let’s face it, life is better when we are comfortable!

Without electricity our homes can get very cold or very hot depending on the season. Extreme weather in summer or winter can create a dangerous situation without the ability to cool or heat our homes, so having supplies on hand to help regulate body temperature is absolutely essential.

In the winter, you need to focus on the ability to stay warm. It’s a great idea to have a small portable propane heater (I like the Mr. Buddy) during cold weather. Remember if you are using propane for heating, make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector and the ability to ventilate your space. Some claim that the Mr. Buddy heater can be used indoors without dangerous fumes. Do your own research to see what your are comfortable with in an emergency situation.

If you have a wood burning fireplace, make sure you keep extra wood on hand. A gas stove can also be used to heat up the house (if you can light it without electricity!). Finally, make sure you keep some extra blankets in your home for emergencies.

If you lose your heat in the middle of winter, consider moving everyone to one room and focus your efforts on staying warm. If you have a tent, you can have a “stay-at-home” camping trip in the living room. Staying in a tent with your family can help keep your body heat in one place and can become a fun mini-adventure.

Of course, if you are like me, staying cool is also a huge priority!

If you lose power in the middle of summer and find yourself without your air conditioner, you can use battery operated fans to help move the air and stay cool. It also helps to keep a small spray bottle full of water you can use to spritz yourself to stay cool. Make sure to stay out of the direct sun and stay hydrated!

Another option to keep your home comfortable is to keep a small generator at home to run basic appliances. Or invest in a whole house generator that can keep everything up and running in an emergency situation.

We have a small generator for our travel trailer that has enough power to run a few small appliances and a space heater. Again, just remember to keep your generator outside in a well-ventilated area.

Entertainment

As far as entertainment goes, the sky is the limit!

Make sure you have some options to keep you entertained without power. In today’s connected society, it’s easy to depend on our cell phones, iPads, and Netflix to entertain us at all times. But in an emergency situation, it’s a great idea to have non-electric forms of entertainment to keep you from getting bored and restless.

Consider books, board games, and cards to start. Make a habit of having an electronics free family night once a week so going without power will be less stressful when you don’t have a choice. It’s a great idea to keep coloring books, markers, and other craft supplies for kids (and crafty adults!) on hand as well. Pick things you and your family enjoy doing together and pick at least one or two things for each family member to do on their own.

You can also keep some battery packs and/or solar chargers to keep cell phones ready to use even without electricity. This will help you feel connected. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can also be used to keep laptops, iPads, and even TVs working for a while, and might be worth adding to your list of items to keep on hand.

No matter what you pick for entertainment, make sure you are in the habit of using those items even without an emergency.

PRACTICE!

For those of you who are REALLY serious about figuring out what you want in a power outage, you should practice!

I know it sounds a little crazy, but it can be a fun challenge to see how we would do without power. The first step is making sure you are aware of what you currently use on a day-to-day basis. The first step is just becoming aware of how dependent we are on electricity.

The first option is to log your power consumption. To do this, simply make a note every time you use something that uses electricity in a day. This includes lights, electronics, kitchen appliances, etc. Once you’ve created a list spend a few minutes determining if the item is a “must-have”, a nice-to-have, or something you can live without.

Once you have that list come up with electricity free items to replace all the “must-haves” and as many of the “nice-to-haves” as possible.

For those of you that are feeling really adventurous and who want to really experience a “planned” power outage, consider turning off circuit breakers for your AC, lights, and electronics (keep your fridge turned on, but try not to open it too often!).

The idea is to get a sense of what you would miss if the power was out. Then make a plan for how you can do without it or replace it without electricity. It can be a fun challenge. Get the kids involved and pitch the tent in the basement. Make it a fun adventure.

Going without power is always going to be a pain, but if you plan ahead you can make the entire experience a lot less stressful for your family.

I’d love to hear what you have on your list for power outages (add a comment below!)