How To Live Without Electricity In 5 Ways – Part One – Light

Starting with Light as the most important of the five items on this agenda, it is the most important because if we do not have any light at all then we are not able to carry out effectively any other activities that we might need to do and cannot afford not to do. There is always a form of emergency lighting that each of us can store in our homes. What might that be? A torch of course. It is good practice to keep one for every member of the household. In addition to this, always ensure that you have plenty of spare batteries knocking about in case your torch dies, and always store your torch in a place that is easy to locate and under dark conditions.

Batteries also quite obviously wear out much quicker the longer your torch is switched on or if on continuously. In order to get the best possible power outage from your batteries always ensure that they are alkaline based. You can also make good use of rechargeable batteries, but as soon as the torch starts to become dinner and appear like it is running out of power then the batteries should always be plugged back in for recharging so it is always good to have a spare set of these batteries so that you always have some which are fully charged.

Candles are easy to use a source of light also. I mean, after all, it is how we used to light our homes in the earlier centuries before electricity existed so this old technology can still be used even today if necessary. It takes approximately three candles to build the equivalent of a reading light so it goes without saying you would need a lot of them to light your entire home.

It goes without saying that candles can be dangerous if not stored correctly or placed incorrectly. If you have pets or young children try to place them out of reach and inside a metal/glass holder to which it makes it more difficult for them to access and injure themselves or cause a fire.

Kerosene lamps also a steadier light than candles and are slightly more powerful. One lamp may burn up to two cups of oil per night so that equates to about two liters per week. However, these lamps are not quite bright enough to read unless placed very close to you. One issue with both candles and lamps is that the flame does waver but less so with a lamp than with a candle.

One lamp in a room should be enough to give enough light so that you don’t knock into furniture but to provide a decent light source to fill the entire room it would probably require two or three of them. Good ventilation is also key as these lamps do get smelly and aren’t the cleanest of things to use or be constantly inhaling so fresh air is a must.

That’s it for part one be sure to check back on Monday and register a free account for part two where we will discuss water.