GUIDE72

Torch and power bank for a power cut

One light per person that isn't the phone, and a battery so the phone lasts.

Every figure has its source at the end.

All of this, put into a plan for your home, is in the guide Ready in 7 Days.

What to know

  • In the Iberian blackout of 28 April 2025, one in ten of those who missed something said it was torches, candles or something similar.
  • The UK government's Be Ready checklist includes a torch and a charged power bank, for phones or compatible medical devices.
  • Torches are safer than candles.
  • The phone's torch drains the battery you need for alerts and for talking to your family.

How to choose

  • Count the people at home: one light each, ideally a head torch.
  • Check which batteries your torches and radio take, and buy new ones in the same size so you only need one kind of spare.
  • Add a lantern for each room where you'll be together, like the living room or the kitchen.
  • For the power bank, look at the mAh: 10,000 for one phone, 20,000 if there are several of you or the outage could be long.
  • If what you need to keep going is the fridge, the router or a medical device, a power bank won't do: that takes a portable power station or a UPS.

What to buy

  • Head torch

    One per person. It keeps your hands free to cook, use the stairs or look after someone, and takes AAA batteries.

    Check price: Lepro, pack of 2

  • Battery lantern

    For the living room or kitchen table: it lights the whole room, where a candle would have gone.

    Check price: Pack of 4

  • Motion sensor light

    In the hallway or by the stairs: it comes on as you walk past, so nobody trips at night.

    Check price: Pack of 4

  • Spare batteries

    The size your torches and radio take. Keep them in their pack, out of the devices.

    Check price: Amazon Basics, 12 AA and 12 AAA

  • Power bank

    10,000 mAh gives about 2 phone charges; 20,000, about 4. Make sure it has your phone's connector or a cable for it.

    Check price: INIU, 10,000 mAh

  • Folding solar panel

    If the outage lasts days: it charges the power bank or the phone by a window or on a balcony.

    Check price on Amazon
Add all 6 to Amazon basket

The rest of the kit, in levels and with what each one costs, in the kit.

Links go to amazon.co.uk and are affiliate links: if you buy through them we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra.

When the power goes

  • Switch on the head torch, not the phone's light.
  • Put the phone in battery saver mode and use it only when you need to.
  • The lantern goes on the table where you are; switch off lights nobody is using.
  • Charge the phone from the power bank before it dies, not when it's already at zero.

To find out what is going on without draining the phone, a battery radio; and the rest of those hours, in what to do in a power cut.

Don't do this

  • Don't use candles for light: torches are safer.
  • Don't leave batteries in the torch for months: they run down and can leak. Test it when the clocks change.
  • Don't store the power bank empty: charge it every six months, and don't charge it covered, on the bed or in the sun.

Sources

Checked on 31/10/2026.

This does not replace instructions from the authorities or 999: if they say something different, do what they say.

Your home's light, in 20 minutes

In Ready in 7 Days, day 4 is light: you test what you already have, note it in its table with the battery type and where each thing is, and the power bank ends up charged with the date written on it.

Buy the guide £4.99

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