Flashlight distribution?

My home is on the end of an electrical circuit and if anything happens upstream, my power goes out with little or no warning. This happens 5 or 6 times a year, usually only for a few minutes, but it's occasionally been several hours to as long as two days.

It occurred to me that I almost always have at least one light on my person so it's no big deal when the power goes out, but my family or visiting guests don't "carry" so…. Like many flashaholics, I keep most of my lights in one place, but I've been thinking that may not be the most practical. I'd like to hear your ideas of standardized, easy to access, flashlight placement in each room of the house. Something that won't look goofy or cluttered, but will permit anyone to know where the light is located and gain access without tripping over something and hurting themselves. I figure glow rings are a must.

What do you think?

Thanks,
dave

I try to put them inconspicuously on tables or furniture close to light switches and let my family know where they are. I especially put them near interior light switches, because most of the time those are the darkest places in the house. I can get from my front door to the kitchen w/o a light, but from one bedroom to another, up and down stairs, etc. good luck!


The other thing that I find surprising is that many people have telephones that ONLY work if the power is on. I keep one old style phone in a drawer just in case, though we use cordless and cell phones normally. Lots of time a major outage may also take the cell system down, though they usually have back up that works for at least a while.

Bill

This is easy, I keep lights (several), in every bed side night stand, in the kitchen, the den, etc.

All the vehicles have at least two in them.

Yea, I'm a bit anal.

Assorted lights in desk drawers, kitchen drawers, night stand, chested drawer (several of the drawers), bookshelf, next to the TV... drives my wife nuts. She keeps stuffing them back in my night stand and I keep fishing them out and putting them everywhere. I'm hoping she'll give up. I'm sure she is of the same opinion... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I keep one light next to my bed then the rest i keep in the closet with all my batteries. In three of my rooms I have emergency lights that plug in to the wall and go on when the power goes off. This gives me enough light to get to the closet so i don't have to hunt all over the house finding my lights because there all in one place.

A flashlight such as the UKE-2L or Inova X5T (SF123A based for longterm performance) with a lanyard (attached to the lanyard is a PhotonII at the end and a GlowRing at the flashlight end) can be mounted next to lightswitches (such as in the kitchen) so that if you hunt for it in the dark you can locate it by the Glowring...
I've found that a plastic clip for holding pipes to the wall of the right gauge is perfect.

I'll see if I can take a photo of the one I installed in my parent's house.

Al

No one will be able to find a flashlight in the dark unless they know precicesly where it is. It could be on a table right next to them and unless they are conscious of it, they would never find it. I think your best bet is to get a couple of those plug-in rechargeable power outage lights that hang on the wall from an outlet and switch on automatically during a power outage. One centrally located on each floor of the house would be easily found from anywhere and even if they didn't run very long, they would make it a simple matter to locate candles and other flashlights. And not to mention the increase in safety not to have people stumbling around in complete darkness.

By the way, my house happens to be located very close to an electrical substation and our power almost never goes out. Even during a major event that left most of the community down for an entire week, we were off for only a couple of hours. It is really nice.

Hmm, rather than suggesting ways of arranging lights, I'd tend to suggest investing in a few emergency lighting units. You know, those fluorescent units you see in hotels and shops which come on if the power goes out. I've got a couple of them here, and in the first half hour after the power dies they're invaluable I reckon. Means that no matter who's here that they're not left in the dark. Have four here:
1. In the bathroom. In this case, it's only the size of two phone booths, but if you're in the shower and the power goes out it is NOT FUNNY (And yes, I speak from experience here!).

2. Kitchen, next to the board with all the circuit breakers/meters on. If the lighting circuit pops, I can get to investigate.

3. Lounge. Where people normally are.

4. My bedroom. Because it's my bedroom.

Our "family" flashlight, a cheapo 2AA, stands on the kitchen counter next to the phone. I don't think my wife would tolerate having any more lying around, and anything nicer would be appropriated for someone's private use and not be there when needed. The real goodies are in my nightstand.

My keychain light is carried with me all the time,
if there is a sudden power outage I use it to find
my other flashlights.

