Making Your 'Must Stay On' List — Deciding What Truly Keeps Running
Last verified: September 2026
Sizing backup power starts with a list, not a number. This guide helps you walk the house and sort everything into must, want, and skip — so the things that keep you safe, fed, and connected never get left off. Want a hand? My number is (330) 200-8042.
Your Must-Run List, at a Glance
Before a single watt gets added up, backup-power sizing starts with a list: what truly must stay on when the power goes out. This guide helps you walk the house room by room and sort everything into three buckets — must, want, and skip — covering safety, food, water, heat or cooling, and any medical needs. It's the arithmetic-free first step; the running watts and the surge come later, in our other guides. There's a printable page-by-page version up top.
Common Questions
1 What belongs on a must-run list?
The things that keep you safe, fed, and connected: the fridge and freezer, heat in winter or cooling in summer, lights, a way to charge a phone, the internet if you rely on it, a sump or well pump, and anything medical. Comforts and big extras can wait.
2 What's the difference between a must and a want?
A must protects your safety, your food, or your water. A want is comfort or convenience — pleasant, but you'd be fine without it for a while. When unsure, treat safety, food, and water as musts and put the rest lower.
3 Should my list change with the seasons?
Yes. An Ohio winter list leans on heat — the furnace blower or boiler circulator — while a summer list leans on cooling and fans. The fridge, freezer, and (on a well) the pump stay on the list all year.
4 Do I put medical devices on the list?
Absolutely, near the top — but treat backup power as one layer, not the whole plan. Keep manufacturer battery backups, register with your utility's medical list, and make the plan with your equipment supplier and doctor. Our medical-devices guide covers this with care.
5 I'm on a well — what's different about my list?
Water becomes non-negotiable. When the power stops, the well pump stops, and so does water for drinking, cooking, and flushing. A sump or septic pump often joins the list too. Our well-pump and well-and-septic guides go deeper.
6 Do I need any numbers to make this list?
Not yet. The list is about what matters, not what it draws. Once it's written, our nameplate and worksheet guides help you gather the watts and add them up.
Would You Rather I Just Help?
Deciding what truly has to stay on is personal — it depends on your home, your health, and your winters. I'll walk the house with you, help you sort must from want, and get you ready to size — with nothing to sell you. $99 flat for a visit, 30-day come-back-free.
Would you rather I just do this for you?
No shame in it — plenty of folks would rather hand it off, and that's what I'm here for. I'll come to your home, set it up right, and make sure it's working before I leave. Flat $99 per visit — no jargon, no upsell, and every visit is 30-day come-back-free.
Not a hardware job? I can often fix it remotely for $49 — a secure screen-share, up to 2 hours, that you watch the whole time and can end whenever (included free for $39/mo Support Plan members, and it counts toward the $99 if it turns out I need to come out).