The smallest amount of light can penetrate the heaviest dark. When the power goes out, there is nothing more reassuring than having a light source.
It's funny, we humans have lived for centuries without power, but in just a little over a hundred years, most Americans shudder at the inconvenience of going without electricity for a few hours and get quite put out if it's over a day. Now, I'm not saying I don't enjoy my electricity. I certainly do. When we were without power for almost 2 weeks, I cheered when it finally came back on. Like full on jumped up and down and may have went through and flipped a few light switches on and off like a kid to make sure it was really back on.
Life is easier with electricity for most of us, unless you've converted your home to complete off-grid or some sort of solar or wind generated energy. This is something we've look at, but haven't made the plunge just yet.
Because we do experience power outages, and because we're extremely rural with no businesses for miles around, we are last priority to the power company when there are large storms. We've learned to always be prepared for an emergency or a power outage.
Heat is the first thing you'll want during a power outage. We have our trusty wood stove as our main heat source and always have seasoned and dry wood stacked in the woodshed. For us, heat is not a concern.
For those who rely completely on electric heat, I'd encourage you to look into another heat source if at all possible. We'll go into other options in another post.
Second thing to the lights going out is finding away to provide yourself with light. If you can't see, you're not going to be able to get your food out, see how to cook, find your warmer clothes, or walk without stubbing your toe (yeah, done that one).
4 Things You Need When the Light's Go Out
1. For a quick solution, we love these little head lamps. We have one in our children's bedrooms just in case. My husband and I both use it when going out to the wood pile in the dark and feeding the animals in the winter when we get home from work after dark. They allow you to work hands free, which is golden. They're under ten dollars and a great tool.
2. A great solar option are these LuminAid lanterns. They're small and will stay lit off of one charge for 16 hours. They provide a decent amount of light and don't require batteries, just access to daylight to recharge. They're also water proof, so you can use them outdoors in the wet or if they're dropped in a puddle, you're good to go.
In the evening when the whole family is gathered in the kitchen or living room, you're going to want something that will provide a decent amount of light. I've found nighttime is the hardest without power as we're not as accustomed to rising and going to bed with the sun (most of society, that is). Though if you're without power for long, you'll begin to find yourself adjusting to that rhythm more readily.
3. Like a true pioneer of old, an oil lamp is your best bet. They give off a lot of light and can be adjusted by turning the wick for more or less light. My father grew up with kerosene lanterns and they always make me feel a bit nostalgic. I purchased this glass oil lamp to have when the power went out and it stays on the kitchen counter for emergencies and part of our decor.
Note: With any of your preparedness items, take them and know how to use them before it's an emergency.
A few things to remember is keep it on a stable place when lit where it can't be jostled or knocked over. Our kitchen goes into our living room and I usually leave it on the counter. Remember, the glass chimney will become hot, so be careful when moving it. If a wick is kept too long it will smoke more.
Obviously, you need oil in order to burn your lamp. Make sure you have at least a back up bottle or two. We purchased and have been burning this brand of oil in ours. We didn't notice any odor or smoke when using it in our living room and kitchen.
For over all efficiency, the oil lamp is my number one pick when the power is out. I can sew by it, read a book, the kids can color or play a game, and we aren't having to each hold a small light or get close to a candle flame.
4. The only thing more old-fashioned than a kerosene or oil lamp are candles. Candles will help light a room, but unless you have a lot of them, I don't recommend them as your main light source. But we will light a candle in bathroom of for light in another room of the house for short periods of time. Candle wicks should be kept trimmed short to avoid smoking. And I hate to state the obvious, but don't leave any kind of flame, be it a candle or lantern, burning unattended.
For us pioneer and homestead folks, you're going to love these candles. They're made form beeswax and lard and I have a full on DIY candle making tutorial so you can make your own to have on hand for preparedness. I kind of think they'd make an awesome gift as well.
Do you have any other tips or suggestions to add for lighting when the power is out?
Don’t forget to stock up on wicks for the oil lamps, too! Great article!
Thanks Laura, and yes, wicks too!
You may cover this on another day, but a manual can opener and either an alternate cooking source or food you can eat without cooking.
Susanne,
Great tip and we’ll be covering cooking without electricity in a few days!
