The first hour of a power cut: the playbook worth rehearsing

A power cut is rarely dangerous in the first minute and often dangerous by the twentieth, because the dark invites rushed decisions: candles near curtains, generators started inside, fridges flung open. The fix costs one read and ten minutes of preparation. Here is the first hour, in order.

Minute 0-5: make it safe before making it bright

Unplug the sensitive things - TVs, computers, decoders - or switch the socket outlets off: the surge when power returns is the real hazard, not the blackout (the socket that smells hot explains what surging does to tired wiring). Leave one light switched on so you can see the return, and know where your torch is in the dark, not theoretically. Candles are last resort, never in a room with sleeping children, never near curtains - a torch per room beats every candle argument (the fire plan assumes you already chose light badly; choose better).

Minute 5-15: the fridge decision and the neighbour check

Keep the fridge and freezer shut. A closed fridge holds its cold for hours and a full freezer for a day or more - the food-safety clock and the when-to-discard rules live in fridge safety in a power cut. Check whether the outage is yours alone (a tripped breaker has a different playbook: the breaker page); if neighbours are dark too, it is the grid, and the plan proceeds.

Minute 15 onward: the generator protocol, or the quiet hour

Generator rules in one breath: it runs outside, metres from windows; you start it, let it run two minutes, then connect loads one at a time, biggest surge last; and you never refuel a hot engine - shut down, wait, then fill (the fuel-and-flame rules apply to storage: jerrycans). If the cut is long, run it in scheduled blocks for the fridge and freezer rather than all evening. No generator? The quiet hour is the oldest technology: close the fridge, open the windows, charge what you can from the power bank, and let the inverter carry the lights and the router if you have one (generator versus inverter explains why the small loads belong there anyway).

The ten minutes that make this easy

Tonight, while the lights are on: one torch per room with live batteries, the changeover switch labelled (its care page), the generator's fuel level known, the power bank charged, and this page remembered rather than needed. That is the whole playbook - rehearsed once, it becomes the calmest hour in your month (the seasonal checklist has the rest of the house covered).

General information, not professional advice. Downed lines, burning smells or anything electrical that behaves strangely after power returns: leave it to the professionals (shock response is worth knowing before you ever need it).