Life in the Philippines is fantastic but gosh darn it, brownouts are disruptive and annoying. They always seem to occur on days when you have special plans, like bonding with the family or friends or on the day of a birthday party. But simple hacks during brownouts are a way to combat the annoyance. Let’s have a look at some things you can do when the power goes out.
When brownouts last into the evening or when a tropical storm or typhoon knocks the power out, life becomes a little more difficult. You only need to bump a knee against a wall once before you realize you need light to get around safely. Yes, there are flashlights and candles, but what happens if you run out of candles?
You make a lantern! Take a clear plastic jug and fill it with water. Tape or fashion a flashlight on top of the opening of the container and light will spread and fill a room. For additional light, grab a mirror to reflect more light around.
If you run out of candles and can’t get to a sari sari store, take a few of your kid’s crayons (the ones they don’t use much, if at all) and light the pointed end. Once the wax drips down, stick it to the melted wax on a plate or safe area for light. You can also use a candle to heat up a cup of coffee, tea or baby’s milk or a pot of water to cook rice.
Of course, you can use your smart phone as a light source as well. If so, place it on airplane mode to save your battery life and turn off your apps. Once the battery drains, plug it into your laptop for quick charging. Heck, you won’t have Internet anyway, right? You should be good to charge a couple of phones. You might want to turn them off to conserve power and use them only when you need to communicate.
We need our cell phones in the event an emergency occurs. But if the battery is dead, we’re out of luck unless we can find a way to charge it. Here’s a smart hack that will do the trick.
Take an ink pen and remove the spring. Grab a 9 volt battery. Connect the spring to the negative node of the battery with tape. Now, take your car charger to the positive node and tape it, too. Finally, plug in your cell phone cord to the car charger and boom – it will charge!
Let’s say your flashlight runs on AA batteries but they are dead as a door knob. Do you have some AA batteries? They will work! Here is what you can do. Place your AA batteries into your flashlight. Since they are smaller there will be some space that needs to be filled in order to make a connection to create light. Grab some aluminum foil and make small balls. Insert one or more into the gap and presto – you have power again.
Remember those LED lights that kids love to play with that you see at the local market or malls? Keep a half a dozen or more on hand in case of a brownout or another type of emergency. They will put off enough light to see your way around the house.
They are also portable and can be carried around like a flashlight, and they are cheap to buy! Be prepared!
Glow sticks work great as well, and they break up the boredom.
Here are somethings you really never want to do.
Do not run a generator inside your home. It will emit carbon monoxide and either render you unconscious or kill you and/or your loved ones. Always keep it outside and under some shelter so it doesn’t conk out in adverse weather.
Don’t store gasoline to power your generator near the generator or other source that may cause it to catch fire. Be wise.
Do not start a makeshift fire in your house. Gusts of wind or someone accidentally knocking over a homemade fire can wreak havoc and burn you or your home to the ground.
Eventually a brownout will occur, either because your electricity provider is upgrading or because of natural disasters. Prepare in advance like a good Boy or Girl Scout and use the above hacks to provide light and communication. Your life may depend on them.
