Articles · Power
Portable Power Station vs Generator for UK Power Cuts: Which Should You Get?
The quick answer
For most UK homes, a battery power station. It’s silent, safe indoors, has no fuel to store and needs almost no maintenance, and it runs the things that matter: phones, Wi-Fi, lights, a fridge, an electric blanket or medical equipment. A petrol generator only makes sense if you regularly lose power for days and need heavy appliances, and it must always run outdoors. Many households need neither: a couple of power banks covers phones and torches.
Side by side
| Battery power station | Petrol / inverter generator | |
|---|---|---|
| Safe indoors? | ✅ Yes | ❌ Never. Carbon monoxide risk |
| Noise | Silent (fan hum at most) | Loud, like a lawnmower |
| Fuel | None. Recharge from the mains (or solar) | Petrol, stored safely, which goes stale in months |
| Runtime | Limited by battery size (hours to a day) | As long as you have fuel |
| Heavy appliances (kettle, heater) | Only big units, briefly | ✅ Yes, larger models |
| Maintenance | Top up the charge every few months | Oil, fuel stabiliser, regular test runs |
| Typical cost | £200–£2,000+ | £400–£1,500+ (plus fuel and kit) |
| Neighbour-friendly? | ✅ | Noise and fumes |
| Other uses | Camping, campervans, garden, the car | Building sites, remote cabins |
What each can actually power
Power stations are measured in watt-hours (Wh), which is how much energy they store. Divide by an appliance’s watts to get a rough runtime (allow about 15% for losses).
| Appliance | Typical draw | 1,000Wh power station | Generator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phones, Wi-Fi router, LED lights | 10–30W | A day or more | ✅ |
| Fridge-freezer | ~60W average | Most of a day | ✅ |
| Electric blanket | 60–100W | Most of a night | ✅ |
| CPAP (no humidifier) | ~40W | Two or more nights | ✅ (outdoors, with a long outdoor lead) |
| Microwave | ~1,200W | A few short uses | ✅ |
| Kettle / fan heater | 2,000W+ | Minutes at best | ✅ (2kW+ models) |
Work out your own numbers with our free power cut runtime calculator.
Generator safety rules:
- Outdoors only, well away from doors, windows and vents. Never in a garage, shed, porch or tent, even with the door open.
- Fit carbon monoxide alarms indoors. If anyone gets a headache, dizziness or nausea, get into fresh air and call 999 if it’s serious.
- Never connect a generator to your house wiring with a plug-in lead. Back-feeding can electrocute engineers working on the street’s power lines. The only safe way to power house circuits is a changeover switch fitted by a registered electrician.
- Let it cool before refuelling, and store petrol in approved containers, away from the house.
Who should get which
Get a battery power station if…
- You want to keep the fridge, Wi-Fi and lights going through a typical cut of a few hours.
- Someone relies on medical equipment such as a CPAP machine, oxygen concentrator or powered bed. (Check the equipment’s wattage, and make sure you’re on the Priority Services Register.)
- You’d like to stay warm on battery with an electric blanket.
- You live in a flat or terrace, with nowhere safe to run a generator outdoors.
- You’d also use it for camping or a campervan.
Size guide: about 500Wh for phones, Wi-Fi and lights. About 1,000Wh for a fridge or an electric blanket overnight. 2,000Wh+ for medical equipment or longer cuts.
Consider a generator if…
- You’re rural and lose power for days at a time, most winters.
- You need to run heavy loads, such as a well pump, power tools or an electric heater.
- You have a safe outdoor spot away from the house, and you’re happy to store and rotate fuel.
- You’ll get a changeover switch fitted if you want it to run house circuits like the boiler.
An inverter generator is quieter and safer for electronics than a basic site generator.
You might need neither if…
Most UK power cuts are fixed within a few hours. If you just want phones charged and the lights on, a couple of good power banks and torches do the job for under £60. See our ranked power banks and the 72-hour kit checklist.
The middle ground: solar
Many power stations can recharge from a folding solar panel. In a UK winter that’s slow (expect a fraction of the panel’s rated output on a grey day), but it can keep phones and lights going through a multi-day outage without fuel or noise.
Our verdict
For the typical UK household, a battery power station is the safer, simpler and more neighbourly choice, and it doubles as camping kit the rest of the year. Choose a generator only if you genuinely face multi-day outages and have a safe outdoor space for it. Whichever you pick, start with the basics: power banks, torches and a radio cover most power cuts.
Ready to choose? See our ranked best portable power stations for UK power cuts.
Sources: Selectra: generator backfeed danger, Aico: generator safety during storms, trade2base: generator safety UK, Food Standards Agency, gov.uk/prepare.
Frequently asked questions
Is a power station or a generator better for a power cut?
For most UK households, a battery power station. It's silent, safe to use indoors, needs no fuel and needs almost no maintenance. A petrol generator only makes sense if you regularly lose power for days at a time and need to run heavy appliances, and it must always be used outdoors.
Can I use a generator indoors or in my garage?
No, never. Generators produce carbon monoxide, which you can't see or smell and which can kill. Opening doors and windows doesn't make it safe. Run a generator outside, well away from doors, windows and vents, and fit carbon monoxide alarms indoors.
Can I plug a generator into my house wiring?
Not safely without a changeover switch fitted by a registered electrician. Back-feeding power into your house wiring can send electricity into the street network and electrocute engineers working on the lines. Never use a 'two-plug' lead to connect a generator to a socket.
Can a power station run my fridge or freezer?
Yes. A typical fridge-freezer averages around 60W over a day, so a 1,000Wh power station can run one for most of a day. It needs enough continuous output (usually 500W or more) to handle the compressor's start-up surge. Try our power cut calculator for your appliances.
Can a power station run my central heating boiler?
Sometimes. A gas boiler's electrics use roughly 100–200W, but connecting it usually needs an electrician to fit a fused spur with a plug or a changeover switch. Ask a Gas Safe engineer or electrician before relying on this.