**Preparing for the Storm: Essential Tech and Power Conservation Tips**

When a big storm hits, it's crucial to have the right gear at home to stay connected with the world and survive. Stocking up on water and canned food for a week is essential, but it's also important to be smart about conserving power and keeping your gadgets charged.

**Your Phone: A Survival Tool**

Your phone is no longer just a video streaming device, music player, or social media platform. It's now a survival tool that requires careful management of its resources. To conserve juice, turn off all unnecessary wireless connections such as GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Disable location services and dim the brightness of your screen to reduce power consumption. Additionally, switch to airplane mode until you need to reach someone. Leaving your phone on for extended periods will only drain its battery faster.

**Backup Phone Battery Packs**

Invest in a few backup phone battery packs to keep your devices charged during an outage. Charge these extra juice packs as much as possible before the storm hits, and consider investing in a fully charged laptop, which can also charge your phone. However, be aware that old batteries degrade over time and may not last long if left idle.

**Solar Chargers: A Backup Option**

A solar charger is a useful backup option to keep your devices charged. While it's essential to have a good one, it's also crucial to understand its limitations. Solar chargers can take a very long time to harness enough energy to charge your phone, often requiring direct sunlight for several hours. Additionally, not all solar chargers are well-made, and the larger the panel, the more successful the charge. When shopping for a solar charger, invest in a reputable brand that meets your needs.

**Using Your Phone During an Outage**

When at home with others and cell phones are present, use only one phone at a time to conserve power. If you need to reach loved ones or friends, stick to text messages, as calling can consume a lot of power. However, if you're unable to access your phone's battery life is depleted, consider using an alternative communication method.

**Alternative Communication Methods**

In the past, people relied on radios for news updates during an outage. This may seem like a wild concept now that we're so accustomed to our smartphones, but it remains a viable option. Invest in a digital TV antenna or a portable radio that can receive broadcast signals. Additionally, consider purchasing a low-energy small LCD TV, as traditional TVs will not function without power.

**Portable Power Packs and Generators**

Investing in a heavy-duty portable power pack is essential for keeping your devices charged during an outage. These packs are powerful enough to jumpstart cars and provide uninterrupted power supply (UPS). A UPS pack can filter out dirty power generated by gas-powered generators, preventing damage to your electronics. When selecting a generator, look for one with an inverter that produces stable power for sensitive equipment.

