Don’t Be Left in the Dark: Prepare for Power Outages Now!
A survival situation can develop in your home when the power goes out. The backup plan must include emergency lighting. (Pantenburg photos)
If you lived in those affected areas, let’s hope you are prepared for power outages. Here are some tips to keep you from sitting in the dark.
Click here to buy survival kitsthe dark.
by Leon Pantenburg
This brings an important topic to the forefront : What happens when high winds, heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures combine to knock out the electricity in your home?
Emergency preparedness means you should have backup systems or plans for heat, lighting and water. If you’re lucky, the power won’t be off long, but batteries are gone after a few days, unless you have a way to recharge them. A generator will only work until it runs out of fuel.
One of the more important aspects of urban survival during winter storms is lighting. Without a lighting plan, you could end up in the dark from when the sun sets at around 5:30 p.m. until dawn. The right lighting supplies can make this situation more bearable.
This scenario is familiar to Tom Dumalt, manager of Globe Lighting in Bend, OR.
Dumalt lived in the Milwaukee, OR., area from 1978 through 1981, he said, when days-long power outages were common. While various battery-operated light sources
work well, Dumalt also recommends stocking up with plenty of candles and matches because emergency power only lasts so long.
For the long term, candles may be one of the best choices, he said, because they’re cheap, easily available
and easy to use safely.
And if you’re a scrounger/recycler/prepper, candles are something that is always on the “To-Buy” list. And they have a place in any urban survival kit.
When buying candles for a potential power outage, all you’re really
A single candle may provide enough lighting in some power outage situations.
concerned about is quantity. The aesthetics and mood of a romantic candle-lit dinner will soon wear off, and everyone will soon be more concerned about seeing what is for dinner.
Great places to find really cheap candles are garage and rummage sales and thrift stores. It doesn’t matter if the candles are outdated Christmas or novelty candles, odds-and-ends from a dinner party, or clunky art projects – all they have to do is provide light. Buy all you can find and stockpile them.
Another good lighting choice is the old-fashioned kerosene lamps our grandparents used. My urban survival kit includes several such lanterns and lamps, plus a supply of kerosene to fuel them. A standard Deitz lantern, according to the manufacturer, will burn up to eight hours on one tankfull of fuel. 21st Century Inc 210-32060 Hurricane Lantern No. 30
Other garage sale treasures can include old Coleman gas lanterns. These run on Coleman camp fuel or (in some cases) unleaded gasoline, and they can be dirt cheap. I was given several once after an estate sale, when nobody would buy them. Repairing them was not difficult, and if I can fix one, so can you.
Generally, the reason gas lanterns don’t work is because of a worn-out pump or from being clogged from dirty fuel. Sometimes a good cleaning is all they need. Repair parts are dirt cheap too, so there is no reason you can’t have several. Coleman Two-Mantle Dual Fuel Lantern with Hard Case
Before you lay in a stock of lighting sources that require combustion, consider how safe they are, and if they will work for your intended purpose.
The red kerosene and Coleman gasoline lanterns can provide a source of efficient lighting, but be aware of potential carbon monoxide problems.
All of these light sources must be used in a well-ventilated area only, Marshall said. Remember, if the electricity is off, so is the fan motor in your furnace, and there may not be a way to circulate air.
Both the American Red Cross and the Bend Fire Department recommend an emergency illumination source that is battery-powered.
In any emergency lighting situation, you should be prepared with battery-operated lamps or flashlights, Marshall said. Be very careful with candles or any open flame.
An important part of any emergency preparations is The Plan. Come up with a plausible lighting scenario for your area, then decide how you will handle it.
Think about your lighting needs when there is no electricity, Dumalt advises. When the sun comes up, will you need a light source to work? If so, can you move the work area to take advantage of sunlight?
Look at window placement as it relates to lighting, he added. Would the best idea be to shut down other areas of the house, and move into a central area that is more easily lighted and heated?
Another consideration is what the lighting needs are when the sun goes down. Decide what area you’ll be in when it becomes dark, Dumalt said, then think about the most effective way to light it for different activities. A single candle might be enough to light one area for certain activities, while more light might be needed later for cooking, bathing or washing clothes.
In some cases, such as two people reading together, a single candle will be enough, Dumalt said. In situations where it can be done safely, you can use a candle or lamp to save batteries.
While you’re picking up candles, stock up on extra batteries, too, and be sure to check your flashlights or electric lanterns to determine which batteries they require.
Here are some emergency power outage tips from the American Red Cross:
- Avoid opening the refrigerator and freezer.
- Do not run a generator inside a home or garage.
- If you use a generator, connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator. Do not connect a generator to a home’s electrical system.
- Listen to local radio and television for updated information.
- Turn off or disconnect any appliances, equipment (like air conditioners) or electronics you were using when the power went out. When power comes back on, it may come back with momentary surges or spikes that can damage equipment such as computers and motors in appliances like the air conditioner, refrigerator, washer or furnace.
- Leave one light turned on so you’ll know when your power returns.
