Rechargeable light?

[Buckman]

In view of the fact that we have suffered two power outages at home in recent weeks, we are thinking of buying one of those rechargeable lights. Our friend who sadly has passed on had a light that looked like an overhead neon light. It was about a meter long and gave off quite a bright light. It was plugged into the mains and all you saw was a small green light. In the event of a power failure, the light would automatically switch on.

We do have torches and two Campingaz lamps which are quite effective, however I think we require the neon type light mentioned above. Any recommendations as unsure if this type of light has a specific name?

 

[otherclive]

We use one similar to this in an under stairs cupboard.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/battery-operated-strip-light/s?k=battery+operated+strip+light

 

[Hutch]

We keep a supply of candles as well as torches, you can't recharge a lamp if there is no power.So I have a power pack jump starter, for the car, which I can recharge from. I do have a small generator in the garage, 12/240 volt.
I have two of those strip light in the food cupboard, very good. 3 different modes.

Amazon.co.uk

 

[ProfJohnL]

In view of the fact that we have suffered two power outages at home in recent weeks, we are thinking of buying one of those rechargeable lights. Our friend who sadly has passed on had a light that looked like an overhead neon light. It was about a meter long and gave off quite a bright light. It was plugged into the mains and all you saw was a small green light. In the event of a power failure, the light would automatically switch on.

We do have torches and two Campingaz lamps which are quite effective, however I think we require the neon type light mentioned above. Any recommendations as unsure if this type of light has a specific name?

The type of light fitting you are describing is an emergency lighting unit which charges and maintains a battery when mains is on, but automatically switches over to the battery when power is lost.

Try this link

 

[Mr Plodd]

I have an old 12v leisure battery, an old LED floodlight with a length of cable and some crocodile clips. But they are all in the garage (but together right by the door) so not an "automatic" system.

 

[JTQ]

I have an old 12v leisure battery, an old LED floodlight with a length of cable and some crocodile clips. But they are all in the garage (but together right by the door) so not an "automatic" system.

I use much the same having overhead Utility cabling, outages are anything but "rare".
Two traction batteries are in the garage always on CTEK chargers, and a very old camping awning 12 volt tube light with croc clips is to hand.
In series the two batteries power the gas boiler if heating is needed.

TLC Direct do to my knowledge a nice "maintained" LED light, that can serve both a normal mains duty and an emergency light for 3 plus hours. i penny pinched and got the basic mains version.

 

[Buckman]

The other option and probably cheaper is to use our old 12v AGM battery and an inverter to power bedside type lights, but it still means groping around in the dark. I think that the products on the Screwfix link may be a solution.

 

[Milkfloat]

I installed batteries with my solar setup and have sockets that will always be live connected to my inverter. I am less worried about lights as I always have my phone to hand and have torches all around the house. I am more worried about my home office setup as I work from home full time. I have my router connected to the inverter so I should not lose internet access and my laptop should last a few hours before I would need to run an extension cable to recharge it, or just move to the caravan on my drive.

 

[Buckman]

I installed batteries with my solar setup and have sockets that will always be live connected to my inverter. I am less worried about lights as I always have my phone to hand and have torches all around the house. I am more worried about my home office setup as I work from home full time. I have my router connected to the inverter so I should not lose internet access and my laptop should last a few hours before I would need to run an extension cable to recharge it, or just move to the caravan on my drive.

When we have a power outage, we have no Internet as no mobile signal in our area. Generally the outage is only about an hour, but always seem to happen at night. Longest we have been out of power was about 4 - 5 hours a few years ago.

A bit of a nuisance when in the middle of cooking your supper and you have to resort to the camping gas stove. At least we get the power back unlike other countries where they are lucky to get 6 hours of power at day.

 

[otherclive]

I’m not sure 240v supplied with battery back up is a good solution. Many have far less run time than a LED rechargeable. They are more use in care homes, offices, etc. where periodically charging an LED is more labour intensive.

We have an assortment of different LED rechargeable lights, plus torches too. Always have a good stock of Varta batteries from Screwfix and if that lot aren’t adequate we have tea lights and candles and various ignition sources.

 

[Mr Plodd]

I live in a town can't remember the last time we had a power cut (insert "smug" emoji here)

 

[Beachball]

We had a power cut it lasted nearly 6 hours last week lucky we had candles and rechargeable torches and they came in very useful .

 

[Buckman]

When we were out and about in 2020 we had a power failure on East Fleet Farm site was in Weymouth. It lasted at about 3 hours and the whole area was affected as traffic lights leaving the site were not working either. Couldn't even do shopping at ALDI across the road. We have had power outages on other sites, but this was the longest one experienced. Only thing we could really do was watch the TV until the power was restored.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

We often get power cuts though normally only a few hours.
Recently we suffered one that lasted 36 hours. Our little camping generator came in very useful.

 

[Sam Vimes]

As I've mentioned before, while you're lighting is important more and more we are reliant on our broadband connection.

In these days of fibre and the withdrawal of wired telephone connections we'll need to keep the Routers and ONTs alive in power cuts in order to make phone calls. If you're reliant on Wifi Calling then this also will need these devices powered in order to work.

I've noticed that even in areas where there are reasonable mobile phone signals these tend to degrade in powers cuts.

UPS devices can be found on Amazon and other such places.

 

[Buckman]

As I've mentioned before, while you're lighting is important more and more we are reliant on our broadband connection.

In these days of fibre and the withdrawal of wired telephone connections we'll need to keep the Routers and ONTs alive in power cuts in order to make phone calls. If you're reliant on Wifi Calling then this also will need these devices powered in order to work.

I've noticed that even in areas where there are reasonable mobile phone signals these tend to degrade in powers cuts.

