Power outage emergency kit: what to pack for your household

What should be in a power outage emergency kit?

A power outage emergency kit holds water, no-cook food, light, a radio, phone power, first aid, medicines, cash and copies of key documents. The UK, Canadian, US and Australian lists agree on this core.

They differ on how much water to hold and for how many days. The sections below turn those rules into numbers for your household. For a map of the whole site, see the guides index.

How much water does a power outage kit need?

Water for a power outage kit is 3 litres per person per day (UK), about 4 litres (Canada) or 1 gallon, 3.8 litres (US), so a 4-person home needs 36 to 48 litres for 3 days.

The litres below are my arithmetic: people x days x the agency’s daily rate. The US figure covers drinking and sanitation. The UK figure is drinking only and the page says more is needed for cooking and washing.

People	UK, 3 L/day, 3 days	Canada, 4 L/day, 3 days	US, 1 gal/day, 3 days	UK, 7 days	Canada, 7 days	US, 7 days
1	9 L	12 L	11.4 L	21 L	28 L	26.5 L
2	18 L	24 L	22.7 L	42 L	56 L	53.0 L
3	27 L	36 L	34.1 L	63 L	84 L	79.5 L
4	36 L	48 L	45.4 L	84 L	112 L	106.0 L

Queensland’s Get Ready page, as recorded on 2026-10-25, asks for at least 10 litres of drinking water per person in total over 3 days. That is 40 litres for four people, close to the UK figure.

Seven days is not an official length in the US, UK or Canada. The UK page says 3 days, Public Safety Canada says “at least 72 hours”, and Ready.gov says several days. The American Red Cross says a 2-week supply for the home. Use 7 days if you live where roads close in storms or where repairs take longer.

How much food should you store for 3 or 7 days?

Food for a power outage kit is non-perishable food that needs no refrigeration or cooking, in a quantity set by how many meals your household eats.

None of the agencies read for this page gives a per-person amount of food. The UK page names tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts, and says to pick foods you would normally eat. The American Red Cross asks for non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items. Canada adds a manual can opener.

A planning sum, which is mine and not an agency figure: people x days x 3 meals.

People	Meals for 3 days	Meals for 7 days
1	9	21
2	18	42
3	27	63
4	36	84

Build these from what you already eat, then rotate the stock. Public Safety Canada says to replace food, water, batteries and medication at least once a year.

What size power bank do you need for a power cut?

A power bank for a power cut needs to hold at least one full phone charge per person per day, which for a household of four is about 210 Wh over 3 days with a typical phone.

Worked example. The phone battery below is an assumption for illustration. Look up your own phone’s figure.

1. Phone battery: 4,500 mAh at 3.85 V. Watt-hours = 4,500 x 3.85 / 1,000 = 17.3 Wh.
2. One charge per person per day, 4 people, 3 days: 17.3 x 4 x 3 = 208 Wh.
3. Same household for 7 days: 17.3 x 4 x 7 = 485 Wh.

A power bank sold as 20,000 mAh at 3.7 V holds 74 Wh on its label (20,000 x 3.7 / 1,000). Labelled capacity is not what reaches your phone, so allow margin. Three of those cover the 3-day sum on paper. The 7-day sum needs a bigger portable power station or a way to recharge, such as a car charger.

Add the batteries for lights and the radio. No agency gives a battery count. My rule is one spare set per torch and radio, kept in the kit.

What does a power cut survival kit include that you already own?

Most items on a power cut survival kit are already in a home, so check the shelf before you buy a boxed kit.

This table compares the five national lists with the usual household source. A tick means the item appears on that list. The Queensland column comes from the 2026-10-25 record, as the page would not load on 2026-10-26.

Item	UK	Canada	US Red Cross	Australian Red Cross	Likely already own it?
Water	yes	yes	yes	yes (“food and water”)	Tap water in clean containers; buy more only if short
Non-perishable food	yes	yes	yes	yes	Pantry tins, pasta, nuts, dried fruit
Torch or flashlight, spare batteries	yes	yes	yes	yes	Often; buy spare batteries
Battery or wind-up radio	yes (FM)	yes	yes (NOAA if possible)	yes	Rarely; the one item many homes lack
Phone charger or power bank	yes	yes	yes (phone with chargers)	yes	Chargers yes; power bank often
First aid kit	yes	yes	yes	yes	Usually; check dates
Medicines	yes	about 2 weeks	7-day supply	yes	Refill early, ask your pharmacist
Cash	yes	few weeks’ needs	yes	yes	Rarely held at home
Copies of documents and contacts	yes	yes	yes	yes (recovery kit)	Print once
Warm clothes and blankets	yes	not listed	optional	warm clothing	Yes
Manual can opener	not listed	yes	yes (extra list)	not listed	Usually

The UK page says torches are safer than candles. Keep candles out of the kit.

Do you need a boxed kit or a DIY kit?

A DIY kit costs less than a boxed one for most homes, because the pantry, linen cupboard and drawer of chargers already cover half the list.

Boxed kits are a convenience. They cannot hold your water, your medicines or the right amount of food for your household size, because those depend on people and days. Buy the radio and spare batteries, then fill gaps with the table above. Outage Kit HQ sells nothing and links no products.

Where to keep the kit and when to check it

Keep the kit in one accessible place, such as a backpack, duffle bag or wheeled suitcase, as Public Safety Canada suggests.

Check it once a year, as Public Safety Canada advises. Replace food, water, batteries and medication that are near expiry.

When a power outage is a medical problem

If anyone relies on powered medical equipment such as oxygen or a ventilator, a general kit is not enough. Ask your clinician and your electricity supplier about a plan before an outage. The UK page lists a power bank for compatible medical devices. In an emergency call 911 (US), 999 (UK), 112 (EU) or 000 (Australia).

Source ledger and limits

Dates below are when each page was checked.

Source	What it gave	Checked
UK Government Be Ready	3 days, 3 L/day, power bank, FM radio; page shows no update date	2026-10-26
Public Safety Canada	72 hours, about 4 L/day, medication about 2 weeks; modified 2025-09-12	2026-10-26
American Red Cross	1 gal/day; 3 days to evacuate, 2 weeks at home; no date shown	2026-10-26
Ready.gov	Several days, 1 gal/day drinking and sanitation; server blocked on 2026-10-26, figures from the 2026-10-25 record	2026-10-25
Australian Red Cross	Checklist with no quantities	2026-10-26
Queensland Get Ready	3 days, at least 10 L per person; page needs JavaScript, figures from the 2026-10-25 record	2026-10-25

Australia has no single national water figure in the sources read here. Water litres in the quantity table, the meal counts and the power-bank sums are arithmetic from the published rates and are not agency figures.