A storm went through northern California. We were without electricity for six hours. I worked a bit on my Android, and I tried a hotspot for my Chromebook. It was not easy going. What do you do when the electricity goes out, and you need to be online?
Climb in the RV and start the generator. Of course if the whole area is down, so is the internet. Cell towers MAY be working (off a power supply for a while) but if not I'd have to go to another town and use the free internet in a hospital or something.
It's been many years, but we had a major ice storm in Virginia when we lived there. Without power for 10 days. You hunker down and survive - fancies like internet pale beside the need for water, heat, food etc.
My mom and her husband lived on the Oregon coast and were without power for ten days. They were the only house with a gas fireplace, so everyone came to their house to get warm, socialize, and help each other keep their spirits up.
Six hours is not that long, but it got me thinking about how much we depend on electricity. A generator is a good idea. I thought about going to a coffee getting on the Internet and working there.
A public internet source is fine...if you don't care who sees and copies what you're doing. My brother wrote software for city payrolls and always had to have private internet.
I HAVE used my phone, making a hotspot for the computer, when camping and needing to get to financial or other secured sources. It seems pretty safe.
Hi, all, if I had fuel, I start my generator. That is all, and thanks.
Yes, a phone hotspot for using computer is a good thing as long as cell towers hold and batteries don't die. A home generator is always useful if you have fuel but you can't run everything at once on most. Car battery can help but it's smart to have a backup jump charger. Solar chargers for all batteries can be really useful. Small portable phone batteries for about 10 bucks are good to keep ready to go. Hefty power inverters are a great option falling somewhere between a phone charger and home generator, depending on the kind you buy.
That is quite a setup. I don't even know what a Hefty power inverters are.
I think he means "heafty", i.e. beefy or sizeable (sometimes applied to a fat person, "she's very heafty") Maybe there's a Hefty brand though.
Edit: Yes there is a Hefty brand
Too funny...it's only capitalized because it's at the start of the sentence...https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/hefty
Okay. So, they are just power inverters. I don't know what a "power inverter" is. I will have to google it.
They are my preference because they are easily managed for a variety of uses in car and home, though it is nice that my husband keeps a larger generator for major scale home outages.
Inverters turn DC power into AC power. So, you could use a car battery to run regular household appliances that plug into the wall.
Now we're getting somewhere! Hopefully, an article on the different options offered in/with power inverters will come out of this question. I know ours will need to be replaced eventually–we've already been through one– and it's likely that this time a top of the line would be in order.
Ahh...that makes sense. An article is a good idea!
In this part of the country, we regularly see hurricanes now. We have a back up generator for the house, but living near several big universities, usually one of their libraries stays operational during those times. If it is opened to the public, I may go use one of those areas.
That's a good idea. Libraries are safe and have wifi.
In my country Nigeria, that will not work. Except the public library put up its generating set.
Yes. We have thought of getting a generator, it's on our "someday" list, but so far it is not a priority.
In the past series of storms we have had two outages of 5-6 hours. We have a wood burning stove and plenty of wood. We have a gas (propane) stove. The burners can be lit with a match orlighter. We have battery lanterns, a battery/solar/handcrank radio with weather stations and regular stations. it also has a charger for cell phone or other stuff.
My ipad has a Verizon link. I have a backup battery for it.
My pantry is well-stocked.
I have ahub about winter power outages.
As paradigm said... you can find other things to do by lantern light. or just catch up on sleep.
If you NEED to be online there are some workarounds-- or you can use it to to enjoy the fireplace and a bowl of soup or a glass of wine
Rochelle,
It sounds like you manage well on the outages. I used to have Verizon. They are a good company for workarounds.
We very rarely lose power, even during storms. If we do, it's usually for scheduled maintenance and we get notified by mail a fortnight in advanced. We use LED lights or even good old candles for light. I normally setup a hotspot on my phone so I can use the Internet on my laptop.
The outage suddenly happened, so I didn't have time to set up. I tried the carrier's hotspot, but it wasn't working well. I used to be with Verizon and switched to AT&T because of a better deal. Verizon's hotspot worked better. Do you use your carrier's hotspot or a third party app?
No, I just setup my smartphone as a hotspot, then I can connect to it by WIFI fom my laptop in the same way as I connect to my modem.
Hi, eugbug, good to know this trick! Many thanks, and have a nice time.
I was reading this thread and the power went out, I kid you not. That got a true LOL out of me. Outage lasted 40 minutes. The net result was I got a half hour's housework done.
LOL! Housework is always an option for those short outages.
We have frequent electrical outages in my area of NW NJ. I have a fireplace, helpful because we have electric heat. The town municipal bldg. has chargers to let us keep our cell phones and tablets charged, but you need lanterns for light, and it gets very cold fast. In the past 10 years, we've been without power for 10 days, 7 days, and 4 last March that were so cold we drove and checked into a hotel. I sometimes go to the library to use the internet. But after boiling water to take a bath and wash my hair, and trying to cook outside in the cold on the grill, I usually let communications go.
