Ten years of daily blackouts taught me to plan for the next one

Eight hours a day, every day

For the last ten years I've lived with power outages of about eight hours, every single day. Not once a year after a storm: every day.

I work as a video editor. When the power goes out, my work stops, and a deadline doesn't care whether the grid is up. For years my biggest fear wasn't the dark. It was missing a delivery and losing a client, or a power surge frying the computer my income depends on.

So I learned to get by with what I had: a UPS to keep the computer alive long enough to save and shut down safely, power banks for the phone, and rechargeable light bulbs for the evenings. None of it was glamorous, but it taught me to think in watts, hours and priorities.

The mistake I saw over and over

People buy a generator in a hurry, without working out how much it really costs to own and run, and without checking whether it's the right size for their home and what they actually use. Some end up with a machine too small to start the fridge. Others pay for far more than they need and can't afford the fuel to run it.

That's why LightsOnGuide starts from your list of appliances, not from a product. The backup power planner does the math first, and only then shows the generators and power stations that fit.

What I'd tell anyone preparing for an outage

• Be ready for any situation. The outage you plan for is rarely the one you get. Prepare before you need it, not during the storm.
• Know your numbers. What has to stay on, how many watts it uses, and for how many hours.
• Save and plan your spending. The right setup is the one you can afford to buy and keep running. Bigger isn't better if it drains your budget.
• Protect what earns your living. A UPS or a power station with fast switchover can save your work, and your equipment, when the power drops.