Power went out, Suggestions for "emergency lighting?

[Duds13]

If you never want to lose power again, have a generator installed. I got one after losing power for 3-4 days about 6 years ago and I think it's run for a total of an hour due to a power outage since then.

I started using these in my sugar house a couple years ago since there's no power. Lanterns are nice but when we need more light we turn these on.

Amazon

 

[rontaki]

When choosing a generator, if it is to power any type of electronic device, be sure to get one with "clean" (low THD) output so that it does not fry the electronics, nor need conditioning to run them. Usually an inverter generator, becoming more common for higher output models.

As for emergency lighting and other uses, I have several LED flashlights that use 18650 Lithium batteries. Practically free to run, long runtime on one charge. I prefer flashlights that can tailstand, mine also have magnetic bases so they can be "stuck" to ferrous things like cans, porcelain sink edges, etc. for stability. Usually just bounce the light off the ceiling, can use many things as a diffuser if desired. This way, one flashlight, easy to carry in my pocket so always available when camping or in other situations, it will last a long time and there is almost always something available to diffuse the light if needed. The Armytek Prime C2 Pro Magnet USB Warm is my favorite. Although a bit pricey, it is very rugged and has settings from "firefly" to "How the bloody heck does this small thing put out this much light?" The downside is that I have to recharge it once a year. If I ever have to grab one light for a survival kit, this is the one!

Edit to add - having a stainless or other tough metal ring bezel is crucial. I had a small Maglite LED similar in size to the one in the picture. The lights went out at work, I pulled it from my pocket, and...darkness. I was derided by my co-workers. Later, at home, I found a small dent in the front soft aluminum bezel that had allowed moisture in, killing the drive circuit. That is when I switched to Armytek, to have a flashlight I can depend on, after buying "rugged" lights that easily died from a short drop, or moisture.

 

[2manyrocks]

If costly electronics need emergency power, one of the clean inverter generators seem to be a good idea. I think Champion makes a small one that runs a long time if you don't need a lot of power. Not sure if the Sportsman model at Home Depot is just a rebranded Champion...looks similar IMO. Lots of on line reviews of them.

Also like the flashlights that use 18650s.

 

[Oaktree]

Oil lamps are an easily maintained and reliable lighting source. A couple of bottles of lamp oil will last a long time and keep almost forever.
No concern about dead batteries.

True, but they flicker so much it's tough to read by one.

I need to put in a "lifetime supply" of mantles for the two Alladin oil lamps that we keep in the front room. They are getting harder to find every year. The hardware store in town, where the lamps were purchased no longer carry any parts at all. Most of the staff doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

I was a bit surprised to see they still make the mantles for Coleman lanterns.

 

[ponytug]

True, but they flicker so much it's tough to read by one.



I was a bit surprised to see they still make the mantles for Coleman lanterns.

Coleman (gas) lanterns have a large global following. Plus, they are rather friable, so there is a steady demand for replacements.

Yes, I have a stock hidden away next to our two Colemans. I would suggest remembering to lubricate the pump periodically. I had one fail due to dry rot once. Luckily, I had a second one ready to go, and was able to swap the working plunger between the two lanterns.

Be careful with the residual ash, which does contain thorium, or did, last time I checked.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CalG]

True, but they flicker so much it's tough to read by one.



I was a bit surprised to see they still make the mantles for Coleman lanterns.

The Alladin lamps I have do not flicker at all.
But, are presently running on the wicks alone, as the mantels are broken.

 

[camshawn]

We have Milwaukee headlamps (with extra batteries) by the bed for night reading as well as a collection of tea lights. The shop has battery lamps (both rechargeable and battery) that come into the house as needed. We have an inverter generator for the fridge and freezer if the power is out for more than a few hours and a Milwaukee usb charger for the phones.

