(Continued from Part 1.)
Solar Panel Inventory
As mentioned, to make this test more valuable to the majority of the readers I didn’t use my 3,000-watt home solar-panel system for lighting or charging batteries. I did, however, use a few smaller portable solar panels I have.
1 – 100-watt panel
1 – 15-watt panel
1 – 20-watt panel
1 – 1.8-watt trickle charger
As you’d expect, the larger a solar panel is the more quickly it’ll charge a battery. For preppers who are currently without any solar panels, though not ideal, inexpensive 15-to-25-watt panels could be purchased and tucked away to be used if the SHTF. For those wanting to get more serious, I recommend a 100-watt solar panel which are currently available beginning around $50.
While many devices can be run directly off a solar panel, a charge controller is necessary to make battery charging possible. The smallest ones are palm sized and generally cost $20+ depending on its capabilities. I currently have two and used both during this preps test. One is wall mounted to charge the aforementioned deep-cycle battery, the other I use for portable applications such as charging batteries outdoors with a solar panel.
One nice feature of some small brands of charge controllers is that they have one or more USB ports which can be used to either power or recharge various devices. One of mine also has two female barrel-plug outlets to plug in 12-volt devices.
One thing I tested was running some lights directly off a solar panel. While solar-powered lighting seems like an oxymoron, in reality many parts of the house don’t have adequate light during the day so we generally turn the lights on whenever we’re in that room. It’s also beneficial during the winter when certain blinds and curtains are kept closed all day to conserve heat.
One curious discovery during this test was that even when my 20-watt solar panel was turned around so the sun was only shining on the back of it, it still produced enough electricity to power to some of my smaller lights. This means with only the minimal sunlight that would hit a solar panel in the shade by my kitchen, I could power adequate light for the kitchen during the day. It also shows that even on the darkest overcast days, solar panels can still provide enough electricity for at least minimal lighting.
Charge!
After inventories were taken, the first task was to bring all the large 12-volt batteries up to a full charge. It was early afternoon and the day was cloudless. Rain was predicted for later in the week so there was no time to waste.
The deep-cycle battery which runs my solar water heater and backup well-water system is always at a full charge from its dedicated 15-watt solar panel. While I didn’t use that battery itself in this preps test, you can see how even small 15-watt solar panel can keep a battery at full charge.
First, I used the 15-watt solar panel and charge controller to top off all the USB-charged lantern lights, large flashlight, headlamp, and two pocket flashlights. None were very discharged so all recharged fairly quickly.
I used the 100-watt portable solar panel to bring my 500-watt PPS up to full charge before I decided not to use it in the test since most preppers probably don’t currently own one. In my opinion it is an important enough item for preppers to have its included on my Top 10 prepping-items list.
While the PPS was charging, the small 20-watt solar panel was used to charge core #2. During the five sunny hours while it was charging, the voltage only increased from 7.6 to 8.1 volts. As mentioned, small solar panels charge batteries very slowly and a 100-watt panel is a much better way to go. Core #2 was still charging when the sun went down so there was not enough sunlight to charge core #1, a small motorcycle battery, which stood at 10.9 volts. Even without being charged, the batter worked well enough to power two direct-connect 12-volt lights. The third core charged to 12.4 volts.
The first lighting challenge was in my shop while working on project. Out of habit I turned on the light switch but the shop lights didn’t turn on. I made do with what daylight was coming through the skylight and the large open door. It was sufficient but nothing like the 4’ long bright fluorescent light over the bench. Skylights will be a big plus, post-SHTF.
Once the sun set, all the “Oh, yeah” moments started occurring. The deck light didn’t turn on. I had to use a flashlight to get some dinner out of the fridge which I had removed the bulb from. I brushed my teeth using my pocket flashlight to light the bathroom. I discovered that brushing in the dark had the benefit of not having to see that old guy in the mirror whose face ain’t what it used to be and never was much to begin with.
I had taken for granted the light cast from the three 120-volt 0.5-watt night lights in the bathroom, kitchen, and living room. They make just enough light to navigate the house when the lights are off for the night. When I hit the hay that night and all the lights were off, not having those during the test made a bigger difference than I would have thought. I was learning what it means to have a totally dark house.
Shadow-free lighting
Before I start discussing various types of lights I used, let me say at the outset since it’s mentioned so frequently below, shadows are a big deal! This is one of the most important lessons that I learned and was the primary factor in deciding which types of lights I purchased after the trial was completed.
We currently enjoy shadow-free indoor lighting so shadows aren’t something we even think about. When the grid goes down however, shadows from our light sources become hard to deal with when we’re suddenly forced to do so on a daily basis. At the very least, test this yourself by firing up your candles, oil lamps, or flashlights and see how quickly shadows get intolerable while you’re doing something like cooking a meal, making a repair, or reading a book. Even something as simple as the nightly cribbage game gets difficult and frustrating with shadows. A few candles in the center of the table will do a great job of lighting up the back of your poker hand, but not the side that you should be looking at.
