How to Create a Cool Space During a Power Outage
My Newest Purchase — a Battery Operated Fan
I want to show you my new rechargeable battery fan and explain how I intend to use it.
Here’s a few more photos of this little powerhouse …
It’s battery operated and can be recharged via my battery power station, but fortunately, it’ll run for several days before that’s needed.
The fan is a great camping fan, but I bought it to use in case of a power outage. It also comes with an LED Lantern and a USB charger. The 2000mAH battery can be fully charged in 8–9 hours. I charged mine right out of the box and it’s quite powerful.
I’m not advertising this one. Although the reviews are good, and so far, I’m more than pleased with it.
There are, however, plenty to choose from on the market. What I’m touting is the fact that it’s battery powered and holds a charge for a long time. Because I own a battery power station, I can easily recharge my fan if an outage lasts for more than a few days.
I bought the fan to add to my power-outage backup plans which I’ve been working on for almost two years.
We’ve had three bad storms this summer that knocked out power for a lot of folks for days. We were spared, but we were also prepared, so when it’s our turn, we’ll be ready.
The old hippie lady living inside me has made darn sure of that.
Because I own a battery power station that will run my freezer, fridge, some lights, and electric blankets depending on the season, I have options. We keep several cords of nice dry wood for our fireplace and a small indoor propane stove as well. Every room in my house is equipped with chargeable light bulbs so if the power goes out the lights stay on for four hours after that. I can then charge them with my power station. We have an inverter gas generator which can recharge my battery station and soon we’ll also have a few portable solar panels that we’ll use for the same reason.
This summer, the storms that cut off power to many people in our city hit the region during major heat waves.
Wouldn’t you know. Right? That got me to thinking, however. We have two rooms in the house that are protected from the hot sun by a massive shade tree. I’ve selected one room to serve as my designated cool-down room when a power outage steals my AC.
The fan will add to the comfort level. A second one is arriving today in the mail for my husband.
If we lose power during a hot stretch of weather, we can retire to the cool-down room with a good book and enjoy our personal fans which are strong and should easily circulate air in that room. At night, I’ll open the window, allowing the cooler air to penetrate the house. During the day, I’ll draw curtains in other rooms to protect against the sun. My cool-down room is always shrouded in shade, however, which tends to be ten degrees cooler. It won’t be as good as my central AC, but it’ll be livable.
I write a lot about self-reliance because I think a lot about self-reliance.
I’m an old hippie with a touch of the prepper in me. I like gardening, composting, worm tea, foraging, and making things. Way back in the day, we bought a small unfinished camp at the end of a gravel road that turned into a logging trail running three miles behind our house and slowly finished it over the years. We not only finished the camp but enlarged it, turning it into our unique home on five plus acres of land.
We were young hippies at the time. So much younger than today.
In fact, when I think of what we tackled back then at such a young age, in our twenties with two little kids no less, I’m shocked and proud. I don’t know how we knew how to do what we did. Certainly no one was there to help us.
We moved to Maine and literally carved out a life for ourselves with sheer fortitude and idealism.
Now at age 71, I marvel at my young hippie self. But she hasn’t abandoned me. She still directs and inspires many of my personal endeavors and adventures to this day.
I run my house like a business.
I’m always thinking about ways to make my life sustainable, dependable, and less costly. I’m pretty sure that something as simple as a rechargeable battery fan was a smart addition to my power outage tools.
Do you have tools and tricks in your backup plans? If so, share them with me. I’m always open to new ideas.
Teresa is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
