Power Outage, How many Lumens, How many batteries? (for lights and more)
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MidnightDistortions
Flashlight Enthusiast
I prefer going out to buy some new NiMH cells then to subject them to higher currents. I don't mind doing it once or twice but once i end up having to recharge them quickly it's time to buy some new cells or more chargers if my dead batteries start getting backed up. Most of the time i'll recharge the cells when they are at 50-60% anyway so there's little to no need for me to cook my cells trying to get them charged up quickly.
The exercise of the thread is to determine what your lighting (and other power needs may be) for a family of four, and how many batteries you'll need for a week. If you plan to use rechargeables, then you should have them on hand before the outage hits, AND have as many chargers that may be necessary. Don't you think, to plan to go out and buy some new NiMH cells during an outage, is a plan to fail?
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MidnightDistortions
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think you misunderstand me here. I wouldn't purposely strand myself without enough batteries. I have batteries that will last me upwards of 700hours, that's a month for using cells 24/7 on the stuff i'd need and provided i manage them well that's all i would ever need. My point here is i should not need to slowly kill my cells in order to recharge them. If i run into that problem then that's when i need to get more batteries or chargers in the future to avoid using high recharging rates. I care more about longevity by getting the amount of batteries i need for emergency usage or even daily usage, enough so i can recharge them properly and do not need the batteries charged quicker. I also keep a bare minimum stock of alkaline cells and those are first up used in an emergency in cheap lights. That's even if they work, i usually get them for free but not all battery manufacturers date them.
Power Banks to lend out:
Not all car's power ports/cigar lighters/USB ports are always hot. Many actually require the engine to be running!
Earlier in this thread it was discussed how to hot wire a power port IE, make it always hot. In preparation for an outage, you may want to check and modify, if necessary, your car's power port. For those friends, neighbors, and family members, a fully charged power bank may be used to recharge their cell phones so that they can stay in touch.
more_vampires
Flashlight Enthusiast
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- Nov 20, 2014
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Cigarette plug wired to bare vehicle battery sitting on a table. Requires no automobile! 🙂
Yes, a deep cycle battery would be better than a typical car battery, but either could help one stay indoors keeping a low profile, or out of the weather.
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Another thought on the use of battery banks as a power source:
They deliver a constant current 5 volts.
That could make a cheap, unregulated 6Volt lantern a regulated lantern.
In a power outage situation, which would you prefer?
Constant current regulation, where the light remains at it's set brightness, but the batteries drain faster when set on high, OR
Direct drive regulation, where the light continues to dim as the batteries deplete, but runs longer on "high", because as the batteries deplete, high becomes dimmer and dimmer (demanding less and less from the battery).
I might suggest that if you are going to buy a battery for such a purpose, that you opt for a sealed AGM type. Much safer if you are going to use it inside. 🙂
Depends on if the light has low modes or not to have long run time, if not maybe a hybrid where it is regulated down to a certain voltage and then direct. Something like the Fenix E01, I think is this way? I think most decent quality lights are like this at least to a small extent. Most will dim, or only the low modes will work etc. I can't think of any that will regulate a constant brightness until the battery just dies.. Then you would have no warning at all, the light would just be working and then it wouldn't, not ideal 🙂
This is just another reason why it is nice to see the run time graphs on lights, I wish more manufacturers would do this. At least we have some good reviewers to test most of the popular lights.
This leads me to another question. In most emergency/power outage situations, is it more important to have a light with a low mode and really long run time. Or, a light with a lot of lumens but only like 2 hours or less run time?
I know most people will say we need both (not a bad idea), but for me, most of the time I think I would edge toward longer run times. At least you have some light then vs. if you have a bright light for a couple hours then nothing...
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buds224
Enlightened
Funny you mentioned this......I just finished building and testing this rig I just built. Solar & AC in, 2 Nomad7 panels daisy chained, x2 8Ah (for a total of 16Ah) Deep Cycle Batteries in Parallel 12V, and a DC 12V out into an old Ammo Can.
Funny you mentioned this......I just finished building and testing this rig I just built. Solar & AC in, 2 Nomad7 panels daisy chained, x2 8Ah (for a total of 16Ah) Deep Cycle Batteries in Parallel 12V, and a DC 12V out into an old Ammo Can.
That's a nice rig 😀.... are you charging through a window?
FWIW I found GZ's N7 to lose ~75% of its efficiency charging through windows, where Powerfilm's thin-film can double its efficiency (equiv surface area). However, outdoors, perpendicularly tracking direct sunlight, efficiency reverses with the monocrystalline panels doubling the efficiency of thin-film.
buds224
Enlightened
Thanks, I haven't used it heavily yet, but it is my backup power source in case of a bad power outage.
Not so bad with 2 daisy chained, but yes, the efficiency is affected by the windows which is why the windows are opened and this normally gets setup in the outdoors regularly anyway. Getting these two panels at a heavy discount was also a factor. x2 for the price of half of one 😀; couldn't resist.
Also, it's not quite done. I plan on adding x4 USB ports; hopefully I can find/build something retractable. I want to add strong magnets to the ends so that I can stretch and mount the USB ports to the underside of the cover. Then I can attach sensored USB LEDs into them and they can act as auto-on emergency lighting in rolling blackout conditions.
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more_vampires
Flashlight Enthusiast
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Beautiful rig, Buds. I'm jealous. 🙂
Very nice Buds224 🙂
You might consider adding a 12-14V DC input so that you could charge it from your car's cigar lighter while you make grocery runs. Just in case the solar can't keep up with your demands. Perhaps there will be prolonged grey days.
You might consider adding a 12-14V DC input so that you could charge it from your car's cigar lighter while you make grocery runs. Just in case the solar can't keep up with your demands. Perhaps there will be prolonged grey days.
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buds224
Enlightened
Great idea. The cable connecting my rig to the panels is a male DC cigarette lighter plug, so I'm assuming that would work too. 12v to 12v shouldn't overload my solar controller.......I hope. LOL. (need to confirm that).
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Scary stuff. This thread is making me rethink what preparations I should take. Thankfully there has only been one large earthquake since I moved here and it didn't even knock the power out.
I always leave a light on the night stand but that would vanish during an earthquake. The night stand has a drawer with a Fenix LD40 and Jetbeam PA40 in it with charged eneloops - very good power outage lights. For now I'm hoping that they will stay in the drawer even during a big earthquake...
Do you have a BOB locked and loaded? I know someone (grew up in the same neighborhood) that was smack in the middle of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but managed to get out with his BOB relatively safely and unscathed, but lost everything else he owned in his apartment. Riveting story of luck and coincidence, but over a few days, he managed to hop a train, make it to an airport, took a flight back to the US, and that was it - never went back.
Wow, that's a crazy story. I do have an extra backpack, and I've been reading for a while about various things related to preparedness, but I really don't have a true BOB. I need to get get in gear on this. Thank you for sharing.
Just wondering if a person living in an earthquake prone area might install an eyebolt screwed into a wall stud on the wall behind their bed or to the bed frame itself; then, using a lanyard or some other quick-connect method, attaching their flashlight to the eyebolt. Seems like one should be able to get to their torch that way.
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That's a good idea, but if I was living in an earthquake zone, I'd stick to the lanyard around the neck so I'd know I always have the light with me, even if things suddenly go south while I'm on a midnight visit to the bathroom etc.
Max
