An electric-only home has one obvious weakness in a winter power cut: the same outage can remove heating, hot water, cooking, lighting, Wi-Fi and charging at once. That does not mean you need an extreme setup. It means your plan should focus on people first, then communication, then simple food and water.
This guide is for ordinary UK homes and flats with electric heaters, heat pumps, immersion heaters, induction hobs or electric ovens. The aim is to get through the first few hours calmly, then stay warm and organised if the outage runs into the evening or overnight.
Know what stops when the power goes
Walk through your home before winter and list what depends on electricity. Include heating controls, electric panel heaters, heat pumps, hot water cylinders, induction hobs, electric showers, routers, cordless phones, stair lifts, powered recliners, medical chargers, fridge-freezers, entry systems and garage doors.
If anyone in the household relies on powered medical or mobility equipment, register with your electricity network operator's Priority Services Register and speak to the equipment provider about battery backup. Do this before storm season rather than during the outage.
Make one warm room
In an electric-only home, do not try to heat the whole property during an outage. Choose one room you can close off, ideally away from draughty external doors. Keep blankets, sleeping bags, warm layers, hats, thick socks and hand warmers where you can reach them quickly.
Close curtains, shut internal doors and put a blanket or towel at the base of the door if there is a draught. Move people rather than heat: gather in the same room, keep everyone dry, layer clothing early and pay attention to children, older relatives and anyone with circulation or health issues.
Do not improvise indoor heating
Never use a camping stove, barbecue, charcoal burner, patio heater, gas hob, oven, generator or disposable barbecue as indoor heating. Carbon monoxide has no smell, and a shared hallway, garage, balcony, open window or tent does not make unsafe heating safe.
If you use any fuel-burning appliance that is designed for indoor use, follow the manufacturer's instructions, keep ventilation clear and maintain working carbon-monoxide alarms. For most electric-only households, the safer plan is passive warmth: clothing, bedding, a warm room and hot drinks if you already have safe hot water.
Lighting without flame
Candles create more risk than benefit in a dark, cold home. Use a head torch for moving around, a rechargeable lantern for the main room and a small torch by each bed. If your lights use replaceable batteries, store spares in the same box and check them before winter.
Put one light near the fuse board, one near the front door and one where you sleep. The first minutes of an outage are much easier when nobody is searching cupboards by phone light.
Keep phones and information alive
A charged 20,000mAh power bank is the best first buy for most households. Keep the right cables with it, top it up every few months, and charge it before named storms. If you work from home, care for someone vulnerable or need to run several small devices, a portable power station may be worth considering.
Your broadband router will stop unless it has its own backup. Mobile data may work for a while, but local masts also rely on backup power. A wind-up or battery radio gives you another way to hear weather warnings, local disruption and official updates.
Food and hot drinks
Keep food that can be eaten cold: tins with a manual can opener, crackers, oat bars, nut butter, pouches, dried fruit and familiar snacks. A vacuum flask can help if you fill it before a forecast storm or if hot water is available before the outage starts.
A camping stove can be useful for emergency cooking only if you have a genuinely safe outdoor place to use it. Indoors, on a balcony, in a doorway or in a communal stairwell is not a safe cooking plan. If in doubt, eat cold food and wait.
Water, hygiene and toilets
Some electric-only homes also depend on pumped water, electric showers or powered hot water. Store enough drinking water for the first day, then add extra for formula, pets, medicines and anyone with health needs. A small water carrier or stackable bottles are easier to manage than one huge container.
Keep wet wipes, hand sanitiser, bin bags, kitchen roll and basic medicines together. If the water supply is affected, hygiene becomes a practical comfort issue as well as a health issue.
The electric-only home kit list
Start with a head torch, LED lantern, charged power bank, wind-up or battery radio, warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags, hand warmers, drinking water, ready-to-eat food, manual can opener, first-aid kit, medicines, paper contact list, smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide alarms.
Then add based on your household: a portable power station, extra water storage, vacuum flask, sleeping mat, battery lights for children, backup glasses, pet supplies, stair or mobility arrangements and a plan for checking on vulnerable neighbours or relatives.
What to do when the outage starts
Switch on a head torch, check whether the outage is just your home or the wider area, report it to your electricity network operator if needed, unplug sensitive electronics if the power is flickering, and preserve phone battery. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed unless necessary.
Move everyone into the warm room before the house gets cold, not after. Use one lantern, put phones on low-power mode, check on anyone vulnerable and avoid making the situation worse with unsafe heating or cooking. A good plan makes an electric-only outage slower, clearer and less frightening.
