Emergency/Power Outage Lighting Options

[DavidR310]

Well,

I was looking at getting these:

http://www.amazon.com/Eton-Emergency...Blackout+Buddy






Do you guys/gals, got anything better?

[jeffrice6]

[Lex]

This is what I use for my camper and emergency back up for home. Dual purpose. A transfer switch along with tri-fuel you are set..

[Ripon83]

Saw those before, seemed a little expensive, and just prefer to have flash lights available.

With those little "Cree" lights costing under $4 delivered it just seems to make sense to have a dozen of those - hence one every where.

[ExAcHog]

I have 10+ solar "path marker" lights in my front yard, with another 10 or so in reserve in the garage. If the S hits the Fan, I am going to switch them to the backyard to charge all day then pull them in the house every night for lighting.
I will use them along with my multiple lanterns, 100 hour candles etc. Remember, 2 is one and 1 is none.

[fredridge]

I have a bunch of these throughout my house. Have been using them for a couple years at least. Not super bright, but work great.

I got them on some kind of deal, where I got the 2-pack and a crank flashlight. Don't remember what I paid, but probably somewhere between $15-$20 for the combo.

Originally Posted by DavidR310

Well,

I was looking at getting these:

http://www.amazon.com/Eton-Emergency...Blackout+Buddy



Do you guys/gals, got anything better?

[sdnative13]

I would rather go solar lights because if S truly hits the fan once they lose their charge they become paper weights without a means to recharge them.

[bruss01]

We have some emergency lighting here.

First up is a box of candles. By "box" I mean a wine crate full. It's a mix of pillar candles and so-called "emergency" candles purchased at the dollar store ten for 99 cents. They're just plain white candles, no color, no scent. We have "hurricane" globes for them (glass chimneys) because the candles burn longer this way and also it makes them a little safer with regard to exposed flame.

Next up we have a wall-outlet mounted power outage light that comes on if the power goes out. It's basically identical to the one in the OP.

Several Mag light 3-D cell handheld flashlights. Several camping lanterns - some big ones that take D cells and small ones that take AA's. A big 6v spotlight. A couple of Surefire weapon lights (cr123a).

We have a small off-grid solar array on the roof feeding a bank of 4 6v golf cart batteries wired in parallel/series for a 12v system. We have chargers and adapters necessary to charge small Nickel Metal Hydride batteries - aaa, aa, c, d, 9v... also our Ryobi and Craftsman cordless tool batteries. The Ryobi set has a flashlight. I have a mini BlockLite that caps a 9v battery, and two Energyzer head lamps that allow you to go direct to red LED light without having to cycle through the white light and mess up your natural night vision.

If that's not enough then we fire up the inverter connected to the battery bank and plug in up to 2000 watts of whatever light we need, or crank up the two Honda EU2000i generators (at least as long as the 80 gallons of gas I keep on stand-by holds out) and plug in up to 4000 watts of light. Altogether we could light up 60 one-hundred watt light bulbs. I don't have that many on hand, but if I had 'em I could light 'em up.

So I think we're pretty set for light here. Big, small... we've got 'em all.

[bruss01]

I'd like to add a few practical comments:

First, there are various different kinds of light. I think the two most prevalent are area light vs task light.

We are accustomed to unlimited area light from the lighting fixtures in our homes, connected to the grid. Area lighting that is not connected to the grid (candles, battery lanterns) is a much weaker light, naturally. It is enough to keep from bumping into things in the dark. It is generally NOT enough to do tasks that require detailed vision - things such as reading, knitting, repair work, or even washing dishes. For a lot of those tasks, you need a task light that brightly illuminates a very small area where you are directing your attention - the pages of a book you are reading, whatever you are repairing, or even the dish you are washing. Trying to perform detail tasks in dim area lighting is an eyestrain at best and impossible at worst.

For instance, try reading a book by candle-light sometime. Just try it. In order to see the page clearly, you have to be uncomfortably close to the candle. So close you risk setting yourself on fire or knocking the candle over. That's just one example... now imagine trying to rebuild a carburetor using candle-light. Detail work aside... imagine the flame hazard around a gasoline-using device. No-go.

