The power went off Monday afternoon and came back on just a short time ago. It was not super cold, in fact the weather was nice for this time of year. But there were a few interesting things to come from it.
The Mr Heater Big Buddy we just bought works very well. It was not on constantly, but when it was needed to take off the chill it worked splendidly. Pat learned how to use it in just one quick demonstration and she was comfortable with it, something she never was with the Kerosene heaters.
As far as lighting goes, less is more in many ways, at least for our particular household. LESS lumens is used much MORE than higher powered lights. In the dark where your eyes are used to the dark, low powered lights work very well, in fact often more comfortable than glaring powerful lights. My higher powered flashlights were used only a few times outside, and during the day when the house was in shadow inside.
The big 20 LED lantern was used only sparingly, most often when we were doing something together like playing cards or a game.
We most often used the Brinkman two led headlamps while doing household chores, eating or reading. Pat had picked up a set of 3 Stick and Click LED stickup lights at RiteAid. They were not powerful enough for closet use like we had wanted, they were only one 5MM LED ran by 3 AAA batteries. However I soon found out they worked splendidly for a "candle". Sitting one in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom provided enough light for sitting around and moving about, especially if using the headlamp for reading etc.
I carried on my person a AAA Minimag modded with MJLED, and my new L2S ( I wanted to see how well it carried). The Minimag was the only one used indoors. The L2S was used twice I think when I went outside.
My wife carried and used her 2 AAA RR along with her headlamp.
I found that I used the inova X5 a few times during the day when the house was in shadows and the Minimag did not seem to throw enough light to dispell shadows, the X5 lite up the dimness much better. It is funny how I needed something brighter to handle dim areas more than it was needed in completely dark areas.
With using the lights like this, my current inventory of flashlights and batteries would last a very long time indeed. You really need less than you think you may.
The Mr Heater Big Buddy we just bought works very well. It was not on constantly, but when it was needed to take off the chill it worked splendidly. Pat learned how to use it in just one quick demonstration and she was comfortable with it, something she never was with the Kerosene heaters.
As far as lighting goes, less is more in many ways, at least for our particular household. LESS lumens is used much MORE than higher powered lights. In the dark where your eyes are used to the dark, low powered lights work very well, in fact often more comfortable than glaring powerful lights. My higher powered flashlights were used only a few times outside, and during the day when the house was in shadow inside.
The big 20 LED lantern was used only sparingly, most often when we were doing something together like playing cards or a game.
We most often used the Brinkman two led headlamps while doing household chores, eating or reading. Pat had picked up a set of 3 Stick and Click LED stickup lights at RiteAid. They were not powerful enough for closet use like we had wanted, they were only one 5MM LED ran by 3 AAA batteries. However I soon found out they worked splendidly for a "candle". Sitting one in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom provided enough light for sitting around and moving about, especially if using the headlamp for reading etc.
I carried on my person a AAA Minimag modded with MJLED, and my new L2S ( I wanted to see how well it carried). The Minimag was the only one used indoors. The L2S was used twice I think when I went outside.
My wife carried and used her 2 AAA RR along with her headlamp.
I found that I used the inova X5 a few times during the day when the house was in shadows and the Minimag did not seem to throw enough light to dispell shadows, the X5 lite up the dimness much better. It is funny how I needed something brighter to handle dim areas more than it was needed in completely dark areas.
With using the lights like this, my current inventory of flashlights and batteries would last a very long time indeed. You really need less than you think you may.
FRED