 

[sandman2234]

I try to fill up when I am heading home, and the APU only drinks about 1 gallon of fuel a day. (as opposed to the Cummins under the hood at a gallon an hour at idle) With 200 gallons on board, I guess I have enough to run the refrigerator and a couple lamps and a fan for a while.
I have a 2000 watt inverter in the closet, used back when companies didn't buy them pre installed in the trucks. It runs fine on my F350 to make coffee in the morning and supplement any other needs.
I also have a 25KW continuous duty PTO Generator for when we need to run the whole house or time for air conditioning or hot water for baths.
Most of my stuff requires me to be home, so my Bride is in trouble when I am on the road.
With long hurricane style power outages, a thing to remember is truck stops typically have showers that can be used. My Bride didn't think much of the idea till I took her to one locally and used my rewards points to get us a shower. She was impressed with the cleanliness of the showers!
David from jax

 

[Alan W.]

I need to put in a "lifetime supply" of mantles for the two Alladin oil lamps that we keep in the front room. They are getting harder to find every year. The hardware store in town, where the lamps were purchased no longer carry any parts at all. Most of the staff doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

You nay find what your looking for here.

Lehman's - Products For Simple Living

Live simply with the Lehman's online store. We sell oil lamps, wood cook stoves & more. Non-electric tools & homesteading supplies since 1955.

www.lehmans.com

 

[bdhsfz6]

If costly electronics need emergency power, one of the clean inverter generators seem to be a good idea. I think Champion makes a small one that runs a long time if you don't need a lot of power. Not sure if the Sportsman model at Home Depot is just a rebranded Champion...looks similar IMO. Lots of on line reviews of them.

Also like the flashlights that use 18650s.

Good advice, but unfortunately it's difficult for those with large whole house generators. Although I've never had any trouble with my 11KW genny, to be safe, I put all my sensitive electronics on an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit. They are reasonably priced and available in a variety of sizes.

 

[gstrom99]

I suppose I should do the same, I expect the "Amish" stores would have them.

I bought my last one (maybe 10 years ago) at Menard's. Not carried any longer. Amzn has several to choose from (of course...).

 

[EddieWalker]

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

Do you have cordless tools? Mine are 18volt Makita, and I have two different LED lights that use the Makita 18volt batteries. I always have a bunch of batteries that are charged for the tools, so it's easy to use the LED flashlights when power goes out.

One of the lights is kind of a spotlight and it's super bright. The other is more of a flood light that lights up a big area. When the power goes out, we turn them on and leave them on all evening until we go to bed. One is kept in the garage so we can see when we go in there. We go in there a lot. The other is in the living room, and it lights up the entire area. Neither have ever lost there charge in a night of using them.

If I was going to spend money on battery powered lighting, I would buy a few more Makita LED lights. Amazon.com

I also have the Makita radio. With cell phones we don't need it to hear the news, but it's nice to have music on if we are waiting for the power to come back on. A 3.0 battery will last 8 hours at a modest volume.

The issue with just about every other type of battery powered light is the battery. The Makita batteries are very good. I'm sure DeWalt and Milwaukee batteries are very good too.

Usually, we wait an hour when the power goes out or check with the news and power company to get an idea how long it's expected to last. If it's a short time, we will wait it out. If it's going to be for several days, or even a week, we pull out the extension cords and fire up the generator.

 

[ponytug]

Good advice, but unfortunately it's difficult for those with large whole house generators. Although I've never had any trouble with my 11KW genny, to be safe, I put all my sensitive electronics on an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit. They are reasonably priced and available in a variety of sizes.

That's a great idea; I do the same for protection from poor grid power quality first and foremost. If the goal is protecting sensitive electronics, I would go for a pure sine wave, on line version that runs the electronics off of the UPS generated power at all times.

If one has never measured the quality of one's grid power, one might be surprised. I have lived very few places with great power quality, though I have worked on some sites that did. Often, the power quality degradation can be traced to some other customer on one's distribution circuit. Bad connections and poor quality electrical devices can generate a great deal of noise, as can large loads like big motors.

