Power, Car & Comms

Certified installer: is backup disabled in software, missing from the wiring, or faulty? Confirm safe grid isolation, backed-up circuits, solar during a cut, restart after a flat battery, then enable it

Boiler and pump, fridge-freezer, a few lights, router, selected sockets. A gas boiler still needs electricity; check the thermostat works without internet

Many systems allow local monitoring; test it on every adult's phone with broadband off

Energenie ENER007: measure a full day of essential use, including the boiler

50–80% in winter, higher when warnings are issued, set while you have internet

EcoFlow DELTA 2 (1,024 Wh, LiFePO4) for lights, radios, phones and the Starlink

Matched to the power station's input limits

One card per adult; the phone key uses Bluetooth, so test it in aeroplane mode

Charge phones from the car

Eton FRX3 class

Motorola T82 Extreme quad pack, UK version, with spare batteries. Public channels; test your actual routes

Internet if UK networks fail; 20–40 W. Not in an EMP or global outage

Garmin inReach Messenger, with an active subscription, contacts set up and a test message sent

SenseCAP T1000-E for the family plus one neighbour

Exam fee about £27.50 (2020 figure); licence free

Ask for independent test reports. A sealed metal bin is a cheap improvised option with no guarantee; a blocked phone signal doesn't prove EMP protection

Radio, power bank, USB drive, multimeter, an old phone or e-reader with offline maps and Kiwix Wikipedia

Ordinary electrical resilience; not proof against EMP

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max class; check it works without an account or cloud

Champion 3600 dual fuel (3,150 W on LPG). Installer-designed connection only; at least 6.1 m from doors, windows and vents; never in the garage. 6 kg of LPG runs it about 10.6 hours. Many home batteries can't be charged from a generator, so check yours