IMHO dim area lights are of limited usefulness. You cannot really see well enough to do anything worthwhile. And if you're not going to do anything worthwhile, you may as well go to bed, right? They can be a morale builder for a couple of hours at night if you're just not sleepy, though.

I can't recommend head lamps strongly enough. They provide useable light and don't tie up one of your hands.

You also want a handheld light with the ability to reach out a ways. Many LED headlamps do a passable job of lighting the ground at your feet, but won't light up an area across the street (for example) if you need to see who's over there, or what's going on over there. So don't forget to include a light that can project a beam a decent distance.

[TrailerparkTrash]

Generators are awesome. I have three. Two Hondas and a Powermate. Just remember, if you have a LOUD generator and the "Japan earthquake-tsunami" wiped out everything for miles, criminals will hear it! One needs to have a QUIET power source and your lights should be concealed. (Ie black out all windows.

Followed up by armed protection for your compound with lots of bullets.

[Manolito]

There is a company called Lehmans that has a whole section of non electric alternatives. We have the night lights that turn to a flashlight when the power goes off. They last long enough for us to get the other kerosene lights and generator hooked up.
https://www.lehmans.com/?partner_id=...FeqDQgod8CYAvw

[sholling]

Originally Posted by DavidR310

Well,

I was looking at getting these:

Smart thinking, automatic emergency lights are important because they help prevent accidents from broken toes to broken necks caused by stumbling around in the dark looking for a flashlight. I've used similar to the ones that you linked and they provide an hour or so of light but keep in mind that they need to be replaced every couple of years due to battery failure.

For my house I use a combination of similar devices and these larger units from Ideal Security. But in an emergency I plan to switch over to 30 day emergency lanterns within minutes to save the emergency light's battery in case there are back to back power failures.

[Spyguy]

Originally Posted by DavidR310

Well,

I was looking at getting these:

http://www.amazon.com/Eton-Emergency...Blackout+Buddy

Did you even read the top review on Amazon and look at the customer photos? Do you want to risk burning your house down?

[hermosabeach]

What ever you get, try it out one night

I have some 150-200 lumen led lights.

Came back from a trip and the power was off

Clicked on the light and set it on the table pointed at the ceiling. After 15 minutes it went dead. The batteries were still strong. It just overheated and shut itself off

You can find a low output led light at Walmart / target with a built in tripod.
It runs on 9 AA batteries- 3 in each leg and is something like 6
Lumens on low and 15 on high.

With the power out it is good for use in the house or cooking on the gas stove

Due to the 9 batteries and low lumen output, it runs a very long time and does not overheat.


So one week night, hit the main breaker, cook dinner, read, play Jenga or other board / card games and test what you have.

[Germz]

And I'm just sitting here with a handful of candles...

[bigguns85]

Sorry but I have to dissagree with BRUSS you can do detailed work with low light settings. I have worked graveyard for 4 years now. It just takes time to get usto the low light levels to be able to do such things. I even drive without the headlights of the patroll car sometimes. You just have to develop your nightvision ablility wich takes time it wont happen overnight. The downside is it hard to see deatils at a distancance unless you learn to be able to read the shadows. I would just like to point out that people have done this for thousands of years and if you dont devlop it when shtf the people without light will learn to adapt to low light while you will still be stuck dependant on it. Just remeber to be on gaurd on a full moon. The light differance is so strong if you are adjusted to low light you wont even need any light unless its overcast. So learn to be independant of lights while also able to use them. Most of the rual world does not have lights at night and are just fine.

[bruss01]

Sorry but I have to dissagree with BRUSS you can do detailed work with low light settings. I have worked graveyard for 4 years now. It just takes time to get usto the low light levels to be able to do such things. I even drive without the headlights of the patroll car sometimes. You just have to develop your nightvision ablility wich takes time it wont happen overnight. The downside is it hard to see deatils at a distancance unless you learn to be able to read the shadows. I would just like to point out that people have done this for thousands of years and if you dont devlop it when shtf the people without light will learn to adapt to low light while you will still be stuck dependant on it. Just remeber to be on gaurd on a full moon. The light differance is so strong if you are adjusted to low light you wont even need any light unless its overcast. So learn to be independant of lights while also able to use them. Most of the rual world does not have lights at night and are just fine.

