Power & light: keeping the lights on

A generator is the tool for a days-long outage, but it is also the most dangerous item in a power plan. The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that carbon monoxide from generators kills dozens of people every year — they run them in a garage, on a porch, or near a window, and the CO kills them in their sleep. Never run a generator indoors, in a garage, or within 20 feet of a window, door, or vent. Run it outdoors, on a dry surface, with the exhaust pointed away from the home. Install and test battery-operated carbon-monoxide alarms on every level of the home — they save lives in exactly these scenarios.

Size the generator to the load. A small inverter generator (2,000 W) runs a refrigerator, some lights, and a few devices. A larger portable (5,000-7,000 W) can run more, but it is louder and uses more fuel. A standby generator, installed permanently and connected to the home's electrical panel, is the top tier — it starts automatically and can run a whole house, but it costs thousands and requires professional installation and a fuel supply. The Smart Prepper's generator guide walks through sizing, fuel, and safety. The generator plan starts with safety, because a generator used wrong is more dangerous than no generator at all.

Store fuel safely and rotate it — gasoline with ethanol degrades in a few months. Add a fuel stabilizer if you store it longer, and keep it in an approved container away from the home. Keep a supply for the generator, but do not over-stock — a garage full of gasoline is a fire hazard. The generator plan is the fuel plan, the safety plan, and the maintenance plan. Test the generator annually, and never backfeed your home's wiring by plugging a generator into an outlet — use a transfer switch or plug devices directly into the generator. The CPSC warns that backfeeding is both illegal and lethal to utility workers.

The FDA is clear: a closed refrigerator keeps food safely cold for about four hours, and a full freezer can hold its temperature for roughly 48 hours (24 hours if half full). Every opening shortens that window. Keep a thermometer in the fridge and freezer — if the food has been above 40°F for more than two hours, throw it out. The FDA's rule is not flexible, and food poisoning during an outage is the last complication you want. If you expect a long outage, move perishables to the freezer and pack dairy and leftovers together to share the cold.

If you have a generator or a large power station, you can run the refrigerator intermittently — a few hours on, a few off — to extend the safe window. But do not assume the power plan covers the food plan; they are separate, and both need attention. The power plan is the lighting, the phone, the medical device, the refrigerator, and the safety to run it all without creating a new emergency. The fundamentals are the tiered build: light first, then phones, then the medical device, then the refrigerator, then the whole house — in that order, and with safety at every step.