Power Out Priorities

[RVTECH]

I had a wake up call this afternoon exactly a 5:00 PM when something flipped the switch and the power went out. I immediately began to think about lighting as the sun was setting. So I could have started the generator and had a few lights if it had gone into anything long term but I began to think about inside and somewhat longer term. What are some of your non-generator lighting systems? Battery operated LED? Coleman lanterns? (I do have several on hand - but they were not ready - but will be soon) Please bring me up to speed on some ideas. The bottom line is lighting was the FIRST thing I thought about so i think I need to address this immediately. Fortunately the power came back on at about 6:15 but this is still a prep priority for me.

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[nwwoodsman]

We have frequent power outages here in the fall and wintertime. It's a guarantee we'll spend at least a few days without power. The longest stretches have been about a week after a flood and another week after a good snowstorm. Our primary source is candles with the flame protected glass candle holders. We always keep a good supply on hand and haven't run out yet. I prefer to save the batteries for other uses like smoke detectors, radios and flashlights that will get used outside. If the generator is handy I like to conserve fuel by using it only for the fridge and heat as they're more important than a little light at night. I thought about hurricane lamps until someone brought up a good point. If one of those gets knocked over it pretty much becomes the equivalent of a molotov cocktail.

 

[Mark W.]

We keep approx. 14 gallons of ICE in the freezer spread through out the shelves to turn the freezer into a large ICE Chest should the power go out. In the living room my wife has always had multiple decorative candles which are easy to fire up. It's amazing how little light one can operate on. Our cell phones all have flash light apps. We also keep 2) 3 cell Mag lites on upstairs the other down. I have a LED flashlight in the night stand. There's another flashlight in the upstairs bath. Candles in the downstairs.

We have a pair of single mantle Coleman's and a few gallons of White gas easily accessible.

Our Achilles heel is heat our house is warmed by a pellet stove it does not operate without at least 2 amps of power. I have been thinking about an inverter setup for the pickup since we live in a high density neighbor hood running a generator would be a very good way to annoy the neighbors.

 

[Bill Siegle]

Lighting has always been our first concern. Lots of flashlights around the house in easy to find locations. At the dollar store I found those religious type candles in the tall glass work nice for a comforting glow but you will want to have one of those long BBQ style lighters when they start to burn down. In our camping supplies we started using the Goal Zero solar charger and while it is mostly a fun conveiniance for camping, the LED light bar on one of the AA battery packs lights up the whole living room and kitchen. I have a Coleman lantern if needed but so far so good. Propane stove and heater are waiting in the wings if needed too. Our grill has a side burner that can do a lot of cooking too. Try to think of a power outage as camping indoors. What would you need? What would you want?

 

[Dunerunner]

My Motorhome is parked in my driveway. Full tank of regular gas will run the Onan for twenty days to run the freezers and refrigerator. I have to RV batteries fully charged in the garage and a 2000 W inverter to run the pellet stove short term. I home brew, so I have two 40# and Two 20# propane tanks full for cooking on the BBQ. I have a Treager grill that will run off the inverter or the RV generator.

I have four old fashioned oil lamps for light in the house, and three four cell mag lights around somewhere....

 

[fyrediver]

I have an inverter that will recharge the batteries, phones, computers, etc without any issues. Small solar panel will also recharge the batteries given enough sunlight.

Lighting can be accomplished easily with LED flash and head lights with rechargeable batteries. Lithium batteries as backups.

The refrigerator is my main concern so I would just have to quickly cook and eat the cold stuff followed by the frozen.

Propane camp stove, lamp, and BBQ cover cooking, heating water, and outdoor lighting. White gas camp stove & lantern as backups. Small backpack stove could be used indoors if judicious and ventilating.

Heating from propane fireplace and layers of down etc. I've slept on glaciers and snow, inside my home shouldn't be a problem.

 

[cookie]

How did people survive 150 years ago?

 

[jbett98]

Went to bed early. Only drawback was lots of children.

 

[fyrediver]

How did people survive 150 years ago?

We've forgotten much of what they would have considered "common sense" because it was common and it made so much sense. We could learn quite a lot from those generations!

People 150 years ago lived the lifestyle that was supported by their technology, experience, and training. That included being prepared for most of their expected "disasters" like snow storms, winter, etc. They didn't stock their pantries "in case of emergency" they simply stocked their pantries. They bought what they could afford and saved for the remainder of what they wanted.

