Outage preparation: Here’s what you should do for it

Power outage: list of necessary things

Power outages: How to secure your supply in a crisis

If the storm stops for a longer period of time, you will only realize how dependent you are on it. To make it easier for you in an emergency, you can make preparations.

Electrical energy is needed for lighting as well as for cooling and preparing food, for communication and heating. If there is a prolonged power outage, all these daily conveniences will no longer work. To ensure you get through this emergency situation well, you can prepare for power outages.

The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (BBK) provides useful tips that we have summarized for you.

Gas heaters, oil heaters, heat pumps: all of these heat sources require electricity to work. If it is no longer supplied with energy, the apartment – and therefore the water – remains cold.

If you have a fireplace at home, you can now use it to warm yourself in an emergency. The heating method can also be used to heat water. If you don’t have the luxury of this independent heat source, you should take precautions so that you don’t get cold in the winter months.

Although gas-powered heating sources exist, they are generally not suitable for indoor use. Therefore, when using these devices, you should observe safety precautions – such as CO alarms – and provide sufficient ventilation. You can heat the water with a warmer or alcohol burner.

BBK recommends that you first seek advice from a specialist company regarding alternative heat sources if there is no fireplace or oven.

When preparing for a power outage, this is the easiest part: finding alternative light sources. For example, candles and flashlights, but camp lamps and kerosene lamps can also be used for this purpose. With the latter, you should pay attention to whether it is suitable for indoor use. This is also important: If you use a flashlight, you must have a sufficient supply of batteries and accumulators. Alternatively, you can use a crank lamp or dynamo lamp.

You only realize how dependent food preparation is on energy when there is no electricity anymore. Energy is needed for cooling, cooking, baking, etc.