Five people. One team.
Power out.
We've got a plan.
A calm, practical guide to three winter days at home. Explore what happens, take a job and see how our supplies last.
2 adults + 3 teenagersDay up to 10°C · Night around 0°CPractice scenario, not a live warning
Home is our base☾
Generator 08:00–21:00 onlyPropane cooking outdoors
Explore at your own pace
Our next move
Modelled supplies at the start of this hour
Simulation only: not a measurement or a safe-consumption limit. Fuel uses advertised figures plus an unverified 2 L/hour allowance at 2.5 kW. Change assumptions in Our supplies.
Ready-to-go setup
See what lasts. Change the assumptions.
Ordered items are treated as arrived, charged and filled, as requested. This calculator does not measure your actual stock.
Petrol
40 L in two cans. 5 L is a planning reserve, not extra fuel. 750 W: 4/8.3 L/h; 1.5 kW: 1 L/h. High-load use remains untested.
Water
Confirmed drinking-water provision: 45 litres = 3 litres per person per day × 5 people × 3 days. Model: 15 L/day drinking including drinks, plus 15 L/day cooking/hygiene from the separate 50-litre supply. No flushing, showers or laundry. Never ration necessary drinking to fit the model.
Propane
Two cooking hours/day. Default 0.4 kg/hour is an example, not your stove specification. Outdoor stove is never an indoor heater.
Daily operating budget
08:00–19:00: up to 11 hours of essential power, calculated at the advertised 750 W consumption point.
19:00–20:00: 1.5 kW radiator.
20:00–21:00: 2.5 kW radiator; pause substantial other loads.
21:00–08:00: generator off.
This is a maximum daytime window, with cooling/refuelling breaks. Do not add loads to reach 750 W. One hour of heating may not be enough: measure room temperatures and adapt.
Meals that work for five
Breakfast: porridge, cereal, bread, fruit and small UHT cartons.
Lunch: wraps, crackers, ready-to-eat beans or fish.
Dinner: tinned stew, lentil curry or chilli with a low-water accompaniment.
Plan 45 individual meal portions plus snacks. Choose familiar food and account for allergies. Inventory is not verified. Keep no-cook options for bad weather and avoid leftovers needing uncertain refrigeration.
Everyone has a part
Our five-person crew
Assign jobs together. Adults handle fuel, generator connections and difficult waste handling. No one needs to manage the whole emergency alone.
Ready together
Make room for being human
Shared bedrooms, missed friends and an improvised toilet can be harder than a missing television.
- Give everyone some privacy and a daily choice.
- Keep mealtimes and bedtime predictable.
- Go outside in daylight when safe; come back dry.
- Use two short news check-ins, not constant rumours.
- Take turns with chores and protect adult rest.
Names, notes and checks save only in this browser. They do not sync between family devices.
A five-minute family challenge
What would you do?
Practice, not pressure.
Take turns answering, explain your thinking and see what surprises the family. Nobody loses points for learning something new.
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situations explored
The important details
Our plan has a few conditions.
Warm at bedtime is not warm all night
Measure each room before heating, at shutdown and in the morning. Try to keep occupied rooms around 18°C or above. One-hour slots are trial assumptions, not a guarantee. Add bedding, adjust heating or share the better room if needed. Seek help if someone cannot stay warm or becomes unwell.
Our fridge is off for up to 12 hours
Pausing it at 20:00 until 08:00 creates a 12-hour gap. A fridge usually stays cold for about four hours unopened. Refrigerated perishables at 8°C or above for four hours should be discarded under standard guidance. Re-cooling does not undo unsafe storage. Use temperature history, not smell. Outdoors at 10°C is not reliable refrigeration.
Generator and electrical safety
3 kW continuous, 3.3 kW peak. Both radiators at full power total 4 kW and overload it. Outdoors only, at least 6 metres away with exhaust away from your and neighbours' openings. Never in a shed or garage; protect from weather only as the manual permits. Stop and cool before refuelling. Follow oil-maintenance intervals.
Have the generator, cabling and protection arrangement checked. Portable-heater guidance advises against extension leads; ordinary multiway leads are not the answer. Never backfeed a wall socket. CO alarms do not make unsafe positioning safe.
Toilet and handwashing
Use strong bag liners, dry shavings and secure lids. Shavings do not disinfect. Seal bags before heavy, store securely away from food and children, and follow emergency disposal instructions. Do not dump into soil or drains. Wash hands with soap and clean water. Do not reduce drinking to save toilet capacity.
When to change the plan
Get assistance before water runs out, when necessary medication/equipment cannot be supported, or if someone becomes ill or cannot stay adequately warm. In immediate danger call 999 or 112 if communications work. Do not wait for hour 72. Any relocation needs a confirmed safe destination.
Hour 72 is not a restoration promise
This is a practice horizon. Iberia's April 2025 blackout was much shorter: transmission restoration completed overnight. This winter scenario deliberately assumes a more severe duration and disrupted water, sewage and communications. Actual failures vary.
Offline and shared use
Use “Save offline copy” now and open the downloaded HTML file to test it. It contains the complete app without external fonts or scripts. Online access is private to the owner unless sharing is changed. Browser-local progress does not sync. Print the full plan as a paper backup.
Sources and assumptions
Based on our household discussion and the supplied MXR3500 specification screenshot. All additional orders assumed arrived and filled. Drinking water starts at the confirmed 45 litres and remains editable. Weather is a user-specified scenario, not a forecast. Fuel and food quantities need a practical test.