Bigguns - that may be true if you have otherwise excellent vision, and youth on your side... but if you wear corrective lenses or especially if you are 45 or older, you're going to have problems with depth of focus in low light settings. This is due to stiffening of the lens of the eye with age, and no amount of "practice" will compensate for that. I am 51 and I can tell you that I just CANNOT make out fine detail in low light, regardless of corrective lenses. Can I see that there's a table there, and manage not to run into it? Sure. Can I tell you whether that's a little phillips head screw or a tiny torx fitting? Not so sure... Let me get a decent light on it and all becomes clear.

One reason that lights have become such an important part of my preps is this degradation in low light or "night vision". You'll notice I was not talking about being able to walk around the house in the dark. I can manage that - big things loom as shadows in the gloom, allowing your eyes to adjust to the near total dark. I can manage that. But fine work? Such as radio repair? Can you read the values off a resistor or the capacitance on a component with your "night vision"? I can't... and I'd be surprised if many can.

Your eye contains both cone and rod receptors. Cones receive color information, but require a more light to function. The rods receive only black and white (greyscale) but can function with very little light... this is the natural night vision you mention. This is why colors appear muted or absent in low light, and everything takes on a "silvery" or black & white appearance.

Resistor values consist of colored stripes painted on a tiny cylinder. That's just one example where dim light just won't do. Without enough light to process the color information, the rods don't function. Everything appears as shades of grey.

Not dissing on the skill you've developed at functioning in low light. And truly, a lot can be managed with a lot less light than we're accustomed to. But your statements about fine work in low light just aren't true for everyone.

[DavidR310]

I like where you guys are heading with this.

Yes, I do have a small genie, solar power options and a few 100 hr candles for long term situations.

My thought was basically something for when the lights go out. It would not be completely dark and like Sholling said, a stop gap that would allow enough light to allow me to safely find my maglites, pelicans and streamlights, without falling over something and possibly injuring myself.

As for the eton blackout buddy, yikes! I just looked at the user submitted pics on amazon and the reviews and am shocked.

I just thought since eton and ARC had their name on it, it would be somewhat quality stuff.

Dave

[DavidR310]

Side note, I live in the desert, so wax candles and triple digit heat temps don't mix, lol.

[Marcus von W.]

When I bought my rural and remote house, it had never been hooked up to the grid, and it took about a year to get the necessary easements, permits, SoCal Edison plans, etc., and for my commercial electrician cousin to get the time off from work to come down here from SLC to do the work.

I started out with candles, a small generator, and a couple antique kerosene lamps and lanterns I've had forever.

I myself love antique kerosene lamps and lanterns, and build up quite an impressive collection of them in that time. If you do a little research and learn how to tell a quality lamp and burner (this is important) from cheap junk, you can pick up some amazing and beautiful old lamps at local antique shops, thrift stores, yard and garage sales, etc. Make sure everything is functioning as it should, use a proper size clean new wick, good clean K1 kerosene (avoid that tinted and scented lamp oil), and do the necessary cleaning and maintenance on your lamp. Center draft kerosene lamps are really cool, and the best of these are the Aladdin Mantle Lamps, because they put out hella light and you can still get all the parts for them. Of course, proper care and caution with kerosene lamps is necessary, as there is a fire risk and lamps like the Aladdin put off a lot of heat.

I like the idea of solar lamps too, much safer than kerosene and the daytime sun is your free fuel.

And some kind of solar system, and batteries, are also a good idea.

I remember years ago a friend had a cool little antique farm windmill generator setup - this was basically an old automobile generator (not an alternator) with fan type blades instead of a front pully. I don't know if anyone is still making and selling these, but I don't think it would be hard to build one. If you live in an area with some available wind power, something like this and a few heavy duty deep-cycle batteries might also be a usable power source.

[JohnnyMtn]

I have had two of those eton Red Cross lights plugged into outlets in my house for about 2 years now. I was actually starting to think that they were kinda dumb because they seemed so flimsy. I also never really tested them so I was doubting if they worked or not. But then I had a power outage about a month ago which lasted for 4 hours.

