A smart home can make everyday life easier, but a power outage can quickly remind you how many items in your home depend on electricity and an internet connection.
The good news is that you don’t need a complicated setup to prepare. A few simple steps can help you keep the most important parts of your home running when the power goes out.
Start With the Essentials
Before thinking about all your smart gadgets, work out what you actually need during an outage. Your phone, internet equipment, lights, and any device you rely on for safety should be at the top of the list.
Some smart products may continue basic functions locally, while others depend entirely on an app or cloud service.
Now is a good time to read the instructions. You don’t want to discover during an outage that your smart lock has a physical key hidden somewhere or that your garage door has a manual release you didn’t know about.
Keep A Backup for Your Connection
Your router can’t provide internet access when it’s powered off, so keeping your home network running is important. A small battery backup can keep a router and modem running for some time, depending on their power needs.
If severe weather is expected, charge phones, laptops, rechargeable lights, and other essentials ahead of time.
If you use your phone to manage smart devices, remember that the phone itself needs power.
Give Smart Devices a Manual Option
One of the easiest things to overlook is how you’ll operate a device when the app stops working during an outage. Smart features are convenient, but they shouldn’t be your only option.
Know how to open your garage door manually, keep physical keys available for smart locks, and make sure important lights have a normal switch. If you have smart blinds, heating, or other connected equipment, check whether there’s a physical control you can use.
It’s also useful to know which parts of your smart home can still work without an internet connection. Having smart-home outage tips on hand can help you prepare for situations where your usual connected controls aren’t available.
Protect Your Phone and Online Access
Your phone could be your primary source of information during an outage, from getting updates about utility services and weather to staying in touch with your loved ones. You can conserve your phone’s battery by reducing screen brightness, closing unnecessary apps, or turning off features you don’t need.
If an outage forces you to use public Wi-Fi, a VPN can encrypt your internet traffic and reduce the risk of others on the network intercepting it.
It also helps to save important phone numbers and outage information ahead of time, so you don’t have to search for them when your battery or connection is running low.
Don’t Forget the Fridge and Freezer
While a smart home plan focuses largely on connected devices, you also need to consider your refrigerator and freezer when the power goes out.
The more often you open the door, the faster the cold air escapes. So, it’s best to keep the door closed as much as possible.
When the power comes back, don’t turn everything on all at once. Unplug delicate electronic appliances while the power is out to protect them when the power returns.
Test Your Plan Before an Outage
The best time to find a problem with your backup plan is when everything is working normally. Pick a convenient time and pretend the power has gone out.
Can you open the garage? Can you unlock the door? Do you know where the flashlights and power banks are? Does your router stay powered? Can everyone at home contact one another?
You may find that the battery is dead, the key is lost, or an essential gadget depends on an internet connection that you didn’t realize it needed.
Keep The Plan Simple
A smart home doesn’t necessarily need to have a complex emergency plan. All you need is to make sure that what you depend on most has a backup.
Make sure your batteries and power banks are easy to access and that you know which devices have manual switches, as well as where all the physical keys are kept.
In an emergency, it’ll be easier to know what should or shouldn’t be done because everything will already be familiar to you.
