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Pick your critical loads and decide what runs on what

In a long outage you will not run everything. Choose the few loads that keep people safe and the estate working, and give each one a primary and backup energy source.

How

1. From the power module load audit (power-1), mark critical loads: water pump, fridge or freezer, lights, comms and radio charging, medical devices, battery charging for tools, ventilation.
2. CISA advises segmenting and prioritising loads so backup fuel lasts longer, and planning for start-up surges as well as running loads.
3. For each critical load write: normal source (solar and battery), backup (generator), manual fallback (hand pump, cool box, lantern, hand tools).
4. Move as many loads as you can to daytime solar hours, so the generator only fills real gaps.
5. Write the running watts and start-up watts of each critical load from the nameplate or manual. You will use them in the generator sizing calculator.

Do these first

• power-1
• power-15

Sources

1. Ten Steps of Resilient Power. US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), accessed 2026-11
2. Generator sizing considerations. Eugene Water & Electric Board, accessed 2026-11

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