I stayed here for a long time because I loved camping and the woods, but at my age now am sick of the hardships. We used to be without power for a few hours, would go to bed, and in the night would hear the heat click back on. My late husband said a generator wouldn't work for us, we would only be able to have a lamp and the TV on, so that doesn't help. You don't really get much out of a generator unless you are prepared to spend a lot of money, and heat is the most important. I am putting the house up for sale in about a year. I've had enough. The electric companies can't handle so many thousands of outages. Even summer storms make the house cold, then you are better off staying outside.
Jean,
That is unbelievable. You'd think the electric company would pull it together and figure out how to sustain enough energy for its customers. I would be more concerned about surviving than being on the Internet, too. But, this is my livelihood. I would be concerned about my income and paying the bills.
Kenna,
You could find a hotspot, and as I think I mentioned, the library is nice about letting people work in it for longer periods of time during power outages. It's not like you need a computer there, you have your own laptop or tablet, I think? Also, in a pinch, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks don't really care if you sit a few hours, as long as you buy a coffee or two. You can get online as a guest user there.
During Hurricane Sandy, POTUS Obama had huge power trucks sent out to us in military helicopters. He and R Governor Chris Christie worked so well together. I live in what is a bird sanctuary, there are one lane roads with around 65 houses. The crew that finally helped us was from UT. It was so touching they gave up all that time to come help us. Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi were entertaining and distributing hot meals in South Jersey. We never expected to get hit as we are in the Western part of the State, in the North, but you can still see the damage in a lot of places. It was great to see the people and politicians working so well together.
Jean, Your home sounds rural but full of all sorts of wildlife. When someone wants to get something done, it gets done. Springsteen and Bon Jovi is so epic. I am sure the conditions were terrible.
Starbucks and Dunk Donuts are not my favorite coffee shops. But if that is all there is in a remote area, I'd be there working. I also like the library but their hours are not convenient for a writer.
I have experienced it in the Indian Himalayan foothills. The only thing which is useful for some time is a small UPS or inverter but it has to be used very very sparingly for mobile charging or things like that.
We should refrain using it for lighting. Use candles, oil lamps (we do not have those now a days but they are the real useful things in such times) and other such items for lights.
Rationing is the key to survive in such situations, I believe.
Bhattuc, The Himalayan Foothills is so far from where I live. I can't image what it must be like to live there when there is an electrical outage.
I live without mainstream electricity all day every day, completely off the grid. There are many solar powered lights etc you could have on hand and charged to help you through.
I totally recommend anyone with money to spare should consider getting a proper solar system installed. We've upgraded four times since our first basic solar system.
Our current solar system with bigger storage batteries supports big fridge, big freezer, fans, lights, electronics, big TVs and even a dishwasher. Our heating and winter cooking are still provided by woodburner stove; summer cooking requires propane and/or solar oven; hot water instantly heated using propane LPG tank. Some day we'll get around to solar hot water but I'm happy with the way things are for now.
I love never getting a power bill and not having supply interrupted. A few years back I wrote hubs about our basic solar lifestyle (including generator) so you might find sone helpful info in them.
At the very least, I think you should have solar powered flashlights. (I also wrote about erecting a small tent inside your house if you have extreme heat or cold without power for air conditioning.) Hope you find something helpful to be better prepared for next time.
PS. I suggest you take a look at my generator article if you are considering buying one because lots of generators are not good for computers (or neighbors, lol.)
LTM, I am impressed with what you have done to your home, or should I call it your homestead. LOL! Amazing. I wrote a glibly article about solar power and how to teach kids the importance of alternative energy. I wrote for a solar company and the source of energy easy to access if you can set it up. Funding such a set up is a factor, but you save in the long run by no more power bills.
by Mohammad Yasir 2 years ago
Not all of us have the luxury of uninterrupted electricity supply. In this post, I invite creative thinking from people who reside in areas where electricity supply is almost a given. Answer me this:What would you do if there was no power for the entirety of a 24 hours?Some people might be used to...
by John Coviello 12 years ago
Are You Prepared For A Week Without Power?Many in the northeastern U.S. have gone for days without power due to a heavy fall snowstorm that took down trees and branches onto powerlines. For some it will be a week or longer before they have electricity restored. Are you prepared to live...
by GiblinGirl 11 years ago
What's the best way to pass time when the power goes out?After 6 days with no power and no heat, thanks to super-storm Sandy, I finally got electricity back yesterday afternoon. My husband and I passed time by playing UNO and Scrabble and listening to a crank radio. It was pretty...
by Janetta 15 years ago
Hey hubbers!! I've been without power at home since about 2pm Friday, so I haven't been able to get on-- I think I've been having withdrawals!! We had a huge storm and knocked out all the power, luckily my mom got hers back last night so I'm mooching internet time I see there's a...
by H C Palting 12 years ago
Hurricane season starts in a few weeks. How long could you go without power in a weather event?Do you have essentials? For example, if there was a hurricane that knocked out power in your area for a couple weeks or more, would you need to ask for assistance from others or could you get by? Let's...
by tobey100 13 years ago
I've finally had my fill of people preaching electric vehicles (EVs) as the salvation of the world. It might make a body feel 'green' but it actually does nothing in terms of conservation or 'saving' the planet. But, of course, we all realize that the 'feeling' is everything. ...
Copyright © 2024 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2024 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |