The power's out — what to do, and what actually keeps you running
The lights just died. Before you do anything else, protect the two things that matter most — your food and your phone — then decide whether to wait it out or power up. Here's the order that keeps a short outage from becoming a bad night.
By Lee · Researched & cited · Updated Jul 2026
Before you buy anything
- 1
Keep the fridge and freezer shut
A closed refrigerator holds food safe for about 4 hours; a full freezer holds ~48 hours (half-full, ~24). Every time you open the door to 'check,' you lose roughly an hour of that. Decide what you need, grab it fast, and keep the doors closed until power is back.
- 2
Save your phone — it's your lifeline
Drop it to battery-saver / low-power mode, close background apps, and dim the screen. Unplug anything you don't need. Your phone is how you'll check the outage map, get restoration estimates, and call for help, so treat its battery as the scarce resource it is.
- 3
Find out how long it'll last
Check your utility's outage map or text line (most have one). A quick flicker from a passing storm is very different from a downed-line outage with a multi-hour estimate. Knowing which one you're in tells you whether to simply wait it out or start powering essentials.
- 4
For anything past a couple hours, power the essentials
Once it's clear the outage is real, a LiFePO4 power station quietly runs the fridge, a CPAP, phones, a router, and lights — indoors, with no fumes, unlike a gas generator. Size it by watt-hours (how long) and continuous watts (what it can run at once), not the headline number on the box.
The one thing that solves it today
The fix for a real outage: a portable power station. Big enough to cycle a full-size fridge for 12+ hours and keep phones, a router, a CPAP, and lights going — silent, fumeless, and safe to run inside (a gas generator is not). Keep it charged and it's ready the moment the grid isn't.
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station
The definitive road-trip/outage hero: 1kWh+, a real 1500W AC inverter that runs most car-camp gear, ~1-hour recharge, and Jackery is the brand people actually search. LiFePO4 rated for 4,000 cycles.
BLUETTI AC180 Portable Power Station
More capacity and a stouter 1800W (2700W peak) inverter than most 1kWh rivals, plus a wireless charging pad and 20ms UPS switchover. 0-80% in 45 minutes is class-leading.
Never get caught here twice
Outages don't warn you, so the whole game is being charged and sized right before one hits. Keep a power station topped up (most hold a charge for months), size it to your real must-run loads — fridge, medical devices, phones — and you turn every future blackout into a non-event.
BLUETTI AC180 Portable Power Station
More capacity and a stouter 1800W (2700W peak) inverter than most 1kWh rivals, plus a wireless charging pad and 20ms UPS switchover. 0-80% in 45 minutes is class-leading.
Questions people ask
How long will food last in the fridge during an outage?
About 4 hours in a refrigerator if you keep the door closed, and roughly 48 hours in a full freezer (24 hours if half-full). The single biggest mistake is opening the door to check — each time costs you close to an hour. Above 40°F for more than 2 hours, perishable food should be tossed.
What size power station do I need to run a refrigerator?
A full-size fridge draws ~100–200W while running but spikes higher at startup, so you want a station with at least ~1000Wh of capacity and a pure sine-wave inverter rated ~1000W+ continuous. That runs a fridge (which cycles on and off) for roughly 12–18 hours while also charging phones and lights.
Can I run a power station indoors?
Yes — that's the main advantage over a gas generator. Battery power stations produce no exhaust and are safe to run inside, which is exactly what you want during an outage. Never run a fuel generator indoors or in a garage.
How is a power station different from a generator?
A power station is a big battery with AC outlets — silent, fumeless, indoor-safe, and instant, but limited by its stored watt-hours. A generator makes power continuously from fuel but is loud, produces deadly exhaust, and must run outside. For most home outages, a LiFePO4 power station sized to your essentials is the simpler, safer answer.