SELF-RELIANCE · ENERGY
Two tracks. One for the next time the lights go out. One for building energy independence that lasts longer than any outage.
WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT
Most outages last a few hours. Some run for days. A few stretch into weeks. These guides cover every scenario, from the first minute without power to managing heat and cold when the grid stays down.
What to do once an outage passes 24 hours. The freezer decision, the fuel run, generator budgeting, hygiene and sleep, and the thresholds that mean it is time to leave. Printable.
Flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, and solar lights. What to buy, what to skip, and why candles are a last resort, not a first one.
Power banks, rechargeable batteries, battery stations, and UPS systems. Includes guidance on powering medical devices and keeping routers online.
Portable, inverter, and whole-house generators. Fuel storage, transfer switches, and the carbon monoxide safety rules that are non-negotiable.
What a small solar setup can actually power during an outage, and what it cannot. From a $30 phone charger through a portable panel-and-battery system.
Safe indoor heat sources, layering strategy, sleeping warm in a cold house, fireplace and propane safety, and the CO alarm rules that matter most.
Heat illness prevention, shade and ventilation strategies, cooling rooms without AC, battery fans, and how to find community cooling centers.
What changes after 72 hours without power. A day-by-day timeline covering food safety, air quality, water, hygiene, fuel, and morale across a two-week outage.
Door discipline, battery station runtime, generator cycling, ice and dry ice, and the temperature thresholds that decide when food goes.
Affiliate disclosure: New World Survival earns a small commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. We only recommend gear we'd put in our own kit.
BUILD YOUR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
The long-game guides. Practical projects that reduce what your household depends on from the outside and expand what you can do for yourself, every day, not just during outages.
Know your load
Every other decision on this page resolves to the same three numbers. This is where to start.
A plug-in meter and one ordinary day give you the real numbers every backup power decision depends on. Running watts, startup demand, and daily watt-hours.
The three numbers that decide whether a battery station or generator will carry your household: watt-hours per day, continuous output, and startup surge. Work your own load list, then check a specific unit against it.
Make your own power
Producing electricity at the house, from a weekend project to a system an installer puts on the roof.
A starter solar system most households can install in a weekend. Panel, charge controller, battery, wiring, and what the completed system powers.
What to understand before calling an installer. System sizing, battery backup vs. grid-tie, incentives, and the questions worth asking every quote.
For a property that intends to make its own power as a matter of course. Solar at scale, micro-hydro, wind, biomass, and continuous-duty engines. A different problem, not a harder one.
Store it and switch it
Holding what you make or buy, and getting it to the circuits that actually matter.
Heat without the grid
Heat is the load batteries handle worst, so it usually comes from fuel instead.
Need less
The cheapest watt is the one you never use. These shrink everything else on this page.
Shade, airflow, thermal mass, and insulation upgrades that reduce grid dependency year-round, not just when the power is out.
Solar path lights, LED systems, battery-backed circuits, and motion sensors that keep your home well-lit without drawing from the grid.
WHERE TO START
Power just went out
The hour-by-hour protocol for the first day: confirming the outage, protecting electronics, lighting the house, and the early food and water decisions.
The First 24 HoursBuilding ahead
A weekend project that gives your household real energy independence. Most people are surprised by how much it covers.
200W Solar SetupThis guide is part of When the House Needs to Hold — all the guides for this concern in one place.