Power went out again this week. Hey, the price you pay for living in Socal, at least when you step outside, the weather's nice :)<br><br>As for indoor comfort lighting, i.e. brighter than a Cyalume stick, is one of those Coleman battery-powered fluorescent lanterns good enough? This is for reading, doing things around the house while power is out, not for critical use, mainly to pass time and keep from getting bored, counting ammunition, etc I would consider candles; while I don't live in a gas-powered place right now, if I move to one with gas power, I'd be leery of using candles after an earthquake, even AFTER it's been shut off. Batteries can be stockpiled, anyway.<br><br>Yer thoughts?

Candles are a VERY bad idea. Every year it seems we hear of a house fire involving candles. Likewise many fueled lanterns can give of fumes. Go with the electric.

Awww! Chris, you sound like my dad, the retired Fire Chief, LoL!<br><br>How about an UCCO? They have a new model now that has an LED luminaire in the base. There are less expensive versions of candle lanterns that use tea candles. No candle lantern gives a lot of light, but our eyes are very adaptable...<br><br>I would not stay in a building that had gas leaks anyway...<br><br>Skunkabily, go to the LED Museum and check things out - there are lots of battery-powered alternatives, and he links to ETS and other light-only sites. Doug has tested a few things that may be of interest as well - like the Krill (?) lights.

We have 4 of the Coleman fluorescents, 2 large and 2 small. The small ones are for the kids. It was a conscious effort on our part to train the kids not to be scared of lightning/thunder. Whenever a thunderstorm would approach, I would run around like a crazy woman yelling, "Yippee! A storm!! Maybe the lights will go out!!" We would grab our lanterns and sit in the living room praying for the lights to go out & counting by seconds from the lightning to the thunder to get the distance. It sounds trivial, but because of our actions, our kids are the only ones in the neighborhood who aren't afraid of heavy weather. :-)<br> I also bought a 400W inverter from Wal-mart to power a couple of 15W fluorescents off my car battery. A 15W fluor. bulb emits a lot more light than the Coleman and is much better if we need light for a project or long-term. The inverter cost $30.<br> For my birthday I told my hubby to ditch the roses -- I'd *really* like one or two 12V 115 amp-hour deep cycle marine batteries and a charger!! :-)<br> The Colemans, though, are great & we love them.<br>

Sk,<br><br>Another possible light is made by Everready Energizer. It uses 2 LEDs & 4AA batteries. Batteries are reported to last around 200 hours. The bulbs look like 2 small fluorescent bulps 1/4" thick x 2' long. It's about 3" x 2" x1." I got one for tent use & brief power outages. It works well in the tent. It provides fairly good lighting. It cost ~$10 @ Walmart in camping/flashlight section. <br><br>Incidentally you might want to consider a propane or liquid fuel lantern if you need a lot of light. Ot course they require ample ventilation as from the outdoors. Of course, I would not recommend one for indoor use. The wrath of the forum would descend upon me. By the way, many camping trailers provide for propane powered lights for situations requiring conservation of electricity when ventilation is ample. All propane & liquid fuel lights are quite hot. Ample room around the lights & fire protection are necessary. For outdoor use they're outstanding. Lighting output is comparable to 200 - 300 Watt bulb.<br><br>John

Mama,<br><br>I loved your post. We did something like your behavior to reassure our kids in electrical storms. We eagerly looked for the biggest lightning bolts & counted the second until the thunder to measure the distance from the strike. Of course we also explained the mechanics of lightning & cautioned them of the dangers. <br><br>To encourage good safety practices, I recounted my experience when lightning struck 30' from me causing in me only some minor disorientation. I initially thought the rifle I was target shooting had blown up. Slowly I realized I had also be shocked. I felt the electricity come throught the rifle's trigger. The clap of the thunder was overwhelming. Then I heard the cries of the rangemaster who had also been 30 feet from the strike. Unfortunately he was on a land line telephone reporting some lightning fires when the lightning bolt struck through the phone line. The ear he had to the phone suffered a ruptured eardrum. He had to be hospitalized.<br><br>Mama, I also love your birthday request. If I were'nt already married...<br><br>John

If you are at all concerned that there may be gas leaking into your living space - don't consider it living space. If you light a match you go Boom! If you turn on electrics and they spark you go Boom! If you take off that nice warm wool sweater and it sparks you go Boom! If none of this happens and you quietly drift off to sleep you don't wake up!<br><br>If you don't have any concerns about gas leaking into your living space and you have a few oil lamps you can light your area as well as your great grandfather did and for much longer than your stockpile of batteries will last. Just don't tip over that lamp!<br><br>If you are clumsy enough to be afraid of lighting that burns and must go with batterie powered light this earlier post might prove interesting.

I can suggest you to set up a 24V DC lighting system (or LED better) in the house using 2 12V deep cycle boat batteries in series, and a solar charger (should be around 30 USD for 250 mAh models). A system you cannot easily kill. If you keep a 110 V to 0-36 V charger (a cheap but useful investment) you can always charge the system when the mains run.<br><br>Also you can charge the batteries in your car (one at each time) or through a generator with a 12V DC outlet.<br><br>24 V needs less ampers than 12 V. Military vehicles use the 24V system, which may be a reference for us. <br><br>I have a 24 V Unimog and you can crank the beast over a rock without burning the starter or you run a 24V winch longer than a 12 V one.<br><br>Also you may find lots of gadgets and appliances for 24V in boat places or better in the military surplus places. <br><br>Burak