UPS devices can be found on Amazon and other such places.

Unless we have a landline, if we have a power failure no communication with the outside world.

 

[otherclive]

Unless we have a landline, if we have a power failure no communication with the outside world.

When VOIP arrives then you will need an UPS and adapter to give you the ability to make calls on the landline, or a UPS that allows your router to stay powered up and then make mobile wifi calls. I'm having to think about the options as my 24 month EE broadband contract ends in March and looking at companies that even provide a landline option via VOIP the cost of Anytime calls isn't cheap, nor is the lower option of pay for calls. My son, daughter and grandson have now all ditched the landline.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I'm in a similar position with BT as contract ends in June

These days we use the mobile phones to make calls as we pay just £3 per month each for unlimited calls and texts. Cheaper than BT's call plan. The Digital Voice phone is just a legacy option for incoming calls which are less and less and I'm hoping we can get rid of it in June.

We're limited in alternate ISPs here. So far just Plusnet. Most these days offer Broadband cheaper than BT but without a phone.

One possibility I'm looking at if Mrs V isn't comfortable with losing the landline number is to port it to a separate Voip provider like Andrews and Arnold who's call prices are pretty good compared to BT.

 

[otherclive]

I'm in a similar position with BT as contract ends in June

These days we use the mobile phones to make calls as we pay just £3 per month each for unlimited calls and texts. Cheaper than BT's call plan. The Digital Voice phone is just a legacy option for incoming calls which are less and less and I'm hoping we can get rid of it in June.

We're limited in alternate ISPs here. So far just Plusnet. Most these days offer Broadband cheaper than BT but without a phone.

One possibility I'm looking at if Mrs V isn't comfortable with losing the landline number is to port it to a separate Voip provider like Andrews and Arnold who's call prices are pretty good compared to BT.

That’s a very cheap price for unlimited calls and texts on mobiles. Is it a special deal? Even out of contract for six years my EE mobile has still gone up from £5pm at the beginning as it picks up 3.9% per year plus inflation. What is the arrangement on your mobiles?

 

[Buckman]

When VOIP arrives then you will need an UPS and adapter to give you the ability to make calls on the landline, or a UPS that allows your router to stay powered up and then make mobile wifi calls. I'm having to think about the options as my 24 month EE broadband contract ends in March and looking at companies that even provide a landline option via VOIP the cost of Anytime calls isn't cheap, nor is the lower option of pay for calls. My son, daughter and grandson have now all ditched the landline.

Not quite sure what you mean as VOIP has been around for years, but never felt any need to use it? If it is a real emergency I can take a drive to where there is mobile signal and make a call. Just hope I can drive out. LOL!

 

[Sam Vimes]

That’s a very cheap price for unlimited calls and texts on mobiles. Is it a special deal? Even out of contract for six years my EE mobile has still gone up from £5pm at the beginning as it picks up 3.9% per year plus inflation. What is the arrangement on your mobiles?

I use an MVNO called 1Pmobile. 1p per minute, per text, per Mbyte but they also have 30 day boosts which is what we use at £3 per unlimited calls and texts. Or you can pay up front £36 for free unlimited calls and texts for a year plus 250Mbytes per month. If we're away and need data in volume we'll just buy a data boost.

They use EE and the signal is very good in most places and the Wifi Calling, which is a must for us, works seemlessly.

 

[otherclive]

Not quite sure what you mean as VOIP has been around for years, but never felt any need to use it? If it is a real emergency I can take a drive to where there is mobile signal and make a call. Just hope I can drive out. LOL!

I know that voip isn’t new, but conventional landlines using the old copper technology are being progressively dropped and the cut off date is stated to be 2025, after which any use of a landline will have to use VOIP. So your landline as installed will not work as is without modification, or renewal.

Apologies for the source of the link 😂 but all suppliers are doing the change over.

Millions of BT landlines turned off ahead of 2025 deadline for Digital Voice switchover in UK — explained

Home phone lines from Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Plusnet, EE and other brands are also impacted

www.gbnews.com

 

[Sam Vimes]

Not quite sure what you mean as VOIP has been around for years, but never felt any need to use it? If it is a real emergency I can take a drive to where there is mobile signal and make a call. Just hope I can drive out. LOL!

Pretty soon you wont have much choice as traditional landlines are being phased out in favour of VoIP

 

[Buckman]

I know that voip isn’t new, but conventional landlines using the old copper technology are being progressively dropped and the cut off date is stated to be 2025, after which any use of a landline will have to use VOIP. So your landline as installed will not work as is without modification, or renewal.

Apologies for the source of the link 😂 but all suppliers are doing the change over.

Millions of BT landlines turned off ahead of 2025 deadline for Digital Voice switchover in UK — explained

Home phone lines from Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Plusnet, EE and other brands are also impacted

www.gbnews.com

I must admit that I had no idea of this switch over so thanks for the link. We were aware of 2G being switched off.

BT state that they will supply battery packs to vulnerable customers so we will probably need to apply. In the home there is no mobile signal. If I walk outside and up the road I may get one or two bars which will allow texting, but no voice calls.

Of course the main issue is if someone wants to contact us they will not be aware of the power outage and we obviously will not be aware of them trying to contact us. I am not sure if the battery pack is UPS which would be better?

Anyway back to rechargeable lights and we have more of less decided on one from Screwfix thanks to the link that Prof John gave me. the advantage is that the Screwfix branch is only about 6 - 7 miles away from our location. See https://www.screwfix.com/p/aurora-i...gular-led-brick-bulkhead-white-3w-167lm/230ht

 

[Buckman]

By the way does this new VOIP system mean that hundreds of thousands of phones will be going to the tip?