PF-CK · The walk-the-house card
Plan your outage power in one sitting
A free, practical checklist for outage power: list what actually matters, measure real wattage, size a battery with honest math, and test the plan before you ever need it.
What the checklist covers
No hype and no shopping list of specific brands — just the planning steps that decide whether a backup setup works, in the order you should do them.
- How to build a critical-load list, room by room
- Where real wattage numbers come from — labels, spec sheets, and watt meters
- Sizing targets for two-hour, all-day, and multi-day outages
- When a UPS beats a power station — and when a power bank is enough
- A recharge plan that covers wall, car, and solar
- The cable-and-connector audit most plans skip
- A quarterly test routine that keeps the plan honest
Get the free Emergency Power Planning Checklist
The printable checklist now — then short, occasional notes when one of our recommended picks changes or we spot a real price drop. Nothing on a schedule, unsubscribe anytime.
The full checklist — free on this page
You don't need to hand over an email address to use this. The complete checklist is below; the emailed note links directly to the printable PDF and this always-current web version, with a five-step summary for convenience.
List every device you'd actually want running
Walk through a normal evening and write down what you'd genuinely miss in an outage: router and modem, phones, a laptop, lights, a fan, any medical device, maybe the fridge. A plan sized from a real list beats a guess every time.
Split the list into must-run and nice-to-have
Must-run is usually smaller than people expect — often just internet gear, phones, and any medical device. Size your purchase around must-run and treat everything else as bonus capacity, not a requirement.
Find each device's real wattage
Power adapter labels show a worst-case maximum; real draw is often half that or less. Start with typical ranges in thedevice wattage library, then use a plug-in watt meter for the loads that matter most — it's the single most useful purchase in this whole process.
Pick the outage window you're planning for
A two-hour flicker, a full workday, and a multi-day storm call for very different batteries. Choose one primary scenario. Many households do well planning for 8–12 hours and treating anything longer as a recharge problem instead of a bigger-battery problem.
Size the battery with real math, not the marketing number
Watts × hours gives the energy you need; then allow for conversion losses and a reserve you never plan to touch. Thepower station sizing calculator does this in seconds, and thebattery runtime calculator works in the other direction if you already own a battery.
Choose the type of backup, not just the size
A UPS switches over instantly for always-plugged-in gear, a power bank covers USB devices for a fraction of the cost, and a power station runs AC loads for hours. Thecomparison hub lays out the trade-offs. Batteries and UPS units are safe to use indoors; fuel generators never are.
Check surge ratings before planning around a fridge
Compressor appliances briefly pull far more at startup than their running watts suggest. If a refrigerator is on your must-run list, verify the battery's surge rating comfortably exceeds the compressor's start-up draw — otherwise the plan fails at the exact moment it's needed.
Plan the recharge path before you need it
Decide now how you'd refill the battery mid-outage: a car's 12V port, a second battery, or a solar panel. Thesolar recharge calculator shows what a panel realistically delivers per day — usually well under what the label implies.
Audit your cables, adapters, and connectors
The most common plan-killer is a missing cable: the 12V cable for the router, an extension cord that reaches, a USB-C cable rated for your laptop's wattage. Test-fit every connection once, end to end, before you call the kit done.
Cover lighting separately and cheaply
A couple of LED lanterns or headlamps cost little, sip power, and save your main battery for the loads that matter. Keep their spare batteries or charging cables in the same place as the rest of the kit.
Stage everything in one place someone else could find
Store the battery at the manufacturer's recommended charge level, keep every cable and adapter with it, and make sure another adult in the household knows where the kit lives and how it connects.
Test the whole plan quarterly — and write down the result
Run your must-run loads from the battery for an hour and note how much capacity that used. Batteries age and gear changes, so recheck the math occasionally. A plan you've never tested is a hope, not a plan.
The Emergency Power Planning Kit
We're building a more complete planning kit for people who want to work through their whole backup power plan on paper. It isn't ready yet, and we won't take orders for something that doesn't exist. When it's done, it will include:
- Load inventory worksheet — list every device you'd want powered, with its real measured wattage.
- Sizing decision tree — work from outage length and loads to a capacity class, step by step.
- Outage tier plans — ready-made plans for short, all-day, and multi-day outages.
- Test log — a simple record for quarterly runtime tests, so your plan stays honest over time.
In the meantime, the free checklist covers the essentials — and it's readable right on the page.
Start with the free checklistWant a note when the kit is ready? Join the checklist email list — the launch note goes there first, and it's the only announcement we'll send about it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to enter my email to use the checklist?
No — the full checklist is published on this page, free. The email version is a convenience copy: enter your address above and we will request delivery, but you can use the web checklist or PDF immediately without waiting. We only use your address for the checklist and occasional outage-prep notes, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
How long does the checklist take to complete?
Most people finish the list-and-measure steps in about an hour, then size and compare options with the calculators in another thirty minutes. The quarterly test at the end is an ongoing habit rather than a one-time task.
Does this cover whole-home generators or standby wiring?
No. Power Preflight covers plug-in solutions: batteries, UPS units, power banks, and solar charging. Whole-home standby systems and transfer switches involve permanent wiring and should be scoped with a licensed electrician. Fuel generators must never be run indoors.
Calculations are estimates only. Real runtime depends on battery age, inverter efficiency, device behavior, temperature, surge loads, manufacturer limits, and actual measured wattage. Always verify product specifications before buying or relying on a setup.
This site provides planning estimates, not electrical, medical, or emergency safety advice.