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Lurker said:
No one will be able to find a flashlight in the dark unless they know precicesly where it is. It could be on a table right next to them and unless they are conscious of it, they would never find it.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, buy more glow sheets /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I just got one big sheet in and I'm equipping my lights even though I'm supposed to know exactly where they are. They charge when exposed to ambient light, so that when the power goes poof, you'll see all kinds of green glowing things. One sheet is cheap and enough to cover a lot of lights.

Interesting topic. I we have 4 PALights - one each for mine and my wife's nightstand, and the other two tend to stay in the bathrooms.

My wife's mostly got the typical response to my flashaholism - a smirk, a shake of the head, a sigh. However, she recognizes the usefulness of the PALight (grudgingly).

However, I think they'd also be good for use in more "public" rooms, and pretty unobtrusive, escpecially if you choose a black case. You can play around with where you place them, which will affect how noticeable the "always on" glow is. When I lay mine on its side on the nightstand near the wall, there's a circle of light not much bigger than a quarter. However, if I stand it pointing up, the circle of light is much bigger (though fainter) on the ceiling. If I stand it up close to the wall, it shoots a swatch all along the length of the wall and off the ceiling.
I'm sure you could find spots in almost any room to put one where it would be unobtrusive (a window ledge, mantel, bookshelf) but angled so that the light it puts out is very obvious when the room is pitch dark.

I think that Eternalights, especially the XRays, could also be good for this, although they might be a bit tougher for folks unfamiliar with them (if their introduction to the light is in pitch dark - I actually really like Eternalights). But PALights have one button, and one push means it goes on - most folks can figure that one out.

A separate utility light choice - I "traded down" from the Uke 4AA eLED as a knockaround light, and picked up a bunch of Dorcy "Cool Blue" 4AA LED lights. It's a compromise, but it's one that works for me. For half the price (or less) you get a light that is almost as tough, stands on its tail, gives similar throw although less sidespill. Works great within its "niche" - knockaround light, one you can afford to keep in every room, guilt-free if you abuse it, very long battery life, loaner you don't care if you get back. I think it's a great value. A thread about the lights used in the latest hurricanes said one guy was using the Dorcy as a room light - bouncing the light off the ceiling for several nights in a row.

These would be good candidates for use with the glow sheets - attach some to them and have them in view in each room, or perhaps standing in front of a glow sheet, so the outline of the light is obvious from the light coming off the sheet once the power goes out...go to the glow, find the flashlight.

Bump. I'm interested to hear what other people's solutions are.

I second the Palight. Since they are rectangular they don't roll and stay where ever you put them. They are also much brighter on "find me" than a glow ring.

I usually shoot them at the nearest wall which is often only 6-10" away. It produces a very visible dot. I also have a couple with the white "wand" attachment and the magnetic clip and use these on the front door and the breaker box. The "wand" attachment means I can put them anywhere and see them easily.

They aren't eye scorchers but once you've got a light source you can find any other lights you might have squirreled away. Of course YMMV. Good luck.
-LT

No, this is what you need for emergency lighting. I really like these, I have about 10 of them now and am going to buy some for parents/in-laws for Christmas. I have used them during two outages and they really give one time, without worry to find those flashlights.

OOPPPSSS, I ment to include the link for the TekPlates.
http://www.smarthomepro.com/9270SSA.html

Get a rechargeable light that you leave plugged into the outlet. They are great. When the power goes out the LED/nightlight is easy to spot.

Here is Engergizer's Double Duty Flashlight. This is what I have all over the place.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

What I'm thinking is to put a small hook in the top, outer edge of each room's entry door frame. The lights would hang from these hooks with glow-rings so they can be found easily. I don't think this would look excessively cluttered if smaller flashlights were used. Also, The hooks could be painted to match the room color.

What do you think?

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Zigzago said:
The real goodies are in my nightstand.

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Keep it clean, we're talking about flashlights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

I use the $3 rubber "dollar general" 4aa light. I leave them around the house where they might be needed to get to the heavy artillery /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

I meant the battery-operated goodies, er, ah, oh never mind.