Build a Power Outage Kit for Several Days at Home
Build a power outage survival kit with exact water, food-safety and generator thresholds, plus medical, lighting and seasonal supplies for home.
A useful power outage survival kit should keep each person hydrated, fed, informed and safely lit for several days. Store 1 gallon of water per person per day, several days of ready-to-eat food, individual lights, communication equipment, medical supplies and seasonal protection. Plan separately for refrigerated medicine, powered medical devices and any home that could become dangerously hot or cold.
Enter your household size and planned outage duration to calculate stored water and review the main safety thresholds.
Household Water Planner
The calculation uses FEMA’s planning amount of 1 gallon per person per day. Pet water is not included because the cited guidance does not provide one universal amount.
Outage Planning Thresholds
| Need | Amount or threshold |
|---|---|
| Stored water | 1 gallon per person per day for several days |
| Nonperishable food | Several days per person |
| Unopened refrigerator | About 4 hours without power |
| Unopened full freezer | About 48 hours |
| Unopened half-full freezer | About 24 hours |
| Portable generator | Outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows, doors and vents |
The refrigerator and freezer times are planning estimates, not guarantees. Use appliance temperature and time above 40°F when evaluating refrigerated food.
If the power is already out, report it to your utility, use flashlights instead of candles and stay away from downed lines. Leave for a powered location if extreme heat or cold, a medical need, smoke, a gas odor or sparking equipment makes the home unsafe.
Pack the Core Supplies Together
Pack the main supplies in one or two easy-to-carry, water-resistant bins. Keep them where everyone can reach them in the dark, without passing through a garage, basement stairway or other hazardous area.
FEMA’s basic-kit guidance specifies 1 gallon of water per person per day and at least a several-day food supply. Its list also includes a radio, flashlight, first-aid kit, extra batteries, manual can opener and phone backup battery (FEMA, updated June 18, 2025). Add water and food for pets, and follow local instructions if officials say tap water may be unsafe.
Light and Communication
Pack:
- One flashlight or headlamp for each person
- Battery lanterns for shared rooms
- Spare batteries in the correct sizes
- A battery or hand-crank radio, ideally a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
- Charged power banks and the correct cables for every phone
- A paper list of utility, medical and family contacts
- A printed local map and some cash
Headlamps leave both hands free on stairs or while checking a breaker panel. Place automatic lights along the route to exits and the kit. A layered power-failure lighting plan is more reliable than depending on one flashlight.
Use LED lights as the primary option. The CDC recommends battery-powered flashlights and lanterns instead of candles, gas lanterns or torches to reduce fire risk (CDC, reviewed August 26, 2026).
Water, Food and Cold Storage
Pack:
- Stored drinking water calculated as household size × days × 1 gallon
- Several days of ready-to-eat food household members will actually eat
- A manual can opener
- Plates, utensils, paper towels and garbage bags
- Refrigerator and freezer thermometers
- An insulated cooler and reusable cold packs
- The location and hours of a nearby ice supplier, if available
Choose food requiring little or no water, refrigeration or cooking. Account for infants, allergies, dietary restrictions and pets. FEMA’s guidance calls for several days of food but does not provide a single fixed number of days that fits every emergency.
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed when an outage begins. USDA says an unopened refrigerator keeps food safe for up to 4 hours. A full freezer holds its temperature for approximately 48 hours, or 24 hours if half-full (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service). These are planning estimates, not guarantees.
An appliance thermometer helps determine what happened after those time windows. Use the 40°F food-safety threshold and time above it when deciding what to keep. Never taste food to test its safety.
Medical and Sanitation Supplies
Pack:
- A first-aid kit
- Several days of essential prescription and nonprescription medicine, where legally and medically practical
- A medication list with doses, allergies, prescriber and pharmacy numbers
- Spare glasses, hearing-aid batteries and mobility-device supplies
- Soap, hand sanitizer, moist wipes, toilet paper and menstrual supplies
- Supplies for infants, older adults and pets
Do not assume a generic battery pack can run medical equipment. Record each device’s power requirement, battery runtime and connector. Then make a backup plan with the clinician and equipment supplier. Ready.gov advises arranging alternative power for electricity-dependent devices and obtaining medication-specific guidance from a medical provider (Ready.gov).
