I have a solar emergency radio that has a place to plug in a usb phone. I have not used it yet it is just in the window to stay charged. It has a flashlight on it as well. When the power goes out the only thing we fret about is the propane furnace and who is going out to get wood. We have candles and oil lamps.
LOL!! @Mary Stetler !! John's suggesting plug-ins, those would be much better than the stick-ons. Mine were weird stick-ons because you would twist them in, just one slight turn to hold them. They were under my cupboards in kitchen. How they came un-twisted to fall out I didn't get since I don't bang anything around in my cupboards as I don't like the idea of disturbing my cliff-dwelling neighbors
They are truly misleading people by labelling the battery packs as generators. Lots of people get fooled by that. If you don't need to keep appliances like freezers or refrigerators going, then the battery packs described will work fine for just charging electronics and operating LED lights. You could get a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) as well, but they might be out of your budget. A small solar setup could work for you as well. We have to run a furnace and a well pump, so we need something bigger, but it doesn't need to run all the time.
Thanks Don, yes it is misleading, plus that maybe gives them license to charge so much for one. I think 500 is a lot for battery that only charges small appliance, and doesn't run off something like gasoline. I think I'll look at solar types of battery chargers
I was going to buy a couple of those HALO jump start battery paks (with 65W AC outlets) that @Beth Gallagher mentioned to use as UPS units on my wood stove thermometer/alarm units. I looked at the product manual to see what the recharging instructions are (can I leave them plugged in 7/24/365?), and ended up calling the manufacturer for the answer. They cannot. They lack the Auto-Off When Charged feature, and can overcharge if left plugged in.
Thanks for checking these out, I don't want to worry about leaving something plugged in too long. I'm forgetful and have to set my stove timer for a few thing already
I have never had any problem with leaving them plugged in, but we use them as they are intended... as emergency power. Once the outage is over (or the car battery has been jumped), I can plug one in on the kitchen cabinet and when I see the light indicator that it is fully charged, I unplug it and put it back in the drawer. They hold a full charge for an extended time.
that's smart to keep them visible so the alert light is right there. I have very little kitchen-counter space so don't think I'd room for another thing is my problem
It's only on the counter for about an hour, Denise. Once it's charged back up I put it away till needed.
You probably said that and I spaced it, shoot I never even used recreational pot or anything else and I still sound like Cheech and Chong when I speak Anyway, you said it holds a charge for some time. I could keep an eye on that and just plug it back in if it died.
I have actually never had either of ours lose charge at all when being stored. I charge them up and when we take them out to use them they are still fully charged. They work well for operating a lamp or laptop for a few hours but they aren't meant to be heavy-duty. (Actually they are sold as vehicle emergency items; one version has a small compressor for tires.)