Prudent owners of apartments and private households have the opportunity to prepare in advance for power outages. The power supply to the residential sector can be turned off for a short time from 1 to 3 hours, for example, in connection with maintenance work. Nowadays, so-called rolling power outages are possible, in connection with which the duration of interruptions in power supply can reach several hours. After all, electricity may not be available due to emergencies, and in this case the recovery time may be several days.

The list of devices that make our everyday life dependent on electricity may look like this:

  • Lighting of residential and utility rooms;
  • Landline telephone service;
  • TV, radio, turntables;
  • Computers, laptops, mobile phones;
  • Household appliances such as refrigerator, electric kettle;
  • Electric heating appliances and water heating boilers;
  • Electric stoves and stoves for home cooking.

Lighting

LED flashlight can serve as a temporary alternative
traditional electric lighting

The problem of lighting residential premises in the absence of electricity looks especially acute in the autumn-winter period, when the duration of daylight is minimal. Schoolchildren and students who do not have enough daylight hours to prepare homework will surely agree with this. A temporary alternative to traditional electric lighting can be LED lights on batteries or accumulators. Replacing incandescent bulbs in such lanterns with an LED light source significantly increases the life of the batteries or accumulators of this lantern.

No less useful devices are lamps with built–in batteries. They can be used as light sources, for example, in office premises where centralized lighting is not provided.

Let's pay attention to the following points. When using battery-powered flashlights, it is necessary to have a stock of them, since batteries quickly exhaust their resource. If it is possible to use lighting devices on batteries, it is important to recharge them as soon as possible.

Autonomous power supply system

If electricity is the main source of energy in the house, you are particularly susceptible to inconveniences arising from power outages. Heating, water heating, cooking will be possible with an autonomous power supply system. At the same time, it is possible to comfortably wait out short periods of power outages.

The thermopot allows you to keep the water hot

Use energy-saving technologies. By providing reliable thermal insulation of the dwelling, it is possible to keep the heat in the premises for a considerable time even with non-working electric heating. Choose water heaters with high-quality thermal insulation of tanks. This will allow you to keep a sufficient amount of water at a comfortable temperature for the entire time of the absence of electricity.

An autonomous, backup power supply system will be in great demand when the power supply stops without warning and for an unknown time. Naturally, the installation of such a system will require financial costs. As an energy source, a battery equipped with an inverter – a device that converts direct current into alternating voltage 220V can be used. Such a system will work the longer the larger the capacity of the battery or accumulator battery and the more economical the energy consumers.

An autonomous power supply system will always power the lighting devices. Therefore, it is advisable to use LED or fluorescent as light sources. Their energy consumption is several times, and sometimes an order of magnitude less than that of incandescent lamps.

The use of specialized uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) will allow for some time to ensure the operation of household appliances, for example, a refrigerator, TV, computer equipment. In many models, it is possible to connect external batteries. Such devices are capable of automatically recharging when the power supply is restored. For computer equipment that is demanding on the quality of power supply, special uninterruptible power supply units are produced (pay attention to the article "How to choose an uninterruptible power supply?").

It is extremely important not to forget to recharge the battery after using it.

How to estimate approximately how long the energy stored in the battery will last? It is necessary to determine the total capacity of the battery, and to calculate the total consumption, use the following data.

Take into account the fact that batteries must consume a maximum of 70-75% of their charge, otherwise they will fail.

Devices for boiling water and keeping it in a heated state – thermopots - can be connected to an alternative battery-based power supply system. Once having prepared the required amount of hot water, the thermopots automatically maintain its temperature at the desired level, consuming a minimum of 30-80 watts. Yes, these appliances consume energy, but in your kitchen, regardless of the availability of electricity, there will always be an opportunity to make hot tea.

Gasoline electric generator

Gasoline generator is the most reliable way to ensure
uninterrupted power supply

The most reliable way to ensure uninterrupted power supply is to create an independent power supply system based on an autonomous electric generator. By correctly calculating energy consumption and selecting the optimal generator model, you can get enough electrical energy of proper quality for lighting, operation of all household appliances, as well as special powerful devices such as water pumps or electric tools. An internal combustion engine is used to operate such a generator, it creates noise and emits exhaust gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, the use of such a device is possible only in private households, where it is possible to install an electric generator outside of residential premises with good ventilation. The larger the household, the more powerful the generator should be. Such devices must be provided with fuel (pay attention to the article "How to choose a household electric generator?").

Please note, if you have to use an alternative power supply system, be sure to disconnect your home from the general electrical network. This will avoid premature discharge of the battery, as well as the operation of household electrical appliances under double voltage, at the moment when the power supply is restored.

Extreme "life hacking" in the absence of electrical energy

As practice shows, in case of emergencies, landline telephone communication is the most reliable, even compared to mobile communication. It is quite possible that there will be no electricity, but the landline telephone service will still be provided. Many modern models of landline phones work only when there is electricity. Just for cases of lack of electricity, provide a simple landline phone in the household, which does not need electricity to work, for example, with a dial dialer.

Wired radio broadcasting is provided in houses built in Soviet times. With its help, the population can be notified about extreme situations. There are simple and inexpensive devices for working with wired radio broadcasting lines, called radio points. They take up little space and do not require electrical power.

In case of long-term absence of electricity, candles or lamps can be used to illuminate the premises. Handling them requires special attention – after all, it is still unusual for our contemporaries to handle light sources based on an open fire.