If you have no landline telephone service and rely on a cell phone to communicate with people, what are you going to do to stay connected during blackouts? Your cell phone has a limited charge, and you have to consider the fact that it might not be fully charged when the power goes out.
After all, disasters can strike at any time, as the recent devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy illustrates all too well. When the power remains off for extended periods of days or even weeks until utility crews can make repairs, thousands of people may be unable to charge their cell phones. You also won’t be able to use Wi-Fi to make a call over the Internet if there is no electricity to power computers in your location.
Despite the added expense of maintaining a landline in addition to your cell phone, landlines are great to have during power failures. Landline telephones get their power from the phone company independently of the local electrical utility, so you can use a landline during a blackout (as long as you have a corded landline—a cordless phone’s base station requires power from an electrical outlet). However, not everyone is willing to budget for a landline as a backup during blackouts.
People who have access to an automobile can use the cigarette lighter port to charge a cell phone from the vehicle’s battery, but if you don’t have access to a car, you will need to get your own battery for the cell phone. That’s where cell phone battery packs can save the day.
It’s prudent to get an external battery pack that works with a variety of cell phones, so you can feel confident that you can charge up even if you switch phones in the future.
Remember to keep the battery pack fully charged, so it’s ready to provide juice to your cell phone when the lights go out. And after you top off with the battery pack, only use your cell phone for important calls—don’t waste precious power playing games or watching videos on your device!
