Power Outage: How To Cope?

Despite the collective efforts of the French to reduce their electricity consumption, the risk of load shedding and blackouts is very real for the winter of 2022-2023. To face a possible power cut in your neighborhood, it is recommended to anticipate and prepare a kind of 'emergency kit'. Here are the things you need to bring to your home in case of a power outage.

1- Solutions for lighting

To cope with a power outage at your home, you must first have something to light your way.

Several solutions are available to you to have lighting:
- candles
- battery operated lamps
- kerosene lamps
- wireless table lamps

In the candle department, prefer slow-burning candles that you place in large candle holders to limit the risk of fire.

In camping stores and on specialized websites, you can even find survival candles with three wicks that ensure more than 36 hours of combustion and can be used as tea lights.

If you opt for battery-powered lamps, such as flashlights or headlamps (very useful for reading during a power outage), don't forget to buy the corresponding batteries!

And if you prefer to go without batteries altogether, get a dynamo lamp! This model sold from 8 € at Decathlon is recharged by the force of the wrist thanks to a small crank.

To light the dining room table during meals, a wireless table lamp is a very practical solution, provided of course that you have thought to recharge it beforehand!

2- Solutions to keep warm

Dealing with a power outage is of course more complicated if you heat exclusively with electric heaters.

In this case, it is recommended to provide a backup heater such as a small oil stove to avoid freezing during power outages.

Failing a wood or kerosene stove, consider purchasing a gas stove from a camping store.

This accessory usually reserved for campers is a must have as it will allow you to cook or simply heat water to fill a hot water bottle or to make yourself a tea or coffee without an electrical appliance.

To complete the camping gas stove, include in your emergency kit:
- matches
- one or more hot water bottles to warm the beds
- soluble coffee or a Moka coffee maker for espresso fans.

3- Solutions to recharge your phone

In the event that a power outage occurs at a time when you need to charge your cell phone or smartphone, I recommend that you also include in your emergency kit an external phone battery.

This type of backup battery also called power bank is sold from 20 € at Darty.

There are even solar models very practical during hikes and power outages. You can find these types of solar backup batteries online (for about €35 on Amazon).

With this accessory, you won't give in to panic and have a nomophobia attack if your phone's battery shows less than 10% during a load shedding or power outage.

To note: to save your devices' battery, it is best not to play games or read on your smartphone or tablet. So, I suggest you include in your power outage survival kit paper books and magazines as well as traditional board games to pass the time until the power comes back on.