How to Prepare for a Power Outage: Complete Checklist

Power outages are getting worse. In 2024, the average American customer spent 11 hours without power, nearly double the prior decade's average. Three hurricanes alone caused 80% of all outage hours that year. One in four U.S. households experienced at least one outage in the past 12 months, and 70% of those lasted six hours or longer.

You don't need to be a prepper. You just need a plan.

What to do before, during, and after: plus the backup power option most people don't think about until they're sitting in the dark wishing they had.

Before the Outage. Your Prep Checklist

Food and Water

• Fill gallon bags with water and freeze them. Frozen water bags serve double duty: they keep your freezer cold longer (thermal mass) and become drinking water as they melt.
• Have a cooler and ice packs accessible: not buried in the garage. If the outage goes past 4 hours, you're moving fridge items into the cooler.
• Stock 3 to 7 days of non-perishable food. Canned goods, peanut butter, crackers, granola bars. Nothing that requires cooking unless you have a gas stove or camp stove.
• The food safety rules matter: closed fridge stays safe about 4 hours. Full freezer: 48 hours (24 if half full). After that, it's trash.

Lighting and Communication

• Flashlights with extra batteries. One per family member. Avoid candles: they're a fire risk, especially with kids.
• A battery-powered or hand-crank NOAA radio for storm updates when the internet is down. Your phone might be dead. The radio won't be.
• Portable phone chargers, fully topped off. A 20,000 mAh power bank gives most phones 4 to 5 full charges.
• Don't forget your car: it's a mobile charging station. Keep a USB adapter in the console.

Medical Equipment

If anyone in your household depends on electrically powered medical equipment, this section isn't optional.

• CPAP machines use 30 to 90 watts. Battery backups last 3 to 8 hours: enough for one night, not two.
• Oxygen concentrators draw 300 to 600 watts continuously. They cannot run on battery backups for long. This is a life-critical device.
• Insulin and other refrigerated medications need to stay between 36°F and 46°F. A cooler with ice buys you time, but not days.
• 4.5 million Medicare recipients use electricity-dependent equipment at home. If that's you, talk to your utility about medical baseline programs: some prioritize restoration for registered medical customers.

If this describes your household, backup power planning belongs on the same list as your medication schedule and emergency contacts.

Financial

• Cash. ATMs and card readers need electricity. $200 to $500 in small bills covers groceries, gas, and essentials during a multi-day outage.
• Your insurance policy number and agent's phone should be in your phone contacts, not a paper file in a dark house.
• Know your food spoilage coverage. Standard homeowners policies cover $500 to $1,000 per event. A food spoilage endorsement ($15 to $50 per year to add) raises that to $2,500.

Home Protection

• Know where your main water shutoff is. If the heat dies in winter, you may need to shut off water to prevent frozen pipes. Pipes can freeze in six hours without heat below 20°F. A burst pipe is one of the most expensive things that can happen to a house: we're talking five figures in water extraction, drywall, and mold remediation.
• Sump pump battery backup. If you have a sump pump and no generator, a battery backup unit ($200 to $600) buys you 5 to 12 hours of pumping. Without it, one heavy rainstorm during an outage means a flooded basement ($4,000 to $8,000 in cleanup).
• Surge protectors on electronics. When power returns, it can spike. Unplug sensitive electronics during the outage or use surge protectors.

During the Outage. What to Do

First 30 Minutes

• Check whether it's just your home. Look outside: are your neighbors dark too? If it's only you, check your breaker box. If it's the area, report it to your utility.
• Unplug sensitive electronics. Computers, TVs, gaming consoles. Power surges on restoration can damage them.
• Conserve phone battery. Lower brightness, close apps, switch to low power mode. Text instead of calling: texts use less power and are more reliable on overloaded cell networks.

Food Safety

• Don't open the fridge unless you have to. Every time you open it, warm air gets in and the clock accelerates.
• Full freezer: safe for 48 hours. Half full: 24 hours. Keep the door closed.
• When in doubt, throw it out. If food has been above 40°F for more than two hours, it's not safe. Dairy, meat, and leftovers go first.
• Photograph everything before you toss it. You'll need documentation if you file an insurance claim for food spoilage.

Temperature Management

Summer: Stay hydrated. Close blinds to block heat. If it's dangerously hot and you have vulnerable family members (elderly, very young, medical conditions), go to a cooling center or a friend's house with power.

Winter: Close off unused rooms to concentrate heat in the living areas. Layer up: blankets, sleeping bags, winter clothing indoors. If the inside temperature drops below 55°F, consider leaving. That's the threshold where pipes start to be at risk, and prolonged cold exposure becomes a health concern for the elderly and young children.

Communication

• Text instead of call. Cell towers have limited battery backup (typically 4 to 8 hours). Texts use less bandwidth and go through when calls can't.
• Designate one family member to post updates on social media or a group text so everyone isn't using battery at the same time.
• Check on neighbors. Especially elderly neighbors living alone.

After the Outage. What Most People Forget

Food Check

• Discard anything that's been above 40°F for more than two hours. Meat, dairy, eggs, leftovers: no exceptions.
• Freezer contents: if ice crystals are still present, food is likely safe to refreeze. If it's fully thawed and above 40°F, discard it.
• Document with photos before throwing anything away. Your insurance claim needs evidence.

Home Check

• Inspect the sump pump area and basement. Water may have entered during the outage if the pump was off.
• Check for water damage around pipes. Especially in winter: a slow leak from a cracked pipe might not be obvious immediately.
• Reset clocks, thermostats, and timers. Your HVAC won't run on the right schedule until you reset it.
• Turn appliances back on one at a time. Don't flip everything on simultaneously; it can overload circuits as the grid stabilizes.

Insurance

• File food spoilage claims promptly. Most insurers have a window for reporting.
• Water backup coverage is not standard; it requires a separate rider. If your sump pump failed and the basement flooded, check whether you have this coverage before assuming it's covered.
• Document everything. Photos, receipts, timestamps.

The Backup Power Option Most People Don't Consider Until It's Too Late

Everything above is reactive. You're managing the outage, not preventing the consequences. There's a way to skip all of it.

A standby generator eliminates every scenario in this article. The power goes out, the generator kicks on in 10 to 20 seconds, and your house keeps running. Fridge stays cold. Furnace keeps blowing. Sump pump keeps pumping. CPAP stays on. You might not even know the power went out.

Two types exist:

Standby vs portable: full comparison →

The Cost Math

A standby generator costs $7,000 to $20,000 installed. That sounds like a lot until you look at the cost of one bad outage without one:

A single frozen pipe event costs two to three times more than the generator. One event pays for the whole thing.

What does a power outage actually cost? Full breakdown →

Stop Preparing for Outages. Prevent Them.

A checklist helps. A generator solves the problem.

What size generator do you need? Take the quiz →

Get Free Quotes → — connect with local installers for real pricing.