Most houses have a plan for a power cut in the abstract, and nothing at all in the drawer. It is worth an hour of sorting out while it is still just an idea. Here is what to keep where, and what we do in the first hour back on.
The flashlight, and where it lives.
One light per floor, and the batteries in the same place as the light. A single flashlight in a kitchen drawer is the thing you cannot find when the lights are out, and a phone is a poor substitute, because the phone is the next thing to go. A small battery radio earns its keep as well. The power cut takes the charger with it, and a radio set on the table goes on working when the phone cannot.
The freezer, and the door that stays shut.
The freezer is better left alone. Every time that door opens costs it cold, so the useful habit is to decide once rather than to keep going back to look. A thermometer in the fridge takes the guesswork out of the decision once the power is back. If the answer is not clear, the food goes rather than anyone taking the chance, and that is a cheaper answer than the other one.
Water, and the things that stop with the power.
If your water comes from a well, the tap stops when the power does, so it is worth filling a couple of containers the first time the lights so much as flicker. Beyond that, walk the house once now and find out which things quietly need the power at all: the boiler, the pump in the basement, the garage door, the ignition on the stove. Better to know it in advance than to find out at the time. And leave the candles in the drawer. A flashlight is safer, and it does not go out when somebody opens a door.
The first hour back on.
When the power comes back, the house does not always come back with it. Walk around once and fix the things that stopped: the clocks, the thermostat, the router, the appliance that trips the breaker the moment it restarts. If it trips again, leave it switched off and call an electrician. Deal with the freezer once, now that you can see. Then put the flashlights back where they live, with the batteries, while you still remember how useful they were. That is the whole point of the exercise. The next time it happens, nothing needs looking for.
That is the letter. The shop is darpetshop.com, where the printable packs are.
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