Power outages can strike at the most inopportune moments and have a major impact on normal daily life. Unfortunately, there is no way to gain immunity against these types of inconveniences, but you can be prepared. Today we will discuss the most essential items to power during an outage and how to determine the power consumption of those items. Let’s get started!
Most Essential Items and Appliances:
Being a customer service centered business, we receive countless emails, calls and live chats from customers all over the world, seeking our expertise. This has helped us compile a proven list of the most important items to power in an emergency situation, and the best way to power said items.
1. Refrigeration
2. Smart Phone/Devices
3. WIFI-Router
4. LED Lights
5. TV/Laptop
How do I Find the Power/Watt Draw of My Devices/Appliances?
Refrigeration is typically the most popular need in a Blackout situation. Ensuring there is available food, drinking water and medicine should take precedence over all other power requirements. Coincidentally, the power draw of your fridge is the most complex to calculate due to the internal compressor component.
Luckily, the majority of new released refrigerators are rated by Energy Star and will have a yearly kWh usage listed on the product specifications, manual or on the product label. Once this number is located, calculating the hourly watt draw is as easy as pie.
Example:
(Annual Energy Use for randomly chosen Stainless Steel Fridge (kWh/yr): 554)
554,000 Watts per year divided by 365 days = 1,518 watts per day.
1,518 watts divided by 24 hours = Average of 64 watts per hour.
Smart Phones/Devices and Laptops:
Smart Phones/Devices and Laptops have become very important in maintaining normalcy in our everyday life. From alarm clocks to schedules and points of contact; keeping our devices fully charged requires minimal power. These types of devices typically feature small in-built batteries, meaning you do not have to keep a constant stream of power going to them, you simply charge them up and move on.
All battery size information can be found on any manufacturer’s or reseller’s website or by checking the internal specs stored in the device or written on the manufacturer label. This is often displayed in mAh. A milliampere-hour (mAh or milliamp-hour) is a thousandth of an amp-hour (1 Amp = 1000 mAh).
WIFI-Routers, TVs and LED Lights
WIFI-Routers, TVs and LED Lights are all great options to power in the event of an outage. The power information of these items can almost always be found directly on the items themselves. If this information is not listed, a quick phone call or email to the manufacturer will yield the fastest and most accurate response.
I have my Watt Draw information, Now What?
Once you have all of your Watt draw information, the best thing we can recommend is to reach out to a Solar or Battery Backup Professional such as ourselves, to help you with a proper recommendation. It is our job to study your power consumption information and come up with a custom solution, based on your specific needs. This will protect you from spending more on a larger system than you actually need, or even worse; purchasing something that cannot power your items at all.
With the threat of incoming storms or preventative power cuts (like we’re seeing in California), it is important to obtain accurate information to help you protect your friends and family. As always, we are just a phone call away (877-548-3387) and are happy to offer our expertise on all your Emergency Preparedness needs!
Leave a Comment