Most homes no longer have land-line telephone connections these days due to the proliferation of cell phones.
While switching to cell service only can be a good move, it often creates a problem during extended power outages.
The homes in my neighborhood occasionally go without power for days at a time, which makes keeping the batteries in our cell phones charged up a challenge.
Chances are you sometimes struggle with the same problem.
There are several things you can do to keep your phone’s battery hot at all times, but there is one simple thing that works better than most during an extended power outage…
Keep a small battery backup unit on hand that is dedicated just to charging your cell phones.
You probably know all about the battery backup devices that keep your computer running long enough to save your data and perform a normal shutdown when the power goes out.
The thing is, these little magic boxes will also power virtually any other electric gadget that doesn’t exceed its wattage capacity.
You can pick up a small battery backup unit (#ad) at Amazon, your local electronics store, Wal-Mart or other retailer for less than $50.
Even a small 400VA model should be able to keep a couple of cell phones charged for several days, ensuring that you won’t be without any phone service at all while the repair crews from the electric company are making their way to your neighborhood to restore power to your home.
I recommend buying the cheapest battery backup you can find, then leaving it sitting in a corner somewhere, plugged in but unused until you need it.
That way you can enjoy talking to your friends and family while your neighbors are bored stiff from staring out the window hoping to see a bucket truck pull into their driveway.