What to Keep in a Home Emergency Kit
Most emergencies in the UK are ridden out at home. A storm takes the power off for an evening, a burst main cuts the water until the morning, or a flood warning means staying upstairs rather than leaving. The official advice in most of these is to stay put, so the kit that matters most is the one in the house.
A home kit does not need to be large. It needs to hold enough for everyone who lives there, sit somewhere you can reach in the dark, and come with a few facts about the house that are far easier to learn now than during an outage.
Built around publicly available UK emergency preparedness guidance.
What goes in a home kit
The categories are the same for most households. The amounts are not: they scale with the number of people and how long you want to be covered. As a guide, this is what the builder works out for two adults over 48 hours.
| Item | How much | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking water | 12 litres | 3 litres per person per day, for drinking and simple food |
| Food that needs no cooking | 4 days of food | No fridge, and possibly no way to heat anything |
| Manual tin opener | 1 | An electric one is useless in a power cut |
| Torches | 1 per person | A phone torch drains the battery you need for calls |
| Power bank and cables | 1, charged | Keeps phones working for calls, alerts and updates |
| Battery or wind-up radio | 1 | Local radio still works when mobile data does not |
| First aid kit | 1 | Minor injuries still happen, and help may be slower |
| Warm layers and blankets | 1 set per person | Heating usually goes with the electricity |
Know your house before you need to
The most useful preparation costs nothing. It is knowing where the controls are and who to call, while the lights are on and nobody is in a hurry. Write the numbers on your contact sheet as well as saving them in your phone.
- Where the water stopcock is, and that it actually turns. It is often under the kitchen sink or where the pipe enters the house
- Where the consumer unit (fuse box) is, and how to reset a tripped switch
- Where the gas meter's emergency control valve is. If you smell gas, the National Gas Emergency Service number is 0800 111 999 (0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland)
- That 105 reports a power cut in England, Scotland and Wales, free from most phones. In Northern Ireland the number is 03457 643643
- Your water supplier's emergency number, which is on your bill
Where to keep it
One labelled box, somewhere you can reach without moving anything else first: a hall cupboard, the cupboard under the stairs, or the bottom of a wardrobe. Everyone in the house should know where it is, including older children.
Keep bottled water somewhere cool and dark rather than a garage that heats up in summer. If your home is at risk of flooding, keep the kit and your documents upstairs, not in the room that floods first.
The torch is the exception to keeping everything together. Put one where you would be when the lights go out, usually by the bed, so you are not crossing a dark house to find the others.
If someone at home relies on electricity
If anyone in your household uses mains-powered medical equipment, or would be at particular risk in a long outage, register with the Priority Services Register. It is free, run through your energy supplier and network operator, and means you are flagged for extra support and advance warning of planned cuts.
Plan how the equipment would be powered, and for how long, with whoever supplied it. Do not rely on a general-purpose power bank for anything medical without checking with them first.
Keeping it from quietly expiring
A home kit fails slowly. Batteries go flat, water passes its best-before date, and the power bank gets borrowed and never comes back. Ten minutes twice a year, when the clocks change, keeps it ready: charge the power bank, check dates, and replace whatever has wandered off.
A home kit for a family of four, 48 hours
What the builder produces for two adults and two children staying at home. Your own list changes with your household, budget and how long you want to be covered.
Bottled drinking water
Mains water can be interrupted or put under a boil notice. Bottled water needs no power and no preparation.
How much: 24 L (3 L x 4 people x 2 days)
Manual tin opener
An electric opener is useless in a power cut, and a stocked cupboard you cannot open is not a food supply.
Shelf-stable food
Food that keeps without a fridge and can be eaten cold if you have no way to cook.
How much: 8 days of food (1 day of food x 4 people x 2 days)
LED torch
A phone torch drains the battery you need for calls. A proper torch is the most useful thing in a power cut.
How much: 4 lights (1 per person)
Spare batteries
Torches and radios are only as good as the batteries in them. Keep a sealed set that does not get raided for toys.
USB power bank
Keeps phones alive for calls, alerts and torch use. Charge it every few months so it is ready.
Battery or wind-up radio
If the mobile network or your broadband goes down, local radio is how you find out what is happening.
Spare charging cables
A power bank with no cable is a brick. Keep spares in the kit rather than borrowing from the kitchen drawer.
Plus 19 more items in the full list, including warmth, hygiene and documents.
Common questions
- What is the difference between a home emergency kit and a grab bag?
- A home kit is for staying put, which is what most UK disruptions call for, so it can hold more water, food and bedding. A grab bag is a smaller, portable bag for leaving at short notice, built around documents, medicines, a torch and a phone charger.
- How much water should a home emergency kit hold?
- Around 3 litres per person per day. For two adults over 48 hours that is about 12 litres, and for a family of four over 72 hours about 36 litres. Supermarket multipacks are the simplest way to store it; rotate them every 6 to 12 months.
- Where is the best place to keep an emergency kit at home?
- Somewhere cool, dry and easy to reach in the dark, such as a hall cupboard or under the stairs. If your home is at risk of flooding, keep it upstairs. Keep one torch by the bed so you are not crossing a dark house to reach the rest.
- Who do I call in a power cut?
- Call 105 in England, Scotland and Wales, free from most landlines and mobiles, and it connects you to your local network operator. In Northern Ireland call 03457 643643. Your energy supplier is not the company that fixes the cables.
- What is the Priority Services Register?
- A free register run through energy suppliers and network operators for households who need extra support, including people who rely on medical equipment that uses electricity. Being on it means advance warning of planned cuts and priority support during outages.
Build a home kit for your household
Tell us who lives with you and how long you want to be covered. We will work out the quantities, explain each item and start from the things you already have.
Build my home kitRelated reading
- How to prepare for a stormThe day before, while it passes, and afterwards.
- What to do in a floodWhat each warning means, and what to do when one is issued.
- What should be in a UK emergency kit?The categories most households need, and why.
- Emergency kit checklistThe full list by category, to print and tick off.
- Power cut emergency kitThe household kit that makes a UK outage manageable.
- Family emergency kitHow quantities change with children, babies and pets.
- Grab bagA ready-to-leave bag personalised for your household.
- How much water should you store?A simple rule of thumb, and how to store it.
- What to do in a power cutWhat to do, in order, when the lights go out.
My Emergency Kit is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the UK Government or emergency services. Our suggestions are general information for UK households, not professional, medical or emergency advice. In an emergency call 999.