Two out of three generators here generate better quality power than what comes in at the meter, except for a +/- 1Hz frequency shift no load to full load.

@EddieWalker I have similar Makita LEDs as well, which love for work, and for outages.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bigtiller]

ditto on the Makita lights. Like tony says, "they're great".
I have two of the DML801
and one DML185

 

[dmccarty]

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.

View attachment 4618600
...

We have lamps that look just like these and they work great. Have had them for years. We just keep the rechargable batteries charged.

We have some motion sensing night lights that stayed plugged into an outlet. The light up when we, or the dog, walk by, and if the power goes out they turn on. We turn them off when the power goes out once we have completed our Power Out Drill which includes getting the lamps mentioned above if at night.

Our power outages usually last 1-12 hours but we have had a couple that lasted a few days, and one that was 4-5 days. I do wonder if putting in a LiFePo battery system with DC-AC inverters would cover most of our power outage problems. I think we could size a reasonable system to last for a power outage for a day which would cover most outages. Then the problem becomes how to recharge the batteries which means a generator or solar power.....

Not sure what we will do.

 

[Jstpssng]

ditto on the Makita lights. Like tony says, "they're great".
I have two of the DML801
and one DML185

I do the same, except that mine are Dewalt's. What I like is that I already have a decent battery supply, so am not keeping something on hand specifically for outages.
I just need to remember to keep all of them charged..

 

[garry1p]

I do wonder if putting in a LiFePo battery system with DC-AC inverters would cover most of our power outage problems. I think we could size a reasonable system to last for a power outage for a day

Many of the portable LiFePO battery inverters do not support true UPS. I have the Anker solix C1000 and it has a 10ms switch time and can be recharged in less than an hour.
When I tested it my internet and computer stayed on line with no problems. I haven't tested it to see how long it would last, but I suspect my 2000W system would last maybe 20 hours powering my internet, led lamp and small TV.
My point is to verify that whatever you might purchase will preform as a UPS if you plan to have your computer system on it.
None of the battery inverters will last as long as they quote and kind of pricey.

YouTube has a lot of reviews and helped me in selecting the Anker system and with Black Friday price it meets my needs. I also have a gas generator for over 5 or 6 hour outages.

 

[sd455dan]

If costly electronics need emergency power, one of the clean inverter generators seem to be a good idea. I think Champion makes a small one that runs a long time if you don't need a lot of power. Not sure if the Sportsman model at Home Depot is just a rebranded Champion...looks similar IMO. Lots of on line reviews of them.

Also like the flashlights that use 18650s.

I went overboard and put in a 12KW Hybrid inverter, 14KW of solar panels, and LiFePo storage batteries, still have the old champion 5500 watt genny to charge the 48 volt batteries through a chargeverter. Lots of power outages the year before installing the system, and now a whole year has passed without one single grid outage. We still keep candles and flashlights.

Many of the portable LiFePO battery inverters do not support true UPS. I have the Anker solix C1000 and it has a 10ms switch time and can be recharged in less than an hour.
When I tested it my internet and computer stayed on line with no problems. I haven't tested it to see how long it would last, but I suspect my 2000W system would last maybe 20 hours powering my internet, led lamp and small TV.
My point is to verify that whatever you might purchase will preform as a UPS if you plan to have your computer system on it.
None of the battery inverters will last as long as they quote and kind of pricey.

YouTube has a lot of reviews and helped me in selecting the Anker system and with Black Friday price it meets my needs. I also have a gas generator for over 5 or 6 hour outages.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I went overboard and put in a 12KW Hybrid inverter, 14KW of solar panels, and LiFePo storage batteries, still have the old champion 5500 watt genny to charge the 48 volt batteries through a chargeverter. Lots of power outages the year before installing the system, and now a whole year has passed without one single grid outage. We still keep candles and flashlights.

It looks like you purchased a rather expensive "insurance policy.