For refrigerated medicine, follow its label and ask a pharmacist about that exact product. CDC guidance says that after a day or more without power, medication requiring refrigeration generally should be discarded unless its label says otherwise. If life depends on the medicine, use it only until a replacement is available and obtain a new supply as soon as possible.
A cooler and cold packs do not establish that medicine remained within its required temperature range. Keep the product’s storage instructions and pharmacy contact information with the medicine rather than relying on general food-storage rules.
Heat, Cold and Household Safety
Pack or stage:
- Season-appropriate clothing and sturdy shoes
- Blankets or sleeping bags
- Battery-powered fans for comfort, not as protection against dangerous heat
- Sunscreen, hats and window coverings for hot weather
- Battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide alarms on every level
- A suitable home fire extinguisher that household members know how to use
- Work gloves, a whistle and basic hand tools
A supply bin cannot make an unsafe indoor temperature safe. Identify a cooling center, warming center, powered friend’s home or accessible hotel before an outage. In hot weather, use the site’s no-power cooling plan and leave thresholds.
Never heat a home with a gas oven. Never operate a generator, grill, camp stove or other fuel-burning equipment indoors or in a garage. CDC guidance says gasoline-powered engines must remain outdoors at least 20 feet from every window, door and vent. The home should also have a battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide detector.
Keep Backup Power Separate From the Supply Bin
A power station, uninterruptible power supply or generator is a system, not simply another item to drop into the kit. List essential loads and their running watts, estimate how many hours they must operate and test the complete setup before storm season.
Battery runtime is an estimate affected by usable capacity, inverter loss, electrical load and battery condition. Convert watt-hours into a realistic runtime instead of relying only on advertised capacity.
Medical devices need an equipment-specific backup plan. Confirm whether the device can safely use a particular battery, power station or generator, whether it has an internal battery and how long that battery lasts under actual settings. Keep the necessary adapters and charging cables with the backup system.
Store generator fuel only in approved containers and as local rules permit. Keep outdoor-rated, heavy-duty cords and operating instructions with the generator, but never store fuel in living space. A garage with an open door remains an enclosed or partly enclosed area and is not a safe generator location.
Divide Supplies by How Quickly You Need Them
Keep a smaller night-outage tote on an accessible shelf. It should contain lights, the radio, power banks, cables, contact information and first-aid supplies. This prevents a short outage from becoming a search through several large storage bins.
Place larger multi-day water, food, sanitation and seasonal supplies beside it. Keep generator equipment and fuel in their own safe storage locations. Maintain a separate evacuation bag if the household may need to leave quickly; a large home kit is not a substitute for portable essentials.
Everyone in the household should know where the lights, water shutoff information, utility contact details and medical plans are stored. Labels should be readable in low light, and batteries should be kept with the devices they fit.
Test and Refresh the Kit Every Year
Check the kit at least once a year. Checking when clocks change can make battery tests and seasonal changes easier to remember:
- Charge and test power banks, lights and the radio.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms according to their manufacturers’ instructions.
- Replace expired food, medicine and first-aid items.
- Verify that every cable and battery still matches its device.
- Recalculate water, food and personal supplies after household needs change.
- Replace clothing or infant supplies that no longer fit.
- Review the utility reporting method, shelter destinations and medical backup plan.
- Test backup-power equipment outdoors under the conditions allowed by its instructions.
Ready.gov recommends replacing expired items and reassessing the kit every year as household needs change (Ready.gov). A labeled, tested kit is more useful than a larger bin containing flat batteries, expired supplies or cables that no longer fit the equipment.