Re: Power Outage, How many Lumens, How many batteries?
May sound a bit flippant, but buy a bag of 100 tea lights and pack of disposable lighters. Total outlay <$10 and you have a good couple of weeks of romantic off-grid light.
It is amazing how little light you actually need if it gets really dark and it can be fun to see how we used to live
Though the above is actually quite serious, I think you are over thinking this. One unknown is how long the power will be off. A friend of mine lived in a remote village where they lost power for 8 weeks. The roads were cut off, so running a car engine to recharge batteries was limited by the lack of being able to drive to fill up with fuel. Weather was bad so solar was not much of an option. In the end the choice was limited to candles as a source of light.
Another option is to try it out for your required test period. Working in IT we say that an 'unverified backup is no backup at all', meaning that unless you actually try out your backup you won't know if it actually works. So pick a couple of weeks and switch off the mains power at the consumer unit and live your scenario. You can report back and tell us how many batteries you needed.
May sound a bit flippant, but buy a bag of 100 tea lights and pack of disposable lighters. Total outlay <$10 and you have a good couple of weeks of romantic off-grid light.
It is amazing how little light you actually need if it gets really dark and it can be fun to see how we used to live
Though the above is actually quite serious, I think you are over thinking this. One unknown is how long the power will be off. A friend of mine lived in a remote village where they lost power for 8 weeks. The roads were cut off, so running a car engine to recharge batteries was limited by the lack of being able to drive to fill up with fuel. Weather was bad so solar was not much of an option. In the end the choice was limited to candles as a source of light.
Another option is to try it out for your required test period. Working in IT we say that an 'unverified backup is no backup at all', meaning that unless you actually try out your backup you won't know if it actually works. So pick a couple of weeks and switch off the mains power at the consumer unit and live your scenario. You can report back and tell us how many batteries you needed.