I carry batteries (all sizes) in the van. I have several Coleman lanterns, battery powered, that I’ve bought at yard sales & thrift stores fora dollar or two. I get some strange looks when I load the batteries but I don’t care. Haha
Another good use for those LED head lamps is to take a translucent jug like a gallon milk jug and fill it with water and then turn the head lamp around so that it points into the jug. The strap holds the light on the jug and it defuses the light from the head lamp. It makes enough light to be able to navigate through even a large room easily and you don’t have to worry about it being hot. With the LED’s the battery will last a really long time. For chest freezers, if the power is out for more than a couple of days, we get a chunk of dry ice from the local grocery store and put that in the freezer. As it “melts” (aka turns to a gas)the freezer burps itself and the stuff inside will stay hard frozen for better than 5 days in our experience.
Melissa.
One I read where some have been using the solar outdoor lights when the electric goes out. We have a 5th wheel that we have parked in a camping area about 40 miles away. In the summer it gives us a place to get away even just for a few days. Any way I took some of the cheap solar lights from the Dollar store and made solar mason jars to hang outside around the camper. I got the idea off of pintrest.you can also add some aluminum foil in the bottom of the jar to help reflect the light. If they get knocked over you don’t have to worry about it. The light won’t be real bright but. You can use string or wire to make a handle to carry from room to room. And if you have several they will help to light a room. In the morning set them back outside or set them in a window facing the sun to recharge during the day.
An Aladdin lamp is a type of oil lamp that has a mantle instead of a wick. The flame is unbelievably bright …one lamp can produce the light of a 50 watt bulb. My in laws had one and when the power was out we lit it and set it in front of a big mirror in the living room.
A side benefit of these is the heat that they produce. I believe that if we burned one in a space as small as our camper that it would heat the entire place.
Thanks for sharing. My parent’s have an Aladdin lamp it does burn bright!
Great post Melissa, I grew up in CA….spent a lot of time camping in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains…pretty much grew up their….I know about using the kerosene and oil lamps for many years and flashlights when going to the outhouse. I now live in Ohio and am, in many ways, longing somewhat for those days of being off grid so to speak. It’s quickly coming to that as our govt implodes within and on itself…..can you recommend any particular place I can acquire these old friends again (korosene & oil lamps) great article…thank you….may Abba bless you
As far as oil lamps, I got our newest ones off of Amazon along with some lamp oil. But if you’re in Ohio, I would definitely check some Amish places and sometimes local small hardware stores will carry it.
An old-fashioned olive oil lamp is easy to make and has the advantage that if it somehow DOES get tipped over, the oil is not particularly flammable so usually it just goes out. Just put some olive oil in a small jar and twist or knot a long thin rag to act as a wick. The main disadvantage is they don’t give off as much light as a kerosene or paraffin oil lamp.
Muriel,
Thanks so much for that tip. I haven’t done one of these myself.
Always a good idea, a purse can be an awesome tool in our preparedness plan, it’s always with us and can fit a lot of handy items.
I have thought about the olive oils lamps, but then, olive oil is EXPENSIVE!!!
You know with all the above I keep a flash light handy so if I’m in a place it’s hard to get to the others I have my flashlight I even carry a small one in my purse.
Bought a whole bunch of inexpensive driveway type solar lights. Put them out in the sun during the day, then remove them from their base and bring inside and put the stems down in vases and distribute through the house. They light the way all night long, diming by morning in time to go outside and recharge.
My 11 year old daughter hopes we lose power during storms! Great excuse to read and play games by the fire. It makes it easy to cook having a gas stove that we can manually light. We make sure the cell phones are charged. We also have external battery chargers with built-in flashlights for the phones. All our camping gear comes in handy. For long outages we have a generator we run periodically to keep the refrigerator cold.
Lorraine,
Our kids don’t mind the power outages either as we do more games and playing. We also have a generator for our deep freezer and fridge like you.
My husband and I just purchased a solar flood light for our backyard so whether we have power or not will we have light to get out our generator or snow removal equipment. Our next purchase will be one to light up the interior of our shed. They run $30-50 on Amazon.
Solar lights from the yard also work well. My mom gave me this tip and the last time our power was out I remembered it. I went out and gathered the solar lights off of my fence posts outside and sat them around the living room. They lit up the whole room. They don’t get hot and don’t emit any gasses. The next day I sat them outside so they could recharge.
Mary Beth,
Another good tip. In the winter, mine never seemed to charge very well, but our front yard stays in the shade more and that’s where I had them. They’re a very safe way to go. Thanks!
When using a candle for light in the bathroom I place a mirror behind it. It is surprising how much more light is reflected.
Maribeth,
Yes, mirrors are great for reflecting a single light, good tip!
When using a candle for light in the bathroom I place a mirror behind it. It is surprising how much mor light is reflected.