Power at home: back-up power, running costs and staying safe

Sizing and running costs

• How much electricity does a fridge-freezer use a day, and what does it cost?Read the kWh/annum figure on your fridge-freezer's energy label, divide by 365 for daily use, then multiply by the Ofgem price cap rate. Worked…
• Can a portable power station run your fridge-freezer through a 24-hour power cut?Yes, if it's big enough. How to size a power station from your fridge-freezer's energy label, a 12 and 24-hour table with the working shown, start-up…
• Portable power stations: is one worth it, and what size do you need for a UK power cut?A plain watt-hour worksheet for phones, lights, the router, CPAP and the fridge, what 300 Wh and 1,000 Wh really run, and what to check before you…
• Do you need a portable power station for power cuts?For most UK homes, a power bank and torch cover a typical power cut. Ofgem says network operators should restore power within 12 hours outside severe…
• Solar generators for UK home back-up: do they work in winter?What a 'solar generator' actually is (a battery power station plus a folding panel), how much the UK winter sun can recharge it, whether it can run a…

Phones, internet and radio

• How long will a power bank or mini UPS keep your router and phone going in a power cut?Work out your router's watts from its adapter label, turn mAh into watt-hours, allow for conversion losses, and see roughly how many hours a power…
• How to charge your phone in a power cutKeep your phone going in a power cut: save battery first, then a charged power bank, the car (outdoors, never in a garage), solar and wind-up…
• How many phone charges will a power bank give you in a power cut?As a rough guide, divide the power bank's mAh by your phone's battery mAh, then take off about a third for losses: a 10,000 mAh bank gives a 4,000…
• Your landline in a power cut: the digital switch explainedDigital landlines need mains power, so most stop in a power cut. Who gets a free battery back-up, how long it lasts, why a corded phone no longer…
• Power cut: what happens to your boiler, hot water, Wi-Fi and phoneWhich parts of a UK home stop working in a power cut, by heating type: combi and system boilers, hot water cylinders, heat pumps and storage heaters.…
• BBC local radio FM frequencies by region, for a power cutWhich BBC local or nations radio station to tune to in a power cut, with FM frequencies for each English station plus Scotland, Wales and Northern…
• PMR446 walkie-talkies: the UK rules and a simple family plan for when phones are downLicence-free PMR446 walkie-talkies in the UK: what Ofcom allows (446 MHz, 0.5 W, handheld only), why US radios aren't legal here, why they can't call…

Heat and light

• Can you use a paraffin or portable gas heater indoors in a power cut?Paraffin and bottled-gas heaters make carbon monoxide. When one can be used indoors, ventilation, CO alarms, refuelling, fuel storage and symptoms.…
• How to keep warm without power, safelyKeep warm in a winter power cut without risking carbon monoxide: one warm room, layers, blankets and draught-stopping, from the UK Chief Medical…
• Emergency lighting for a power cut: torches, lanterns, head torches and candlesBe Ready says torches are safer than candles. How to light a home in a power cut: a head torch each, a lantern for the room you're in, the right…
• Generators for home: safe use, fuel and the backfeed dangerA petrol or diesel generator must run outdoors, at least 6 metres from the house, never in a garage. Plug appliances into it directly; never connect…
• Do flower-pot candle heaters work? An honest answerTerracotta pot and tealight 'heaters' don't make more heat than the candles alone, and UK fire services have warned against them after a flat fire in…

Solar, the grid and lessons from past blackouts

• Do portable solar panels work in a UK winter?What a 100 W folding solar panel can realistically give you in December versus June in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, using the EU's PVGIS solar…
• Solar panels on your roof: why they switch off in a power cut, and what you can doWhy most UK rooftop solar panels stop working in a power cut, what 'island mode' and battery back-up mean, what to ask an installer before you add a…
• Could a solar storm cut the UK's power? What the National Risk Register saysWhat the UK National Risk Register 2026 says about severe space weather: its likelihood and impact scores, what it could affect, who forecasts it,…
• What the Great Storm, Storm Arwen and the Iberian blackout teach UK homesThree big power losses, from official reports: the Great Storm of 1987, Storm Arwen in 2021 and the Spain and Portugal blackout of April 2025. What…
• Could the UK have a Spain-style blackout? What the official plans sayWhat happened in Spain and Portugal on 28 April 2025, how likely a national blackout is in Great Britain, and what the government's own planning…
• NESO's emergency power cut rules, explained for householdsWhat the new Demand Control Rotation Protocol and the government's Electricity Supply Emergency Code mean at home: 3-hour rota cuts, load-block…

Free tools and shopping lists

• Power station runtime calculator
• Fridge and freezer power cut timer
• What to buy for a power cut
• Power stations compared

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Official sources

1. Ofgem: Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (read 4 Nov 2026 for our guide)
2. GOV.UK Be Ready: power cuts (read 4 Nov 2026 for our guide)
3. NHS: Carbon monoxide poisoning (read 4 Nov 2026 for our guide)
4. Cabinet Office: National Risk Register 2026 (read 4 Nov 2026 for our guide)

Official advice comes first. If a source says something different now, follow the source.