Home backup power for outages

Ready.gov says to plan for batteries and other alternative power sources to meet your needs when the power goes out. This list covers that plan for a household riding out an outage of several days at home. The first week without power guide covers what to do hour by hour.

Carbon monoxide comes first

CDC advises installing battery-operated or battery back-up CO detectors near every sleeping area in your home (CDC). Ready.gov adds central locations on every level of the home (Ready.gov). A plug-in alarm without a battery stops working in an outage, which is why the alarm on this list runs on batteries.

If you use a fuel generator, CDC says to run it outdoors, more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents (CDC). Ready.gov gives the same 20-foot distance and adds attached garages (Ready.gov). A fuel generator is not on this list.

What the rest of the list covers

• Light: Ready.gov says to have flashlights for every household member (Ready.gov). Buy batteries in the sizes your lights take.
• Food: Ready.gov advises using coolers with ice if needed, and a thermometer to monitor refrigerator and freezer temperatures (Ready.gov).
• Information: a battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert (Ready.gov).
• Water: one gallon per person per day for several days (Ready.gov), in case the outage affects water service.
• Power: a battery power station recharges phones, lights, and radios. A solar panel recharges the station during the day.

Medicines and medical devices

Ready.gov says to have alternate plans for refrigerating medicines or using power-dependent medical devices (Ready.gov). Check a device’s power draw against a power station’s output before you rely on it, and ask your doctor or pharmacist about medicines that need refrigeration.