Those lights were extremely helpful because two of my rooms were well lit as I initially moved through the house trying to figure out what was going on. I would highly recommend them. In fact, I will probably pick up at least 2 more.

[DavidR310]

I won't be. I support the ARC but those lights are a fire danger. Read the top amazon review and user submitted pics

[onethumb]

How would one lay low with a generator running, and lights active at night? If no one else has them, I would think you would be a target. How does one lay low and have electricity?

[DavidR310]

First steps would be an enclosure for the genie with exhaust vent. Then blackout curtains.

[TheChief]

Originally Posted by bruss01

We have a small off-grid solar array on the roof feeding a bank of 4 6v golf cart batteries wired in parallel/series for a 12v system...

If that's not enough then we fire up the inverter connected to the battery bank and plug in up to 2000 watts of whatever light we need

Hello Bruss01,

Lots of folks on the forum talk about their solar setup but don't provide enough details so folks like me can look up the gear. Any chance you could start up a new thread with details and pics of your setup? It would be helpful. Thanks!

[TheChief]

Originally Posted by Manolito

There is a company called Lehmans that has a whole section of non electric alternatives. We have the night lights that turn to a flashlight when the power goes off. They last long enough for us to get the other kerosene lights and generator hooked up.
https://www.lehmans.com/?partner_id=...FeqDQgod8CYAvw

I happened to be in the region a few weeks back and swung by the Lehman's store. Felt like a home depot, mixed with Walmart, and an old general store. They had some nice things scattered among so much other mass produced cheap junk. Was very disappointing. I was expecting so much more off the grid support systems and supplies.

[bruss01]

Hello Bruss01,

Lots of folks on the forum talk about their solar setup but don't provide enough details so folks like me can look up the gear. Any chance you could start up a new thread with details and pics of your setup? It would be helpful. Thanks!

I can do that in a general sense, in that anyone with basic experience regarding electricity could duplicate my setup. What I'm not prepared to do, however, is a complete "insert tab a into slot b, now tighten screw c, observing that the red wire..." sort of directions. My directions will be more along the lines of "... then run the power input to the charge controller..." sort of thing. This is not because I'm lazy (well maybe a little) but more because if someone doesn't know how to jump start a car or re-wire a lamp, they have no business trying to install their own solar energy setup - no offense. My notes will assume the reader already has this basic background and knows how to use simple hand tools safely and effectively. I've been doing this sort of thing (wiring, appliance tinkering) since I was in Jr High, so it's second nature to me. Consequently I will be leaving out details that are just common sense to anyone with some basic electrical experience in the interest of readability.

I have a brief synopsis of the project somewhere (with photos) and I'll see if I can start a new thread and post a link here.

[bruss01]

Ok, brief overview of my system here. Any garden variety tinkerer could put togther a reasonable facimile based on this pictorial survey.

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/...d.php?t=828643

If you're looking for a shopping list, here are the two lists - version A is the original setup, B is the current setup.

A:
Harbor Freight 45w solar kit (three 15w panels & charge controller)
http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-p...att-68751.html

Trojan T-105 RE 6v batteries (2)
http://www.solar-electric.com/trt16vo225ah.html


B:

NMS - LCD30 Smart Charge Controller
http://www.netmetersolar.com/product...rollers/lcd30/

Solar Cynergy PV-SC140J12 140w solar panels (4)
http://www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panel...m_medium=email

Trojan T-105 RE 6v batteries (4)
http://www.solar-electric.com/trt16vo225ah.html

IOTA DLS-55/IQ4 55 amp grid charger
http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls55.htm

Harbor Freight 2k watt inverter (model I own is no longer carried, YOYO here)

Plus a few odds & ends from the auto store for building the little charging center
Two double-outlet auto (cig lighter) outlet modules
Two single outlet auto (cig lighter) outlets
Two double-outlet 5v USB cig lighter adapters
one circuit breaker
One LED lighted switch
One bus-bar terminal strip (makes for solid connections)
A couple of pieces of scrap lumber and a can of grey spray paint