Cooking indoors in a power cut: what to use instead of a camping stove (2026)

The NHS says “do not use a barbecue or camping stove indoors or inside a tent”, and London Fire Brigade says “It’s never safe to use any type of outdoor cooking equipment like a BBQ or camping stove indoors.” The UK Chief Medical Officers’ power-cut food advice says: “Never use camping stoves or barbecues indoors as there is a very high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can kill.” The stove manuals we read agree: Campingaz says its Camp’Bistro DLX “should only be used outside premises”, Cadac’s Carri Chef 40 instructions say “FOR OUTDOOR USE ONLY!” and Eureka’s SPRK+ manual says “Never use this appliance in an enclosed space such as a camper, tent, car or home.” The only manual we found that allows indoor use at all, Iwatani’s US manual for its ZA-3HP, allows it only “in a restaurant with a properly equipped ventilation hood”, and says it “may not be used indoors in tents, campers, apartments or other confined areas.” Writing about tents and other enclosed shelters, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service says “Opening tent flaps, doors, or windows is insufficient to prevent build-up of CO concentrations from these devices.” So a camping stove cooks outside, and the food comes in.

The Food Standards Agency says “Electric/induction cookers will not work during a power cut, but gas cookers may continue to function.” Citizens Advice says “You can use a gas hob but the spark to light the gas might not work without electricity” and to “Use long safety matches or a gas lighter to light your hob safely.” It adds that a gas oven “probably won’t work without electricity - this is a safety feature on most modern gas ovens.” Your hob’s manual says how to light it by hand: Miele’s, for example, says “the gas can be ignited with a match” and to keep the control knob pressed in for a further 8 to 10 seconds after it lights. If you smell gas, don’t light anything: call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Any home with a gas hob should have an audible carbon monoxide alarm; the NHS advises one “for each room of your home containing appliances that burn gas, oil, coal or wood”.

The catch is watts. Every appliance has a rating, and a power station can only run it if the appliance’s rating is within the station’s rated AC output. A full-size UK kettle is 2.2kW to 3kW (Morphy Richards’ Essentials 980560 is 2,200W; Russell Hobbs’ Buckingham is 3kW), Morphy Richards rates its Portable Single Induction Hob at 2kW, and Panasonic’s 800W microwave, the NN-E28JMM, draws up to 1,250W from the socket. Lower-wattage appliances go much further: Swan rates its 0.5-litre travel kettle at up to 600W, and Morphy Richards lists its 1.5-litre slow cooker at 0.11kW (110W).

Battery capacity × 90% usable × 85% inverter efficiency ÷ (the appliance’s watts + about 10W the unit uses itself). A 1,024Wh unit such as the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus gives about 783Wh at the socket. That runs a 600W travel kettle for about 1 hour 17 minutes of heating in total, a 110W slow cooker for about 6½ hours, a 1,250W microwave for about 37 minutes of cooking, or a hob held at the DELTA 3 Plus’s full 1,800W rating for about 26 minutes. By our own physics sum, heating a litre of water from 15°C to boiling takes about 100Wh before the kettle loses any heat, so a full charge boils fewer than eight litres. The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 (2,042Wh, 2,200W rated, on our figures for the earlier edition) runs a 2,200W kettle at its rating for about 42 minutes in total, with nothing else plugged in. The EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 (4,096Wh, 4,000W) runs a 3kW kettle for about an hour, or a 2kW induction hob for about 1½ hours. Real use varies: thermostats and induction hobs cycle on and off, and cold batteries give less.

EcoFlow says its X-Boost mode on the DELTA 3 Plus gives “2400W (3600W surge)” for some appliances, but it does not say a kettle or hob will heat as fast as on the mains. BLUETTI, describing the same kind of mode on its Elite 100 V2, says “its actual output power is still 1,800W”. Treat the rated output as the most a heating appliance gets, turn a hob down where you can, and use a low-wattage kettle rather than a 3kW one.

EcoFlow’s safety instructions for the DELTA 3 Classic say “Keep the product away from fumes, smoke, steam, and dust” and “Do not get the product wet or immerse it in any liquid”, and Jackery’s manual for the Explorer 1000 Plus v2 says “To ensure proper air circulation, keep the product vents uncovered.” Stand it on a flat, dry surface away from the hob and the kettle’s spout, and charge and store it as its own manual says.

The government’s Be Ready checklist lists “Food with a long shelf life that doesn’t need refrigeration or cooking e.g. tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts.” The UK Chief Medical Officers add that “Some food that you would usually cook can be safely eaten uncooked”, naming “tinned vegetables, tinned fish, beans, pasta, dried cereals such as oats, and pre-cooked rice and grains in pouches that don’t need refrigeration.” The Food Standards Agency says “Some foods such as tinned foods will be safe to eat without heating through.”

Thermos says its food flask keeps oatmeal (porridge) warm “for up to 8 hours”, so a pan of porridge, soup or pasta cooked before a forecast cut, or boiling water for tea and instant meals, carries you into the evening. Self-heating meal packs are another option, with care: Manchester Fire and Rescue Service says “Flameless self-heating food pads do not emit carbon monoxide (CO) because they do not involve combustion”, but also to “Use in a well-ventilated area (avoid small, enclosed space), ideally outdoors”, that a carbon monoxide alarm may go off “due to gases or vapours released”, and that the heating pack “can reach up to 150°C”. Keep children and pets away from them and follow the pack’s own instructions.