Reed wrote:

Stormin Mormon wrote:

Last night, the wind blew. The storm howled. And the little bulb in my
night light blew. Well, this isn't a big deal, go get another bulb. I
decided to leave it for the next day. And eventually the daylight
came, and all was good.

But it got me thinking. What to do in case of a long term power cut?
The flash light on the night table is OK, but it's a lot easier to see
with a night light.

You'd think, wouldn't yah, that someone else had this same problem?

I'd like a light that runs for five or six days on a set of batteries.
Turned off daytime, of course. It should have about as much light as a
7 watt night light. And it should be a pleasant, wide light not a
penlight that shines a spot on the far wall.

I've never seen 3-D holders at Radio Shack, but maybe I can build
something. And maybe an LED out of a Photon light, that has a wide
spread light. And open wires, I can make something work.

But, is anything out there made for night light use?


maybe like this device ? (but only 8 hours on batteries)
http://www.outlettrail.com/store/pro...roductid=10019


Not great because you have to get out of bed and into it's detection
zone before it turns on.

I use the GE white LED plug in nightlights, one in the bedroom and one
in the bathroom and they're on night and day, power consumption is
negligible. A bit less light output than a 7 watter, but enough for me
once my eyes have been dark accustomed for a short time. Probably could
get more light from them by putting a higher intensity LED in and
reducing the impedance of the voltage dropping element.

It wouldn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out how to add a couple of
NiCad cells and a trickle charging circuit onto one of those so there
would be light even when the power failed. Wouldn't even need a
transformer, just the impedances of a series capacitor and resistor to
drop the line voltage through.

Any decent ham or savvy tech should be able to cobble one up if they
can't be bought "tailor made".

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.