"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 01:57:17 GMT, (Beachcomber)
wrote:


snip
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.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com



Good point! I hadn't thought of that.

Thanks,
MaryL

MaryL wrote:
"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 01:57:17 GMT, (Beachcomber)
wrote:


snip

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.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com




Good point! I hadn't thought of that.

Thanks,
MaryL



Which is a VERY good selling point for the battery backed wall unit that
I pointed out to Mary. ONE fixture only, and no need to run around
turning off units that are not needed.

"Robert Gammon" wrote in message
om...
MaryL wrote:
"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 01:57:17 GMT, (Beachcomber)
wrote:


snip

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.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com




Good point! I hadn't thought of that.

Thanks,
MaryL


Which is a VERY good selling point for the battery backed wall unit that I
pointed out to Mary. ONE fixture only, and no need to run around turning
off units that are not needed.


It also uses a 6-volt battery, and that is another good selling point (not
an expensive, difficult-to-locate type of battery). I plan to order this
one!

Thanks, again.
MaryL

Pete C. wrote:
Beachcomber wrote:
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.
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

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.

Pete
Have you ever hung from a second floor window and dropped? How did you
do? I'm one of the people who's job it is to find and remove the folks
who couldn't make it out on their own. Nothing is as easy or simple as
you seem to think when you are woken out of a sound sleep at 0Dark30 in
the blessed AM by the sound of a smoke detector and your coughing as
soon as you sit up because there is already smoke in the house. I have
found perfectly competent able bodied adults unconscious in there own
front hall with their hand prints in the soot on the walls because they
were suffering from carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide poisoning
produced by a smoldering fire and could not find the door knob.

It is not unreasonable to want some sort of automatic light if you
already know that you would have a hard time finding your way through
your home in the dark. The less expensive units that others have
already pointed out are a good choice especially in homes with children.
The version I would recommend is more expensive because it is designed
to work as a portable flood light after it is removed from its charging
rack and it's battery will last until dawn the next day. That would be
the streamlite litebox in the eight watt flood light lamp version. You
can check those out at
http://www.streamlight.com/litebox_specifications.htm They are the
third item down the page. There is a dealer locater link there to find
someone who sells them in your area.

The only caution I would offer is to cover the basics first. Have both
photoelectric and ionization smoke detectors on every level of your home
and outside every group of bedrooms in your home. If you can afford it
have the hard wired interconnected ones installed that also have a
battery back up. If you can afford more then consider a complete
automatic home fire alarm system. Such systems can be equipped with
carbon monoxide, natural gas, and even refrigeration failure and
flooding detectors. If you are having a home built for you then have an
automatic sprinkler system installed. That option will cost you less,
when installed during the construction of a new home, then a good grade
of wall to wall carpeting.

Under the deregulation mantra the nations public utilities are becoming
more brittle. To maintain profitability the staffing of repair crews
have been cut to dangerous levels. We can expect more outages and
failures as these utilities management passes from engineers who
understood their product and customers to MBAs that understand only the
Andrew Carnegie formula of "Take care of cost and profit takes care of
itself."

Master Firefighter / Rescuer Thomas D. Horne speaking only for himself

MaryL wrote:
wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

I realize that there are some little plug-in lights available that come on
when electricity is off.
Go to this slink and look at very bottom of page where
it says "power failure system"

http://www.streamlight.com/litebox_specifications.htm

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



Mary
The one he's talking about comes on automatically when the power to it's
charging rack fails. When you remove it from it's charging rack it will
function as a very long lasting flashlight. In my opinion the model you
want is the eight watt, flood light bulb, power failure version. It is
the third item down that page.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

"Member, Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department"
wrote in message
news:Qptig.129$OL2.44@trnddc06...
MaryL wrote:
wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

I realize that there are some little plug-in lights available that come
on
when electricity is off.
Go to this slink and look at very bottom of page where
it says "power failure system"

http://www.streamlight.com/litebox_specifications.htm

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

Mary
The one he's talking about comes on automatically when the power to it's
charging rack fails. When you remove it from it's charging rack it will
function as a very long lasting flashlight. In my opinion the model you
want is the eight watt, flood light bulb, power failure version. It is
the third item down that page.
--
Tom Horne



Thanks. I did not pick up on that when I first looked at the page. (Also,
thanks for your informative reply to one of Pete C's messages. He seems to
think I am stupid for wanting more protection, while I think we should
consider panic and the limited time available in the event of a fire -- and
take extra precautions for that possibility.)

MaryL

MaryL wrote:
"Member, Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department"
wrote in message
news:Qptig.129$OL2.44@trnddc06...
MaryL wrote:
wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

I realize that there are some little plug-in lights available that come
on
when electricity is off.
Go to this slink and look at very bottom of page where
it says "power failure system"

http://www.streamlight.com/litebox_specifications.htm
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
Mary
The one he's talking about comes on automatically when the power to it's
charging rack fails. When you remove it from it's charging rack it will
function as a very long lasting flashlight. In my opinion the model you
want is the eight watt, flood light bulb, power failure version. It is
the third item down that page.
--
Tom Horne



Thanks. I did not pick up on that when I first looked at the page. (Also,
thanks for your informative reply to one of Pete C's messages. He seems to
think I am stupid for wanting more protection, while I think we should
consider panic and the limited time available in the event of a fire -- and
take extra precautions for that possibility.)

MaryL



Mary
I salute you for taking the time to think about taking care of your own
safety instead of sitting back and assuming someone else will magically
bale you out when things go wrong.

A major portion of a Firefighters job is to encourage people to think
about such issues in advance. I give you major points for having taken
some preparatory steps and reevaluating how they work out when
appropriate. Many of the deaths that occur during emergencies and
disasters can be attributed to lack of preparedness on the part of
individual citizens who then want heads to roll because a federal Urban
Search and Rescue Team (USART) did not arrive during the event to hold
them by the hand and spoon feed them. If more people were taking
responsibility for there own safety like you the fire and rescue service
would be a lot less busy then it now is and the US would not have the
worst rate of civilian fire casualties of all developed nations.
--
Master Firefighter / Rescuer Thomas D. Horne, speaking for himself and
not the Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department, a cooperating agency of
Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, Maryland

Well we aren't no thin blue heroes. Yet we aren't no blackguards too.
Were just working men and women most remarkable like you.