I just got power back (11/4) after losing it 8pm Monday 10/29, so this topic is fresh in my mind. We had no damage and I count myself lucky that my main problems were inconvenience and boredom. However, I expect this to happen again (hopefully not soon, and not on such a large scale) so I would like to find out what things and strategies worked for other people in this (or other) power outage. Keep in mind that I am not talking about Armaggedon here, just a power outage.
I decided I will toss all my old style flashlights in favor of led ones. They are much brighter and seem to last longer. My brother had this Coleman lamp that was very useful (he paid much less than the price shown). Each of the four panels separate from the central unit.
However, the lower tech solution of candles is a more reliable source of light if you can keep them away from young kids and pets. My wife had a large bag of what she called “tea candles” that were very useful.
We have natural gas and a gas stove that continued to work (we didn’t use the oven, just the cooktop). However, we know some people who could not use their stove even though it was gas because apparently some of the new stoves automatically shut off the gas when the power fails. I don’t know if you have a choice when you buy a new one, but I would get one that I could use in a power outage. It makes a huge difference when you can cook some of that food that is going bad.
I was also surprised to find that my water heater worked. Again, when you replace yours, find out if it will work in a power outage. I suspect that if it is electronic ignition, it will not. There might be a workaround for that, but I don’t know it.
Recharging my phone meant going to the local civic center and waiting. I know their are other solutions out there, but I have no experience with them and would like to hear from folks who do have that experience. For instance, I know you can buy small solar panels, hand crank devices or devices that charge your phone from alkaline batteries. If you have used devices like this, how did they work out?
Solar is a good option for survivalists (long-term/permanent outages) but are much less so for storm-related outages. Cloud-cover from truly huge storms may last a few days, or the storm may hit during the day leaving you to need to charge at night.
This site lists a few interesting variations - I’ve heard good things about the Juicebar (again, solar, so limitations there) and the bike attachment and the Duracel charger both are basic ideas that lots of companies have variations on.
I would think that the most useful might be the kinetic energy options out there - you’re going to be moving around a lot after a power outage, figuring out what needs to be worked out. Take advantageof that and power stuff through moving around.
We just purchased a pair of combination flashlight/weather radio things that have a USB port, a crank, and a solar panel. The crank can be used to power the radio, or provide a basic “emergency calls only” charge for USB devices. The solar panel portion may also charge the devices a bit if there’s sufficient light available (supposedly, it provides enough power to play the radio continuously).
You can also purchase USB battery chargers that are either rechargeable, or take regular batteries. We have one of the rechargeable ones, that gives maybe enough power to recharge an ipod once.
If gas isnt a problem, use your car. I wouldnt burn my whole tank to charge a phone, but plug it in to make emergnecy calls. Also charge it when you have to drive places… If your situation allows.
If they do that then they’re charging off the car’s battery - which is OK if done briefly once in awhile but for a week long power outage you wouldn’t want to drain your car battery powering other things, then not be able to start your car.
Probably not the most likely outcome, but I’m sure someone will manage it at some point if they haven’t already.
Not a bad idea to have something of this sort around regardless, if you’ve got any kind of emergency stash whatsoever. I actually got two of them, since I had to order them from a third-party (Amazon was sold out, and with two of them the third-party shipping wasn’t any more - in fact cheaper than getting two from Amazon even with Prime).
Of course, I don’t yet know how well they work. Once they arrive I’ll give 'em a try.
I have 2 spare batteries for my cellphone, and rotate them about once a month so they are always charged. Each one will power the phone for about 3-4 days on standby, so I’m OK for more than a week if needed unless I decide to become a chatterbox.
My landline phone also has battery backup and a spare, which I rotate, too.
I have 2 UPSes for computers, and although they won’t power a computer for long, on one occasion I took the UPS to a neighbor who had power, charged it up and brought it back home. It was better than nothing; I could catch up on email every few hours before it ran down.
Car batteries are meant to provide instantaneous strong current, not constant small drain. The battery chemistry is different. Using your car battery like this will not only drain the battery, but it will damage it so it doesn’t hold a good charge for your car. You’ll eventually end up with a dead battery in the car, and will need to replace it.
It’s up to the individual for deciding if this is worth it. If you have another car available and keep a good battery there so you still have transportation, for instance, it might be a good idea.
