Tropical Depression
Ernesto sparked
my desire for
emergency lighting
when gale-force winds
knocked out my
family’s electricity for
45 minutes on the
evening of September
2, 2006 as its remnants
moved north past our
home on the Delmarva
Peninsula. After the
initial whines and
complaints about the
power outage from our
two teenagers, my wife
and I distributed
flashlights, a deck of
cards, board games,
and a battery-operated
radio to them. Then we
sat back on the couch,
listened to the radio,
and watched our kids
play cards by flashlight
on the living room floor.
It turned out to be a
very pleasant evening,
and I was almost sorry
to see the power
come back on.
38
January 2008
●●●●
MODIFICATION OF A
SIX VOLT LITHONIA
EMERGENCY
LIGHT
For Night Use Only
Shortly after Ernesto blew
through, I obtained an
emergency light (see Figures 1 and
2). I mounted it on the wall in my
kitchen and plugged it into a nearby
power outlet. This arrangement
allows one lamp to illuminate the
stovetop and the other lamp
to shine out into the living room;
problem solved, or so I thought ...
A Mid-afternoon
Power Failure
no way of knowing the power had
gone out — except the emergency
light shining in my face unnecessarily. Four thoughts flashed through my
head as the light struck my eyes:
• I didn’t know why the power had
gone off, or how long it would be off.
• Lithonia designed this device to
provide light for no more than 1-1/2
hours.
• Sunset was 4-1/2 hours away!
I was reading a book by the sunlight shining through the windows on
March 14, 2007 when I experienced
the next power failure. The lights, television, scanner, and computer were
already off, so I had
• I had to do something — and soon
— or the battery would be dead at
sunset if the power was still out.
■ FIGURE 1
I quickly rigged an extension
cord to the emergency light
from the small 12-volt inverter
I keep in my truck. I wanted to
maintain the charge on the
emergency light’s battery, and
I wanted to provide power to
my scanner so I could find out
what had caused the outage
by tuning in to EMS and the
power company’s radio communications. The power company restored power after only
20 minutes, but I had already
concluded that I
■ FIGURE 2 needed to add a