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All good stuff everybody. We all have our ways of dealing. Mine starts with lighting in the evenings with LED dietz lanterns with D batteries. The fridge can wait for quite a long time so the generator stays silent thru the night. My neighbors and I share the my generator. They help with the gas if we need to run it. It’s big enough to run the essentials in both houses. I actually I do tie into the box because I know what I’m doing. I don’t suggest anyone else try it unless you are well versed on the subject. I made up a battery backup for the sump pump using an inverter. I can also charge phones etc with 12 volt chargers or use the inverter for 110. I keep up the charge on the backup battery with a solar panel. We can cook and have hot water because we have natural gas. No electric required. We also keep a good supply of AA & AAA & D batteries to power various things, not the least of these is flashlights. We just went thru the Hurricane Sandy here in PA. My power was back on in 10 hours but my inlaws were out for 4 days running on my spare generator. They had light, heat, refrigeration, sump pump and freezer. There are many people still without power & it’s Saturday night. We pray for those folks and our friends in NJ & New York. Don’t forget to turn you clocks back tonight.
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Good lighting allows food handlers to maintain proper sanitation. We eat perishables first. I have a small generator to power the refrigerator. We run it for a couple of hours then turn it off for a couple of hours. Check the ice to see if it’s cold enough. We have city water so we turn off water to the ice maker and through the door water in case of contamination to city supply.
We have a small camper with 2 rv batteries, 2 power inverters, solar panels, a small generator, and extra gas. The camping stuff, car 72 hour kits, and other longer term survival stuff is back up. When there is a power outage in my neighborhood my neighbors know where my house is because of the florencent lights, smell of bar-b-que, and music.
Those Catholic candles from the super market are also great although they can fall over easily. 2 inches of sand in a pan or 4 or 5 candles wired together to make them more stable. Placed under the glass coffee table they help to warm us… We don’t have little kids or dogs around to knock them over. Our old fashioned wood fireplace and a pile of wood is from the stone age and we love it.
Out west, here in AZ , we dont worry about that much , as a result , we are generally unprepared . When I lived in Maine , that was an expected event every winter ……..almost everybody was prepared . The weather can teach you or spoil you .
We have an all electric home, with two battery carbon monoxide alarms and constant power outages. We use oil lamps with ultra pure oil, sometimes we’ll need the Sun Kerosene heater, placed in the living room with good cross ventilation, as the wood stove isn’t installed yet. I use a GasOne tabletop butane stove, single burner on my glass top stove with good cross ventilation. It uses 8 oz cans of fuel and I keep 4-8 on hand. I use it with the wok, and Asian tabletop cooking even with power on. We also recently got an Aladdin lamp, very nice light, maybe similar to a 40w compact fluorscent. I bought an Energizer Weather Ready LED lantern a year ago, I believe the claims of 245 hours on the low power setting, as it was over 11 months of regular use before we needed to change batteries (4 D cells). We now have 2 of them. We also have two single mantle lanterns, that fit on top of 16 oz propane bottles for outside. Power outages are rarely a problem.
I’m no fan of the small throwaway propane canisters, but I do use them. There are situations where there is no real substitute. I do refill my own canisters from a refillable tank, but sometimes the canister valves go bad and they leak. At that point, they have to be discarded. Being steel, they can be recycled, if they are truly empty.
I agree. I am opposed to the smaller propane bottles on principle, since they are expensive. But if you get one of those adapters that attach to a five gallon tank, it is a very viable lighting system. I think the best advice is to have options!
You can’t have too many AAs in stock.
Good info – thanks for your input.
I appreciate the input!
For some lightweight , small LED lights check out Pak-Lite. I have a few in my house, car, bags and even work. Hope this helps.
I recommend storing and using Lithium batteries for emergency use. They don’t contain an acid, so they don’t leak and corrode your lantern or radio. They have a 25 year shelf life so you can count on the batteries that have been in your emergency kit for years. They last 4-8 times longer in use than regular alkaline batteries so even though they cost more initially, they are a better buy. Energizer Lithium Plus batteries come in AA and AAA sizes so far.
This is one time where I think that a propane Coleman lantern has it over the white gas lantern. They don’t have a pump and don’t require much maintenance, save for the mantle. They do have some restrictions as far as indoor use goes, but shouldn’t cause a problem when used sparingly. I have several battery powered fluorescent trouble lights that I use regularly and prefer to use for my area lighting indoor during a power outage. I have 12 volt chargers as well as 120 volt chargers, so I can recharge them while the power is off. My personal choice for a light is an LED headlamp. I have several, including some Petzl Zipkas, which will easily fir in a shirt pocket.
where we live in WV we loose power often. I have three kids and it seems when the power is out they go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I have given each a flash light for these occasions because the bathroom is not located in our centrally lit and heated area.Since I don’t feel comfortable about open flames burning out of sight there is no candle in the bathroom. I do keep plenty of AA batteries on hand because inevitably there are going to be “light saber” fights and the like.
LED flashlights & lanterns last longer conventional flashlights. I bought a couple Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lanterns. They are supposed to last 150 hours on a set of D batteries. I also bought extra batteries. Also a good idea to stock up on non nonperishable foods and get a propane camp stove.
Finally, a good site that isn’t in my face trying to constantly sell me something. Thanks, please keep up the good work.
Thanks for reading!
A great post-full of good information. I know our power was off more than once this past winter.
Thanks!
I’ve been searching for this exact information on this subject for a long time. Bookmarked and recommended!