Power outages have become quite common in today’s world. Stats have shown that the U.S.A. alone faces a 124% rise in power outages. These outages are caused by a variety of reasons like tornados, hurricanes, grid failure or just normal repairs. There are long power cuts that can last days and there are short power cuts that last for a few hours. The longer ones are usually caused due to some natural disasters like a tornado which uproots the transformers and high voltage cable structures that take time to put back together. The shorter ones are usually caused by some menial repairs. Now, most of these outages come without warning. You won’t have more than an hour to prepare for these. You have to take care of your family and other people living in your house. Especially young children need to be cared for at these times and you should be equipped with a number of things to be able to properly live through the outage. Here is a list of 10 most useful things to have during a power outage.
Matchsticks
Matches are probably the most basic equipment you can find to help you through a lot of situations where you need light or need to start a fire. Since they don’t really take up any space, you should have a few match-boxes lying around at home all the time. These are quite cheap and are readily available at a small shop near you. In an outage you can use these to start a fire to cook food, to keep warm or to simply get some light.
Batteries
Batteries and cells are also equally useful to have around your house. If you have enough batteries then you can literally power any small home appliance with them. Again you can acquire batteries from any nearby departmental store. A lot of home appliances that can come in handy during a power cut, run on batteries. Torches, l.e.d. Light strips and handheld fans are some examples.
Solar Power
Getting solar power systems is expensive but if you have one installed at home then you can very well stop worrying about power outages forever. When you install solar panels at home then most of your house is connected to the panels through the power grid. When sunlight falls on the solar panels they convert it into enough electricity to use a lot of appliances at your house like a geyser, fridge, and television.
Generator
Having a handy backup generator can solve almost all of your problems. Some generators can power all the electrical appliances in your house. All you need is some fuel and a good generator. There are some good quality portable generators available in the market. These generators use up diesel at different levels to make electricity. You can get some exact efficiency details from https://www.ablesales.com.au/diesel-generators-perth-melbourne-brisbane/diesel-generator/ to know how much diesel you should store up in case of a power outage. Having enough fuel to power a generator through a power outage would mean that you don’t have to worry about anything as most of the appliances would be working.
Power banks
It is a blessing to have your phone and speaker working during a power cut to help pass the time. Having nothing to do is quite taxing. It makes you irritable and tired. If you have some fully charged power banks then you might get to charge 2-3 of your favorite gadgets that can help you in this situation
Inverter
An inverter is quite common in homes nowadays. It is not a cheap commodity but it is a very useful one. An inverter is basically a backup for energy that charges like a battery when there is electricity available. Once the electricity goes, the inverter kicks in. It is connected to some of the essential and low power consuming appliances in a house. It doesn’t hold a lot of charge so you have to be careful while using any appliance which consumes energy. Though, on the whole, an inverter is very convenient. You can easily buy an inverter from the market and you should let a trusted electrician connect it for you to the power grid of the house.
Water
Water is the most basic necessity of everyone alive. You would not want to go to your neighbor’s during a power outage to ask for some water since your water purifier isn’t working. You should have enough water stocked up, especially drinking water. Having water available is probably one of the most important things.
Food
During a power outage, it becomes difficult to cook food. Having food stored will help you in many ways. People can’t think straight while keeping an empty stomach. Depression and anger soon follow. Having canned or frozen food is a must. Some perishable items do not last in the fridge for too long. Peanut butter, dry fruits, crackers, and other such items are useful at this time.
Entertainment
People try to find things to do during a power cut. Boredom is an enemy during that period. Your laptops and phones should be left alone for emergency situations so you should have some books and board games handy to keep yourself entertained. If you can’t find any work to do then sitting down with your family and playing some card games is the best thing that you can do. It brings your family closer and simply eases the discomfort faced by your family.
First Aid Kit
Power outage causes you to do a lot of work in the dark or dim lighting. You try to save energy wherever you can. Accidents are bound to happen. No matter how careful you are you might do something to hurt yourself or others. You should always have a first aid kit ready to treat any kind of wound or ailment.
Power outages have no doubt become very common worldwide. Different people in different countries handle power outages differently. You should always look towards making yourself prepared for such scenarios. If you ever face a power outage that lasts more than 2 days, then being unprepared can get you into a lot of problems and discomfort.
Featured Image
