Know Your Important Shutoffs

• Locate your main water shutoff and know which way to turn it
• Locate your electrical panel and your main breaker without opening anything
• Know where your gas shutoff is and — crucially — when never to touch it
• Label all three so anyone in the house can find them in the dark

• A torch

  Standard

  A handheld torch or headlamp.

  Low cost

  A cheap keyring light.

  Already have

  Your phone's torch — but keep a real one down there too.

• Labels

  Standard

  Weatherproof labels or a label maker.

  Low cost

  Masking tape and a marker pen.

  Already have

  Any tape and any pen.

• Your phone camera

  Standard

  Photograph each location and each label.

  Low cost

  Free.

  Already have

  Already in your pocket.

1. 01Find the main water shutoffLook where the supply pipe enters the building: under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs cupboard, near the water heater, in a basement or crawl space, or in a covered box near the street or boundary. It's a lever or a round wheel handle on the main pipe.
2. 02Check it actually turns — gentlyA lever turns a quarter-turn to close. A round wheel turns clockwise to close. Test it by hand only. If it's stiff, seized or weeping, stop, leave it, and note it as a job for a plumber — forcing an old valve is how you cause the flood you were preventing.
3. 03Label it and tell everyoneTape a label on it saying WATER MAIN and which way closes. Photograph it. Show every adult and older teenager in the household where it is.
4. 04Find your electrical panelUsually a grey or white metal box in a hallway, garage, basement, utility room or outside wall. Open only the outer door that reveals the switch handles. Never remove the inner cover — that's the panel's dead front and behind it are live parts.
5. 05Identify the main breaker, don't switch itThe largest single switch, usually at the top, often marked MAIN with the highest number. Note where it is. You do not need to test it, and switching a main breaker off and on for practice can be hard on older equipment.
6. 06Fix the circuit directoryIf the list of circuits inside the door is blank or wrong, correct it over time as you notice which switch controls what. Write clearly enough that a stranger could use it. Never open the panel to trace wiring.
7. 07Find your gas shutoff — and stop thereIf you have gas, the meter and its shutoff valve are usually outside, in a wall box, or where the supply enters. Look at it. Note whether it needs a spanner or wrench, and keep one nearby if so. Do not turn it as practice.
8. 08Learn the gas rule by heartIf you smell gas: do not switch anything on or off, do not use a light switch, a phone or a torch indoors, do not look for the leak. Get everyone outside, leave the door open, and from outside call your gas emergency number and the fire service. Only a qualified engineer turns the supply back on.
9. 09Write it into your household planAdd the three locations to the communication plan card from the previous lesson. Somewhere findable at two in the morning, by whoever is home.

Verified guidance · Ready.gov (FEMA) — Safety Skills