I've recently become interested in creating power and light in the event that there is a long-term electrical outage; here's some of my search
results.
[Mods, I will be providing links to products and devices, if this is against ATS rules please remove the thread (and not me!). I do not gain anything,
commission, etc from any of these devices.]
The Pedal-a-watt stationary bike stand.
Very simple, just throw a bike on this stand and you can have pretty significant, versatile electrical power.
www.econvergence.net...
The Freeplay Jonta hand-held "torch" [flashlight]
"Wind it for 30 seconds and get 10 mins worth of light. Wind it for 40 min and get a full 24 hours! "
"It burns an efficient 1 Watt LED, which gives similiar output to a standard incandescent bulb but lasts 100,000 hours and has no delicate
filament."
www.treehugger.com...
The Koolatron Dynamo 3 LED Emergency light
The search results were more like late night TV ads for this product but it seems to be a nice find.
"does not contain batteries or breakable bulbs and gives you up to 30 minutes of power by winding the handle for just one minute."
www.shopwiki.com...=Koolatron_Dynamo_3-LED_Emergency_Light/
Solar Power Torch Lamp
This small backyard type lamp is solar powered (duh...) and uses an LED so no replacement bulbs needed.
Seemed a little expensive at around $25
www.smarthome.com...
There seem to be myriad designs of emergency lamps that use LEDs so no extra bulbs needed, and dynamo so no batteries needed. I saw devices from $4
USD to over $50.
It would be great to hear people's personal recommendations on lighting and electricity products. Or links if this has been discusssed in-depth
previously.
[edit on 27-4-2009 by notreallyalive]