I keep a big deep cycle battery in the basement and charge every couple months or so. I forget the specs but it’s car battery-sized and probably 80-100 amp-hours. I also have a couple other 6 amp hour ones for radio stuff that are in various states of emergency readiness. I’d float the big one but my charger is the noisiest RFI device in the house by a mile.
Another handy thing about a big deep cycle ready to go: I’ve jump started my own car twice with it already and I doubt it’s the last time.
I bought a Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit off Amazon and replaced their batteries with Sanyo eneloops, which come precharged and hold a charge in storage for a few years. You can charge directly off the solar panel, or charge off the battery pack (faster) then recharge that off solar. The pack recharged my iPhone 4S by about 70% in an hour. I have a few sets of eneloop AAs, and in an emergency would charge my phone off the battery pack, then start charging those batteries back up on the solar panel. I carry the battery pack and a charging cord in my work bag, in case of situations like getting stuck on the train for long periods on my commute, etc.
I’ve heard great things about the JOOS Orange as well.
Will solar panels work with the light from a fire? E.g. if it’s dark out but you have a reasonably large fire in a fireplace or firepit, can you expect to get solar panels to react to that?
My brother has been going on backpacking expeditions into the Himalayas recently to track the development of glacial lakes as a result of global warming and he’s taken to carryingi along a solar charger so they can recharge all their laptops, GPS & satellite transmission gear, so they can provide updates in the field. Probably a bit more oomph (and money) than you’re looking for, but they do exist.
The easiest solution ought to be those AA to USB chargers; just have a stockpile of alkalines or Eneloops on hand before the power goes out and you can charge and go without any further fuss.
Kinetic energy doesn’t make sense unless you attach it to microhydro (like a running faucet or a nearby stream). The human body can generate power at about 30 watts during moderate bicycling, but cell phones require slow and steady charge, not a big sudden boost of power. People are extremely bad at that – would you want to spend 6 hours winding a tiny gear to fully charge your cell phone?
Solar can operate in cloudy conditions (not optimally, but still). Those teensy “travel” chargers that fit in your pocket are nearly worthless. If you’re willing to spend $200 to $300 or so, you can get those 20W - 30W fold-out panels that can directly supply 12V DC power (for a cell phone car charger). With that much surface area, you should be able to charge a cell phone even during cloudy conditions, though you would need a waterproof panel (not hard to find) and a long enough cable to reach indoors.
Our eyes adjust to brightness, which means we tend to think that differences in the power of light sources are smaller than they really are. The sun is putting out several orders of magnitude more power than a fire pit. Even on a cloudy day (when solar cells work noticeably less well), the amount of light per unit area is many times more than that from a fire.
I got one of these for the storm (much less pricey from Costco) and it was awesome! The separating panels each have small rechargable batteries that charge up from the base unit. Supposedly, it can run over 70 hours on a fresh set of 8 D cells. We used it as a night light every night by pulling off 3 panels and pointing the last one at the wall to diffuse the light. 5 full nights of that, plus using it every morning and evening, and the batteries are still good. The light is a bit harsh, though, candles are a much gentler (if dimmer) option.
A few hours charging devices on a car battery isn’t going to drain it appreciably. Intersperse that with going to the Library/Church/City Hall to charge them and you should be in reasonable shape.
Run the car for an hour every couple of days to charge the battery? WIll take very little gasoline relative to driving it.
I’ve yet to see a hot water heater with electronic ignition. Unlike say a stove or a dryer there’s little advantage in doing so. In a stove the pilot light is waste, but in a water heater the heat goes right into keeping the tank warm, the same place the main burner is going.
My outdoor gas light is another thing that won’t work in a power failure. Minnesota has this law that gas lights must have electronic ignition. ALthough I have a manual burner that came with it so in theory I could temporarily swap it out and hope the light bulb police don’t find it.
I just moved out of Hoboken, and I don’t remember seeing you around town. I got moved out last Monday morning, shortly before the hurricane arrived. I went back on Wednesday to finish cleaning out the apartment, and I can verify the sight of private citizens setting up recharging stations. Kind of humorous to see a somewhat party atmosphere under those conditions.
About 8 years ago I bought a solar flashlight that I had sitting on my window sill. Worked great until recently. I think that the rechargeable batteries are all but dead. Not sure if using new rechargeables will help.
I also bought a hurricane lamp a couple of weeks before the big east coast blackout of 2003 or so. Worked great once I found some matches at a nearby bar that was closed.