Pocket flashlight – I carried this always and it turned out to be the most often-used light. For a post-SHTF lifestyle a flashlight small enough to be carried like a pocket knife would be almost essential. The one I carried is not quite 3½” long and ¾” in diameter with two brightness settings. The lowest setting isn’t especially bright compared to most flashlights, but is more than adequate for most jobs and conserves energy. I like the fact that its USB plug is underneath the screw-off end cap so it’s recharged by plugging directly into a USB port without an adapter cord.
There were two small problems with the pocket flashlights I have. First, in situations where I needed to hold it in my mouth so I could use both hands, there was a gag reflex. A flashlight with a smaller diameter would probably resolve the problem. The second issue was that there isn’t a raised rim around the on/off switch. This raised circle helps prevent accidentally turning it on when reaching into your pocket for a pocket knife or other item. It did accidentally turn it on once, resulting in a dead battery which I didn’t realize until I needed it later. A smaller pocket flashlight with a longer-lasting battery and a raised rim around the on/off button was added to my upgrade list. The nicer ones start around $25 and as the most-used light, it’s well worth the investment. Another available feature is a clip for attaching it to a hat brim.
A rechargeable pocket flashlight would be a good item for each member of the retreat to have in a gridless world.
USB A-19 hanging light – “A-19” refers to the size and shape of the bulb and applies to both AC and DC bulbs. The bulbs we commonly have in lamps and ceiling fixtures are A-19 bulbs. Overall, these proved to be the best light source in my preps test and the light was indistinguishable from the normal ordinary lighting in my house.
The A-19s I used in my preps test were USB versions with a bright 5-watt bulb and an 8’ long cord with a rocker switch, as well as 12-volt DIY versions made from an old lamp socket and wires. Needing to connect directly to a battery is a downside as opposed to more versatile rechargeable lights. On the other hand, since these types would be the most frequently used light in the house, a larger vehicle battery would be more practical source of power.
While not especially attractive hanging from its wires during my tests, for a permanent situation this bulb could easily be fitted with a lamp shade. My A-19 bulbs emit a warm light similar to all the 120-volt lights in the house.
There are many versions of A-19 lights available in 5-volt USB or 12-volt for PPSes/vehicle batteries. Some are sold as camping lights. For those wanting to provide their own lamp, prices start around $3.50 each in 6-packs of bulbs and IMO for anyone prepping for lighting, some of these would be a must-have item. The lack of shadows, and more importantly, the warm light it emits, made it indistinguishable from the A-19 everyday lights I currently have in the house.
One thing to make a note of, since we’ll only have so many vehicle-type batteries on hand if the SHTF this weekend, only so many A-19 can be used around the household and shop. Since they need an external power source, we’ll have to depend more on chargeable lights for most situations.
Be careful when buying DC versions of A-19 bulbs. Many of the online reviewers gave these bulbs a one-star rating because they blew the first time they were used, and every other bulb in the multi pack also burned out as soon as the switch was turned on. Those reviewers thought that they were buying 120-volt bulbs and the 12-volt bulbs couldn’t handle 120-volts so blew out as soon as the switch was turned on. So, since they look the same as 120-volt A-19 bulbs, be sure you’re buying the DC versions.
Photo 1 shows a prototype of the St. Funogas Super Fantabulous Fail-Safe Flicker-Free Female Lighting Adapter™. Our marketing department is still working on a more concise name. With a serious marketing effort we should be able to sell enough units each year to pay for two or three pounds of unroasted coffee beans to tuck away for a Carrington Event day.
This adapter is used to turn an everyday 120-volt lamp into a 12-volt version powered by a vehicle battery (Photo 2). At first glance, it seems like the inventor hasn’t quite grasped the fact that you can’t connect a 120-volt lamp to a vehicle battery and have it work. With this adapter however, the 120-volt A-19 bulb is replaced with a 12-volt A-19 bulb, the lamp is plugged in to the adapter, the clamps are connected to the 12-volt vehicle battery and presto, let there be light.
Lantern lights – These typically look like a miniature Coleman-type lantern and include a wire bail handle on top. The top telescopes up to expose and turn on the bright LED lights. When not telescoped, some lantern lights have a switch which turns on a small light at the very top of the lantern. The top light provides a warm light, the lights inside the lantern produce a white light. The lantern base is magnetic so with just the top light turned on, it can be hung upside down from above to provide shadowless light. I tacked a metal wide-mouth mason-jar lid to the overhead beam over my kitchen table to stick the upside-down lantern to. While not as bright as I would have liked, it was enough to eat or work by.
Had I not found a better way to light the table and been limited to the lantern light, there are some options for improving the light. A basic law of physics called the inverse-square law can be used to calculate how much light intensity drops as you get farther from any light source. Squaring the number which represents the distance from the light calculates the new light intensity at that distance. For example, if you start at full light intensity at one foot, at two feet away you’ll only have one fourth of the light intensity (2 squared = 4), at three feet it drops to 1/9th (3 squared = 9,) and at 10 feet from the light, it drops clear down to 1/100th, or one percent of the intensity.
