Power went out, Suggestions for "emergency lighting?

[LouNY]

My RAM has 400 watt inverter in it.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I have a few plug in "emergency" night lights that can be set to low, or low then bright when motion is detected, which is how I have them set, or off, but they come on when power goes off ...

I also have a 16 KW stand by generator that comes on ...

You could just go to bed, the sun will be up tomorrow anyways!

 

[not2old]

We lose power several times a year for a few hours when a car hits a pole or a tree falls across the wires. We have geothermal heat and no backup. We've decided to install an automatic standby generator in the spring. We are now able to comfortably afford it and my wife is unable to drag out the portable generator and get it running. This is a concession to her as it will make her more comfortable living out in the sticks for a few more years and the cost is nowhere near the cost of my toys.

 

[etpm]

We lose power several times a year for a few hours when a car hits a pole or a tree falls across the wires. We have geothermal heat and no backup. We've decided to install an automatic standby generator in the spring. We are now able to comfortably afford it and my wife is unable to drag out the portable generator and get it running. This is a concession to her as it will make her more comfortable living out in the sticks for a few more years and the cost is nowhere near the cost of my toys.

After our recent outage of 3 days length I spoke to my wife about buying an automatic generator system. I am worried about me not being able to start a generator when I get older. My wife is amenable to my suggestion. We can afford it. After being so frugal for so many years it bothers me to spend money like this, but that's why we were so frugal for so long. But we lose power so many times each year it seems like I should just bite the bullet, spend the money, and not worry so much.
Eric

 

[ponytug]

When you size up your generator, I recommend reading the fine print in the manual about gallons per hour of consumption, and especially the reduction in usable propane reserve as it cools. The latter is much less of an issue for underground propane tanks.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CalG]

I actually ENJOY the quiet and peacefulness in the house when the electric power goes out. I just don't like sitting in the dark! Plus, I can't just go to bed, Sleeping is difficult at times. I'll wear out the sheets rolling and tossing about.

I save the portable generator for when we need water, (well pump) and to keep the freezer cold. That deployment point has been around the 12 hour mark over the past 35 years here.
(I can't believe that old freezer is still going strong, and we bought it second hand!)

 

[civilian]

When we built our house 7 years ago, we put in a standby generator. Mostly used for short term outages over the years, until this springs ice storm. We were out of power for 16 days. We also have a 1000 gallon propane tank. So my emergency lighting is the generator. May not work for everyone. Jon

 

[bmaverick]

The electric lines in my area are very vulnerable to fallen tree related outages.
My estimation is NO LESS than 10 outages per year, but you know how "inconvienience" seems more than less.

This evening, when the weather changed from warm and rainy to cold and clear, it was a strong wind that did the changing. It's howling out there right now, and the wind chimes are making music.

The wife and I sat in the front room fending off darkness with a combination of Kerosene lamps, candles, the flame of the wood stove, and a solar lawn lamp.

I was thinking that what I really want is some light source that could be distributed around the house that offered (1) motion sensing, (2) dark activation, and (3) rechargable batteries.(5V USB?)
(4) easy mounting for stairs etc.

I've seen lots of motion sensing devices, but not many "darkness activation".

That is, I don't want the lights to turn on in the daytime whenever motion is detected, and I do want the lights to only turn on when it's dark (power out at night) and there is motion. Does that make sense?

I don't want to run wires for these emergency lights!

I found simple success with the lanterns.
I have 3X rechargeable AA batteries in each one.
Other places offer them with the smaller AAA batteries that only last 1/2 as long.

With a full charged set of batteries, this will shine for over 2 weeks non-stop.

A cheap USB charger,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDRZYPS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_6

 

[garry1p]

The longest power outage here, that I remember lasted 9 days due to an ice storm and that was many years ago. Power outages are fairly rare and short, mostly few hours sometimes several hours.

This past black Friday I bought an 2000W Anker inverter (advertised as a portable generator) it is for my internet.

I know the so called battery portable generators have outrageous claims on their performance and when they say you can run all your appliance and refrigerator, that's true. What they don't tell you is for how long.

I doubt this would run my fridge for 24 hours. I tested a small electric heater on low and it lasted around 20 minuets. However; it services my purposes as it will function as a true UPS and that's what I wanted it for, it will keep my internet up for maybe 24 hours and it can be fully recharged in less than an hour.

I have a 3500i gas generator for my electrical needs and a propane camping stove for cooking.

And most important I keep enough cash should I need to buy something and you can not use credit cards,
During 9/11 and Katrina we went for days where only cash was good.

 

[sandman2234]

Last power outage here, I was between generators. I called my company and asked them if they had an issue with me using the semi-truck APU to run my power. No issues, just replace the fuel that I use.
David from jax