Winter or summer, a power outage can be just a minor inconvenience or become major and long-lasting in the most serious situations.
It can affect almost anyone, especially as extreme and unpredictable weather conditions push the limits of electricity grids.
According to a recent government report, U.S. electricity consumers experienced an average of seven hours of power outages in 2021. In February 2021, a cascade of power outages plunged Texas into darkness, leaving people without power and in the cold for hours. to dawn.
Basic preparations for a temporary outage are inexpensive and some of them can be done year-round. It is therefore generally worthwhile for most households to take some precautions.
An uninterrupted energy system
As a replacement for a noisy and polluting gasoline generator, uninterruptible power supply systems (SASC), often combined with an inverter, are preferred both inside and outside the home. The functions I present here bring together two essential functions: that of overvoltage protection (against peak voltages, variations due to storms, for example) and that of mobile electrical storage with lithium batteries.
Great advantages, it can be used as a SASC for your computer station or your home theater and as a portable energy source in the event of a breakdown, while camping, in a recreational vehicle and also rechargeable via solar panels (optional).
Let’s forget here the cheap but inefficient SASCs in the lead-acid chemical sector, which provide decent overvoltage protection but have only a few minutes of autonomy to power a computer station. An important detail is that these lead-acid batteries do not last two years on average and that you have to replace them constantly.
After several lead-acid type SASCs for my computer station, the next SASC will be powered by lithium.
Prices for a SASC start around $300 and increase with storage capacity and power. Three brands stand out online: Bluetti, EcoFlow and Jackery. If you’re looking for maximum power, consider the EcoFlow Delta Pro model with a capacity of 3600 Wh, on wheels and a weight of 48 kg (or 105 lbs).
EcoFlow Delta (Amazon photo)
EcoFlow Delta 1800W on Amazon.
SASC listing on Best Buy.
Until the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, uninterrupted power supply systems were found using EcoFlow lithium batteries.
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Portable charger for mobile devices
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These chargers are very useful to charge your favorite device at any time. They can charge large phones like the iPhone 15 Pro Max or the Google Pixel 8 Pro from empty to full twice. Prefer 10,000 mAh and above models from well-known brands that offer fast charging and charging speeds.
Like this Anker 20,000 mAh charger that delivers 87W of power to share: up to 65W to quickly charge a device like a 14-inch MacBook Pro up to 50% in under 40 minutes with the integrated USB-C cable or even three devices at the same time with the other two ports USB-A and USB-C.
For this model, Anker offers an optional 65W power supply to charge the batteries in this charger, which is not necessary because you and I already have fast power supplies that come with your laptop, phone or, better yet, a travel power adapter with USB -C and A ports of at least 45W.
Read my article Tips for a hassle-free digital journey about this
Powerful flashlight
Combine a lithium battery with eight light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and you not only get a very powerful 45,000 lumen flashlight with a range of up to 800 m and a long battery life, but also a portable 60 watt C USB charger for your mobile devices .
Like this AceBeam of 45,000 lumens. You certainly won’t make friends with it, but it is a nice gift to give on Father’s Day. Price: over $500.
LuminAID inflatable solar sensor lantern
To light up a room in the event of a power outage or simply to brighten up your outdoor evenings while camping, on the patio or by the pool, these solar rechargeable lanterns are inflatable and float on water.
Rechargeable headlamp
To round out this short list, a rechargeable headlamp like this 330 lumen BioLite LED provides up to 40 hours of illumination in low light or 3.5 hours at full intensity.
Here are some additional gadgets and electronic devices, to which we of course add basic elements such as a first aid kit, supplies of drinking water, food and medicines to deal with the consequences of a prolonged outage.
No one likes bad luck, but when you’re ill-equipped or well-prepared, you hate them even more.