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?

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

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.

snip

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.


snip

please see #3 below
3 Way Sensing - 4 way lighting

(1) Detects power outages and automatically turns on emergency flashlight

(2) Automatically senses motion in a dark room and lights the way for safety

(3) Automatically senses darkness and becomes a classy night light

(4) Power lasts 8 continuous hours in emergency situation

Reed wrote:
snip

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.


snip

please see #3 below
3 Way Sensing - 4 way lighting

(1) Detects power outages and automatically turns on emergency flashlight

(2) Automatically senses motion in a dark room and lights the way for
safety

(3) Automatically senses darkness and becomes a classy night light

(4) Power lasts 8 continuous hours in emergency situation



Missed that, I stopped at The headline.

You're right, that sounds like what he's needs, if he doesn't mind
spending $35 to get it.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

You're answer is actually quite a bit simpler than you expect.

You wrote this, so I am assuming you were using a computer (rather than
some hereto-unknown super-hero power) so you should have a battery
backup. They are much better and safer than you surge protector. So
go get an oversized one (if there is such a thing) and plug your
computer into it and forget about it. When your power goes out, your
computer safely shuts down, you can turn it one (and your modem) for
info over the internet, and you can plug your low-voltage light into
it. Oh, and your cordless phone.

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13&subid=5

Some have pretty good run-times. Days, no. Fairly long, yes. YRMV.
http://www.apc.com/products/runtime_...m?upsfamily=23
I'll let someone else do the math as to how long it will run under
various circumstances.

My OLD backup (ES 725) lasted 16 minutes and 22 seconds yesterday when
our power went out. High winds in upstate NY. Our power was out for
about 15 hours. The 16 min. included computer, 2 monitors, 2 printers,
and phone. I was not hope at the time, so it then shut the system down
(instead of just letting it crash). Then it had 7 minutes of juice
left (I set it that way).



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?

I use a UPS on my satellite system and TV, before I went big screen.
The satellite receiver has a hard drive in it, its a DVR, so the UPS
avoids reboot time.

One day our power failed My wife freaked that EVERYTHING quit but the
TV.

I howled with laughter, she FREAKED!

The larger screen TV was too big for the UPS.

" wrote:

I use a UPS on my satellite system and TV, before I went big screen.
The satellite receiver has a hard drive in it, its a DVR, so the UPS
avoids reboot time.

One day our power failed My wife freaked that EVERYTHING quit but the
TV.

I howled with laughter, she FREAKED!

The larger screen TV was too big for the UPS.

Get a bigger UPS.

If it is during the day, my wife forgets about the UPS. One time she
called me wanting to know why the ceiling fan quit working. I ask her
about the lights on the UPS and the orange light was on.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

I gurss everyone has a story. Mine is that I was across town working
on my wife's car that wouldn't start. One of the kids called to say
that he thought the power wasn't working (he was 7 or 8). I asked what
he meant. He said the only light in the house was from my computer.
So not knowing what to do (even though my wife was home), we went to my
office, turned on the TV and called me. I told him to turn off the
computer and watch TV until it died and that I'd be home soon.


Jim Rusling wrote:
" wrote:

I use a UPS on my satellite system and TV, before I went big screen.
The satellite receiver has a hard drive in it, its a DVR, so the UPS
avoids reboot time.

One day our power failed My wife freaked that EVERYTHING quit but the
TV.

I howled with laughter, she FREAKED!

The larger screen TV was too big for the UPS.

Get a bigger UPS.

If it is during the day, my wife forgets about the UPS. One time she
called me wanting to know why the ceiling fan quit working. I ask her
about the lights on the UPS and the orange light was on.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

look at christmas strings of led's and ebay search lav-nav toilet
battery motion sensor led light.
some recent catalog had a $22 hi and low illumination pair of leds
with switch, it clips on a 9 volt battery.
you can search at www.brookstone.com for led and get amazing selection
of results.
my brother-in-law bob says put a paper cup over a flashlight to diffuse
it like a shade.
you will also be inspired by the camping/flashlight aisle, at walmart.
run white led christmas strings throughout the house and plug them into
your car battery inverter or ups.

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?