 

[Dunerunner]

They grew or raised much of their own food and canned what they didn't eat. Hard work was commonplace, and an accepted part of life. They made their own clothes, used domesticated animals for transportation, cut wood for heat and cooking, lived in one or two room homes, had a root cellar, hunted for game, collected wild berries, made their own soap and candles, and if they couldn't raise it, make it, gather or collect it or grow it, they did without.

 

[U201491]

How did people survive 150 years ago?

Very much without the stress of not having to worry about power outages. They stayed healthy and fit by working at things like cutting and splitting wood. They learned to cure and preserve foods without refrigeration, and most of all didn't have gov stooges breathing down their necks and controlling everything
Its a nice life. We pretty much did it for 30 yrs
Now.... I hate it in town.

 

[EZLivin]

Our back-up lighting would be Coleman, candles, light sticks, and rechargeable solar pathway lights brought in at night (if we didn't feel like firing up the generator or invertor).

 

[salmonriverjohn]

As an emergency back up we have wired in two systems that pop on automatically when the power drops (which is quite common here) and the back up battery in them lasts around an hour which is more than enough time to get the many other sources we have available going. They come in very handy and fully charge back up in a short period of time. A generator and connection with a lockout at the panel with 25 gals of treated fuel, several hundred various candles, 5 Coleman propane lanterns (we refill the canisters) 3 white gas units, half a dozen Kerosene units with 20 Gals. of fuel, 4 tanks of propane, 4 propane stoves, 2 white gas stoves, 2 wood stoves of which one is in the room we built in the barn for our hunting guests, a mini Winnie with converter and 2nd Onan generator, more headlamps and flashlights than one can wear and carry. It wasn't always like this around here, but after 25 years on a mountain facing the southwest in the coast range we have taken the old "be prepared" motto to heart. One thing to think about, fire source. I usually buy a couple full boxes of cheap lighters every year to have put away and they are invaluable when needed. Some are with the candles, some with the lanterns, etc.

 

[RVTECH]

Actually I probably came off sounding like a neophyte which I am not, I just simply do not have all my 'ducks in a row' I have three 100# LP tanks I keep full and I trans-fill smaller cylinders as well. Also I made up a nice 'manifold' system that can be attached to an LP tank and several lines can be tapped off of it to go to a BBQ or cooker for outside cooking when camping. I also plumbed a tap on my motorhome for the same purpose. Also I attached a standard LP appliance port on the top of my manifold to screw an LP lantern so I have a long term light and comes in handy when cooking outside after dark. I think I need to simply put together what I already have into an easy to get to configuration so I don't have to chase around looking for this and that when the the power goes out.

 

[Guilty]

Besides flashlightes for short term power outages, Aladdin lamps are the gold standard for emergency lighting, they put off a nice amount of heat too.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

RV, I'm sure no one here would ever take you for a neophyte.

 

[Navman]

We just have a Honda 2000 for power and with the boat parked next to the house during the off season, 125 gallons of fuel.

Last winter when the power went out fired up the Honda, turned off the main breaker and plugged into an outside outlet.

A couple of hours later my neighbor comes over and asks why we had power when everyone else on the street was off (our yard light was still on)

 

[AMProducts]

When the power goes out, the first thing I do is flip off the main breaker, and then flip off all the rest. Then I will turn on the main, and the breaker marked "kitchen" and leave the lights on out there. That way I know when the power is back up, but I won't have to worry about a power surge damaging my computers or anything else.

Other than that, the top drawer in my nightstand is where my headlamp lives. For room lighting, I have a 12V LED droplight that plugs into a cigarette lighter adapter plug, and i have a 18Ah battery I usually use for camping and ham stuff. It's plenty of light if I need to cook (stove is gas) or if I want to sit around and read a book.

 

[Sun195]

For light, I have a number of LED lanterns and a bunch of batteries. I think one of my LED's is good for 250+ hours on a set of batteries. So, I feel like I've got that covered. I've also got several LED headlamps for stumbling around the house - again, great battery life on those. In addition, I have a couple of oil lanterns/lamps. And, of course, candles.

For heat, we've got a Mr. Heater buddy heater and a fireplace. We have a gas water heater, so that keeps on going without power.

For cooking, it's either the gas stove or the gas grill. Unfortunately, the oven won't work.

I don't have a good back-up plan for my refrigerator. Been meaning to get a Honda generator, but haven't gotten around to it. We haven't lost power in a number of years and I don't have a secondary use for it, so kind of spendy for something I might use.

For our cel phones, I've got a few Anker backup batteries - can get 3-4 full charges out of each.