The formula works in the other direction as well: halving the distance quadruples the amount of light. Lowering the lantern from 60” above the table to only 30” over table provides four times as much light, more than enough for the weekly Chutes and Ladders playoffs.
The big drawback with the lantern lights is the shadows they produce. After setting it down to do a particular task, due to the shadows it always had to be repositioned, usually more than once. It may seem trivial to the reader but this inconvenience of shadows can’t be fully understood until you’ve experienced it. The lantern lights worked just fine for using when shadows weren’t a concern: going up into the loft at night, taking a shower, and putting it at the bedside for getting ready for bed. For reading it worked but wasn’t the best choice. The table next to my reading chair is 8” above the armrest so the light comes out at just the right angle to shine on a book or laptop without shadows.
The second drawback of lantern lights is the white light they produce as opposed to warm light. It’s so intense with the lantern lights that when reading, I had to position the lantern so it was behind me enough so I couldn’t see the LED bulbs even out of the corner of my eye. In short-use situations just mentioned, it’s not an issue.
A disappointment with my 2-for-$36 rechargeable lantern lights was that the battery only lasted four hours before the light started getting too dim to use. That would be acceptable in situations where only intermittent light is needed, such as in a bathroom or storage room, and the lights could be recharged every two days or so.
An advantage was its portability and the magnetic flat base, allowing the light to be set down on an even surface or at any position on most metal surfaces.
Headlamps – Overall, the rechargeable headlamp turned out to be more useful than I was expecting, and since they’re also so useful on a day-to-day basis, I added a headlamp with a longer-lasting battery to my shopping list.
In everyday life, headlamps are used in situations where we need free hands such as making a vehicle repair, working on the plumbing under the sink, or bringing in firewood at night.
Mine is adjustable from very dim to very bright, not by clicks but by holding the button down. It adjusts to any light intensity desired rather than having just three options. When reading, the dimmest setting casts just enough light to see the pages and conserves battery power. For other tasks, the highest setting can be used. The brightness switch is easily accessible so I can adjust the light to whatever situation I’m in to find the balance between having the perfect amount of light and conserving as much battery power as possible.
DIY 12-volt vehicle lights – A few years back I bought a few packages of 1” x 1” types of chipset LED lights to see what I could do with them in various 12-volt DIY projects. During this test I made a workable light by using a glue gun to attach three LED chipset boards to a large binder clip. The LEDs were attached to one end of a 6’ of repurposed extension cord wire, and two alligator clips connected to the other end. (Photo 3).
The binder clip made it handy for clipping to the lamp shade of my reading lamp and one of the metal shades of the light over the kitchen table.
The LED light was very bright and shadowless the amount of light could be increased by adding more chipset boards. The upside of this light was that even with the core battery down to 10.0 volts it was still putting out more than enough light to get the job done. The downside was that the white light was too intense which ruled it out as a reading light or a kitchen table light for reasons explained below. It would make a good light for outdoor use or close-up work in the shop.
Since these chipset lights end up costing almost as much as a commercially made USB or 12-volt light, they’re mentioned here for those unprepared in the lighting department since there are so many of them in any vehicle they could be repurposed if the SHTF.
Large flashlight – my large flashlight has a handle on top and I generally use it when I go out at night to do various tasks flashlights are used for, or to see whether it’s a raccoon or Bigfoot tripping my front gate alarm. Many of us have this type of flashlight. Mine has a USB port so the flashlight battery can be as a power source for USB gadgets or recharging a phone.
While writing this article I tested running a smaller light off the flashlight. This laptop keyboard light provided just enough light for reading. Plugging it in to the USB port of my large flashlight, it lasted 16½ hours. When I tested how long the flashlight would work on its lowest setting, it only stayed lit for 95 minutes.
This is another example of how most of us will need to change our ideas and habits about lighting. Using a large flashlight’s USB port to power a smaller light may seem ridiculous, but when some who are woefully unprepared and need to conserve electricity every way possible, these types of “ridiculous” solutions may be workable as long as the prepper has a way to recharge batteries via solar panel and charge controller.
Button (aka keychain) flashlights – I bought a multi pack several years back and have these on the zipper pulls of my various jackets and hoodies. Because they’re used infrequently, and only for moments at a time, they last a long time. Even though they’re not rechargeable, at 85 cents each in bulk, they’re worth stocking up on before the SHTF. On a zipper pull they’re always available, and for things like finding a keyhole in the dark, they’re perfect. I generally use the push button feature which keeps the light on as long as the button is held down. They also have a tiny switch to keep the light on when holding it in my teeth when in need my hands free. The batteries (CR2032) are inexpensive (20 cents) in bulk packs and can also be stored with our preps.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 3.)
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