A friend of mine lives in Northern Idaho and recent cold weather and a windstorm had her living without power. They had to figure out how to stay warm during a power outage for 10 days! With the cold weather and storms moving in, I’ve had several people inquire about what should be in a power outage kit. There are the main essentials you’ll want to consider when preparing for a power outage: light, warmth, radio, charging a cell phone, hygiene, food, and water. I personally don’t keep food and water in this kit because I keep it in a different location, but it’s accounted for. I also don’t keep hygiene items in here. I have a separate hygiene kit that is kept near the power outage kit. The list of basic essentials doesn’t all need to be in your emergency kit as long as you have a plan for it. What should be in a power outage kit? Below is a simple list of 9 categories you should plan for. Click on the photo to learn more about each product.









What Should Be in a Power Outage Kit

1. Heating Options

The Big Buddy is a portable propane heater that is safe for indoor use and heats up to 450 square feet. It has an auto shut-off if: it’s tipped over, if the pilot light goes out, or if it detects low oxygen levels. Click here to see 5 emergency heating options.

2. Power Failure Lighting

Click here to see a comparison of power outage lights.

3. NOAA Radio & Flashlight

My preferences for an emergency radio are:

digital station finder

crank & battery power source

FM/AM/NOAA

battery life indicator

Read more about this emergency radio here.





4. Battery Bank/Phone Charger

5. Cooking Stove

The first day without power is fun. You get to eat the ice cream before it melts in your freezer and have cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (before the milk goes bad). The next couple days you eat through the soup, crackers, bread, and snacks in the house. About day 4 of no electricity, that’s where people start to panic because they haven’t prepared. It’s typically not safe to use camping stove because of carbon monoxide poisoning so be sure to have a carbon monoxide detector close to where you’re cooking. Below is a photo of a flameless cooking pot.

Related Article: 6 Methods to Cook Indoors Without Electricity

6. Matches

Matches can light candles, cooking stoves, and the propane heater if the igniter were to fail.

7. Batteries

These are back up for the radio and the heater. For my kit, I need 6 AA batteries and 4 D-cell batteries for the heater.

Next three items are not stored in this kit but should be mentioned.

8. Food

Some examples of easy meals are oatmeal, soup, tuna on crackers, peanut butter on pancakes, chili, pork & beans, and pasta box meals. Below are emergency meals that last 30 years, unlike typical boxed and canned food that goes bad after 2-5 years.

9. Water

Storing water should be rotated by adding fresh water routinely. Click here to learn more about it.

10. Hygiene Supplies

Where to Store Emergency Kit

You’ll want to keep your kit in a place where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate too much. This will prolong battery life which is said to diminish with every 15-degree increase or decrease.

coat closet near the entry door. in your off-grid room basement (stacked on totes or on a shelf to prevent water damage) under a coffee table

Adding glow-in-the-dark duct tape or paint can make your emergency kit easier to find in the dark.









Emergency Kit Dimensions

16 inches tall

22 inches across

16 inches wide

weighs 24 lbs

Items also in the emergency but not listed above:

two extra propane tanks and (seen in the picture above)

a hose which allows the heater to connect with a twenty-pound propane tank

Mr. Heater storage bag – the bag is sold separately

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Originally posted on Nov. 28, 2015. Updated and reposted March 7, 2017.