Battery-backup emergency lighting

Perfect! That's exactly the type of thing I was looking for -- permanently installed, enough light to provide some safety during unexpected times (example, smoke). I wasn't looking for anything to get me out of the house during an ordinary power outage, such as what we had last night. My concern is with a *real* emergency, and I think your reference site will work very well.

Thanks very much. MaryL

Reply to
MaryL
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Kinda what I was thinking

Serious

Reply to
me

"MaryL" wrote in news:AmYgg.18990$8q.6053@dukeread08:

Put a small one on a chain around your neck,then it will be with you almost everywhere.

Get your belly button pierced and hang one from the ring. ;-)

Reply to
Jim Yanik

As for ease of use - They can be set up so everything is automatic. No starting or anything. They are safe.

We used something like these in our church, maybe this is what you want.

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Reply to
No

Yes, the first one looks great (similar to those mentioned in one other message). This is exactly the type I had in mind.

Thanks! MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

I used to have the same problem... walking around in a near panic situation in a pitch-black room and forgeting where all the flashlights are kept.

My solution was about as cheap and low tech as you can get, but it works!

Walmart sells a plug in, full size, rechargeable flashlight that comes on automatically during power failures and has a red led to indicate charging during normal times. It is actually shaped like a conventional flashlight.

I bought several and never had to worry about the problem again.

Beachcomber

Reply to
Beachcomber

I had one of these several years ago, but this was one of the devices that malfunctioned after a short time. I suspect the technology is better now, and I'm going to get a variety of plug-ins plus a couple of the permanent installations that a couple of messages mentioned. (No, I'm not paranoid, but I am very safety-conscious, and I realize that a person -- even someone who usually can maneuver easily in the darkness -- could easily become panicky and disoriented in a crisis, such as a fire.)

Thanks, MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

Yes, you are paranoid.

You seem to think that you have to find a front door in an emergency. Unless you have a true mansion, any single family residence will be two story at most and that means a whopping 10' drop out an upper story window at worst.

If you have enough strength to support your own weight when you hang out the window by your arms your feet are like 4' off the ground, hardly a killer drop.

Perhaps consider an "escape ladder" which is a bit more practical than lighting a route that keeps you in a danger zone longer.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

Well, as any firefighter will tell you. It may be easy enough to find the egress in times of low stress...

But if your bedroom is full of smoke and your window needs to be broken and you're operating in the dark, and your in panic mode because your house is burning down, and you have trouble climbing ladders because of your age.... it's not all that easy.

Beachcomber

Reply to
Beachcomber

In addition to what Beachcomber wrote, please tell us what we should do about children and other people in the house in the event of a fire...just ignore them so we can jump out the nearest window???

MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

Go to this slink and look at very bottom of page where it says "power failure system"

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Reply to
me

Teach them to use the escape ladder? Have regular fire drills? Teach them to be calm and follow a plan in an emergency? Or perhaps just let them follow your example of running around like a headless chicken?

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

What single family residence had windows, especially in a bedroom that need to be broken to use for egress? I guess we must have given up on building codes while I wasn't looking.

If you're too old to climb ladders you're probably too old to climb stairs as well so you should be in a first floor bedroom.

As for panic mode, the solution there is simple - regular practice and drills so you're not running around like a headless chicken and instead are calm and follow the established plan.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

Thanks for the information. However, that looks like a light that would give light for a substantial period of time but not something that would come on automatically if power is lost -- more like a very heavyduty flashlight. My interest in for something that would only require lighting for a short time (to handle an emergency) but should operate automatically and would provide more light output than the little LED lights because smoke can create a very difficult atmosphere for vision.

MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

You make some good points, but you seem to get pleasure out of trying to make an honest question look ridiculous. Yes, we should all have practice fire drills and have an emergency plan. But there is *nothing wrong* with my attempt to upgrade emergency preparedness. Every year, there are numerous preventable deaths, and your suggestions should be *part* of preparation but so is my desire for a simple lighting system. Do you really think you can teach an infant to remain calm and "follow a plan"? In my case, I was my mother's caregiver for 5 years. She had substantial short-term memory loss and could only walk with assistance. She would have been completely helpless under your "plan."

MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

It is rather ridiculous, at least to the extent you're pushing it. People have lived just fine for thousands of years without automatic emergency lights in every room. Having a flashlight in every single room is just as extreme and obsesive-compulsive as having a tub of disinfectant wipes in every room because germs are everywhere.

Unless you also have your windows boarded up to keep out the burglars nearly any night has sufficient light to find your way around if you just pause a minute to let your eyes adjust. Certainly a single inexpensive automatic emergency light in the hallway on each floor will provide plenty of light to find your way.

You don't need a big, ugly, expensive commercial grade emergency light, the cheap ones you find at the big box stores are quite adequate, they don't last forever, but neither do the commercial units. In a commercial application there is a maintenance person who regularly tests the emergency lights and replaces failing batteries. In a residential environment you should test your emergency lights at the same time you test your smoke and CO detectors and replace as needed.

And a simple lighting system need not be more elaborate than a $20 rechargeable flashlight that automatically turns on in a power failure. If it lasts a couple years before the batteries fail you're still ahead of a $100 commercial unit that will have a battery life of perhaps 6 or

7 years at best.

Absolutely as they aren't old enough to know there is a danger to begin with.

And under yours as well as emergency lighting wouldn't make any difference to her. Someone who requires assistance to move requires additional planning and procedures. In your case this person should be in a first floor room and instructed to remain there in the event of an emergency so you don't need to go searching for them. The responsible party(ies) need to go and get this person in the event of an emergency and that could well mean getting out first and then accessing the room with the person needing assistance from a window.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

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This provides substantial amount of light, operates automatically in a power failure, will work for up to 90 minutes (more than enough time to get out), and is reasonably priced at $17.50 (Battery is included). Call it roughly $25.00 including shipping and handling.

Reply to
Robert Gammon

You have misquoted or misinterpreted. I *do not* want an emergency light in every room. I want one or two to light the hallways.

Not the same thing at all. Flashlights should be readily accessible for emergencies. I cannot conceive of an "emergency" where I would need to quickly grab disinfectant wipes in every room.

Your point is usually valid. I have lived in this house for 10 years and was always able to find my way in the dark. (For example, I certainly do not need to turn on the lights to get to the bathroom at night.) However, this latest incident was a real eye-opener, no pun intended. The house was

*pitch black,* and oddly there was absolutely no light from outdoors that evening. So, I was left with no visibility at all. I was *not* frightened because this was simply a power outage. However, it did make me realize that in a true emergency where speed might be needed, it would be prudent to have a good emergency light. I am *not* trying to set up any type of commercial setting (as I explained in my message), but it would be a good idea to have additional lighting.

What's your problem? Additional safety is not a problem; a person who might completely ignore saftey would be a better target for your contempt.

No, the lighting would not have made any difference to my mother. However, it would have made a *huge* difference to me in helping her escape. You say the responsible partiy (me) needs to go and get this person in the event of an emergency. That's my whole point! I would want to do that as quickly and as safely as possible -- and in the event of a fire, *minutes* are sometimes precious.

This will be my last response to you. I did not ask for an essay on why I should *not* get lighting; I simply asked for some suggestions *for* lighting (which several other respondents helped with in simple and courteous messages.)

Reply to
MaryL

Excellent! Thank you very much. You and several others have given some simple and inexpensive ideas, and this is just the type of device I wanted.

MaryL

Reply to
MaryL

When there's a power failure you need to go around the house, turning off all the lights you don't need right away (to save the battery charge). Then, when you need light you can't find them.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

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