Power cuts in Ireland: what to do

First, check for immediate danger

1. Never touch or approach fallen electricity wires. Treat them as live and report them to ESB Networks on 1800 372 999. If someone needs emergency help, call 112 or 999.^[1][5]

2. If neighbours still have power, the problem may be within your home. Check your trip switch only if it is safe and you know how. Do not open electrical equipment or attempt repairs. ESB Networks distinguishes faults on its network from faults in your own installation, which need a registered electrical contractor.^[6]

3. Use a torch to get around. Keep your MPRN, the electricity connection reference on your bill, with the emergency number so you can identify the supply when reporting it.^[7]

4. Switch off appliances that could become dangerous when electricity returns, and keep fridge and freezer doors closed.^[2][3] If you rely on medical equipment, follow the backup plan agreed with your healthcare team.^[4]

Report it and follow the updates

1. PowerCheck gives outage information and estimated restoration times. If your fault is not shown, report it. An estimate is useful for planning, but it is not a promise: repair progress and safety conditions can change it.^[1][4]

2. Keep a written note of when the power stopped and when you reported it. This is a practical record if you later ask about a customer-charter claim, which has a reporting-based time threshold and a claim deadline.^[8]

What should you switch off?

1. Switch off electronic equipment and appliances that could create a hazard when the supply returns. That includes a cooker, iron or portable electric heater left operating when the power failed. Leave one light switched on so you can see when supply returns.^[2][9]

2. Keep fridge and freezer doors shut as much as possible. Avoid opening them repeatedly to check the food. Follow your healthcare plan for powered medical equipment rather than applying a blanket switch-off rule to it.^[3][4]

3. Do not assume wiring is safe to work on because the lights are out. ESB Networks warns that electricity can return at any time during an interruption.^[2]

How long will food keep?

1. These are approximate holding times for an unopened appliance, not a guarantee for every item. Record when the outage began and use temperature information where available.^[3][10]

2. Safefood uses about 24 hours as its general freezer guide, then advises checking individual foods. FSAI distinguishes full and half-full freezers. Fullness, the appliance and food temperature matter, so do not read the longer estimate as permission to keep all food.^[3][10]

3. After four hours without power, take a cautious approach to refrigerated meat, fish, dairy, leftovers and other perishables. Discard them if you cannot establish that they stayed safely chilled. Do not use taste or smell as a safety test.^[3]

4. For freezer contents, FSAI says partly frozen food with ice crystals can be used or refrozen. It says to discard food that has been warmer than 5°C for more than two hours. If the time or condition is uncertain, throw it out.^[10]

5. See the equipment categories linked at the end of this guide.

Before an outage: get to know your heating and water

1. Here is a useful project for a quiet evening: work out what your heating needs to run. An oil tank or gas connection does not make central heating independent of electricity. Conventional oil boilers and most gas appliances need electrical power. Heat pumps also run on electricity. Include the loss of their heating and hot-water production in your outage plan.^[11][12][13]

2. Use layers and extra bedding, and gather in one room for warmth. Read Snow and cold: keep warm and protect your water supply for safe heating fallbacks.^[5]

3. If your private well has an electric pump, that pump will stop when its power supply fails. Make storing drinking water and writing a separate water plan part of your preparation before a forecast storm. This electrical dependency is described by the Virginia Department of Health; Irish water-quality advice comes from the EPA.^[14][15]

Before an outage: make a medical equipment plan

1. Start by contacting your electricity supplier to join the vulnerable-customer register. Your supplier passes the details to ESB Networks. Talk through battery backup and when to move elsewhere with your healthcare team. Registration provides support and communications but does not prevent storm faults.^[4]

2. If a device fails and someone is in immediate danger, call 112 or 999. Do not wait for a restoration estimate to solve an urgent medical problem.^[5]

Do not improvise a power or heating supply

1. Never run a generator indoors, under cover or near doors, windows or vents. Never bring a barbecue or outdoor heater inside. Their exhaust can cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.^[12]

2. Do not connect a generator to the house through a wall socket. It must not feed electricity back into the network, where it could endanger others. Have any connection to fixed wiring designed and installed by a registered electrical contractor.^[16]

When power returns

1. Check food before keeping it. If the boiler fails to restart, follow its user instructions and contact a suitable heating technician if needed. Flooded equipment needs professional checking before use.^{[10][11][12][17]}

Booklet material used: torches, stored essentials, warmth and written contacts are adapted from Be Emergency Ready.^[5]

prepared.ie is independent and is not affiliated with the Government of Ireland, Met Éireann, ESB or any agency. In an emergency, call 112 or 999.^[5]