**Safety Precautions**

When using a gas-powered generator indoors, never do so as carbon monoxide will build up quickly and be deadly. Always follow safety guidelines when operating a generator, and consider investing in a well-ventilated area to prevent accidents.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif you lose power during a major storm you can probably get by for three hours but do you have what it takes to stay connected if you lose power for three days or how about three weeks to prepare for when a big storm hits the right gear can help you stay in touch with the world and survive I want to share with you some advice on what tech you should have at home and some ways to conserve power to keep connected as long as possible for starters it's important to stock up on water and canned food to last a week but you also have to be smart about conserving power and keeping the important gadgets charged so let us first focus on the phone you need to completely rethink how you use your phone because this is no longer a video streaming music playing candy crush and Instagram liking toy anymore your phone is a survival tool and you're going to want to change your settings to conserve juice turn off all the extra wireless connections the GPS the Bluetooth the Wi-Fi you also want to do things like disable location service and if you can dim the brightness of the screen and switch to airplane mode now don't wait out the blackout by scrolling on your phone you really should be turning the phone off until you need to reach someone now of course you also will need backup phone battery pack so you want to charge up as many of those extra juice packs as you can before the storm hits and you know what charge your laptop a fully charged laptop also can charge your phone now if you do have these old backup battery juice packs just sitting unused for a long time in your closet well you're going to be in trouble because batteries degrade over time so leaving one idle is a sure way to kill it good prep means keeping batteries charged every now and again and folks often ask about solar chargers you should think of them as a backup to your backup because they can take a very very long time to harness enough energy just for one phone I mean on a good day we're talking five hours of direct sunlight and not all solar chargers are well-made you can probably find some good ones at a camping store but remember the larger the panel the more successful the charge just don't go for the cheapest thing you find on an on you may have to drop 50 to $100 to find a good solar charger now about using that phone if you're at home waiting it out with other people and they have cell phones just keep one person's phone on at a time and if you're trying to reach others like loved ones and friends stick with text messages calling is gonna take up a lot of power and typical SMS text messages can still be delivered later when the person's using their phone again but in general just you can't count on cell towers they're not designed to handle everyone in a given area trying to use their phone at once so how are you gonna stay informed if you're not counting on cell towers well when I was a kid and the power went out we huddled around the radio for news updates I know it's a wild concept if your only source of information is on Facebook and cell towers go down you're in trouble so get radios get batteries and think about your TV how was your TV going to work if your cable internet is down in a metro area you could pick up broadcast signals with a digital TV antenna you're gonna want a low energy small LCD TV so you don't lose all your batteries you set once this is where you'll want to invest in something like a heavy-duty portable power pack these things cost around 200 to $300 they are way more than those wimpy phone backup batteries I'm talking about a power pack that is powerful enough to jumpstart a car that's something you want for a television now if you have the time there are other supplies that can help consider stopping the garage with a heavy-duty extra long extension cord like about a hundred feet if your neighbor has power they may lend you an outlet and this next one sounds like common sense but it is helpful to have battery powered lanterns around and headlamps with plenty of extra batteries you can also use a gas-powered generator with a UPS pack that stands for uninterrupted power supply gas power generators put out dirty power that means the voltage will fluctuate and that can damage your electronics but a UPS to filter the power can prevent your tech from frying some generators do come with this built-in inverter to pump out more stable power for things like there are many choices out there but you figure you can find a model that runs about eight hours on one gallon of gas and it may sound obvious not everyone knows this but never run a gas-powered generator indoors the carbon monoxide will kill you so don't play around out there in general it's just good to own a variety of backup power sources there is no app to help you with this it is all on you to tough it out without checking your phone every two minutes now if you do have your own stories or tips to add to this please share them in the comments in the meantime stay safe out there and stay preparedif you lose power during a major storm you can probably get by for three hours but do you have what it takes to stay connected if you lose power for three days or how about three weeks to prepare for when a big storm hits the right gear can help you stay in touch with the world and survive I want to share with you some advice on what tech you should have at home and some ways to conserve power to keep connected as long as possible for starters it's important to stock up on water and canned food to last a week but you also have to be smart about conserving power and keeping the important gadgets charged so let us first focus on the phone you need to completely rethink how you use your phone because this is no longer a video streaming music playing candy crush and Instagram liking toy anymore your phone is a survival tool and you're going to want to change your settings to conserve juice turn off all the extra wireless connections the GPS the Bluetooth the Wi-Fi you also want to do things like disable location service and if you can dim the brightness of the screen and switch to airplane mode now don't wait out the blackout by scrolling on your phone you really should be turning the phone off until you need to reach someone now of course you also will need backup phone battery pack so you want to charge up as many of those extra juice packs as you can before the storm hits and you know what charge your laptop a fully charged laptop also can charge your phone now if you do have these old backup battery juice packs just sitting unused for a long time in your closet well you're going to be in trouble because batteries degrade over time so leaving one idle is a sure way to kill it good prep means keeping batteries charged every now and again and folks often ask about solar chargers you should think of them as a backup to your backup because they can take a very very long time to harness enough energy just for one phone I mean on a good day we're talking five hours of direct sunlight and not all solar chargers are well-made you can probably find some good ones at a camping store but remember the larger the panel the more successful the charge just don't go for the cheapest thing you find on an on you may have to drop 50 to $100 to find a good solar charger now about using that phone if you're at home waiting it out with other people and they have cell phones just keep one person's phone on at a time and if you're trying to reach others like loved ones and friends stick with text messages calling is gonna take up a lot of power and typical SMS text messages can still be delivered later when the person's using their phone again but in general just you can't count on cell towers they're not designed to handle everyone in a given area trying to use their phone at once so how are you gonna stay informed if you're not counting on cell towers well when I was a kid and the power went out we huddled around the radio for news updates I know it's a wild concept if your only source of information is on Facebook and cell towers go down you're in trouble so get radios get batteries and think about your TV how was your TV going to work if your cable internet is down in a metro area you could pick up broadcast signals with a digital TV antenna you're gonna want a low energy small LCD TV so you don't lose all your batteries you set once this is where you'll want to invest in something like a heavy-duty portable power pack these things cost around 200 to $300 they are way more than those wimpy phone backup batteries I'm talking about a power pack that is powerful enough to jumpstart a car that's something you want for a television now if you have the time there are other supplies that can help consider stopping the garage with a heavy-duty extra long extension cord like about a hundred feet if your neighbor has power they may lend you an outlet and this next one sounds like common sense but it is helpful to have battery powered lanterns around and headlamps with plenty of extra batteries you can also use a gas-powered generator with a UPS pack that stands for uninterrupted power supply gas power generators put out dirty power that means the voltage will fluctuate and that can damage your electronics but a UPS to filter the power can prevent your tech from frying some generators do come with this built-in inverter to pump out more stable power for things like there are many choices out there but you figure you can find a model that runs about eight hours on one gallon of gas and it may sound obvious not everyone knows this but never run a gas-powered generator indoors the carbon monoxide will kill you so don't play around out there in general it's just good to own a variety of backup power sources there is no app to help you with this it is all on you to tough it out without checking your phone every two minutes now if you do have your own stories or tips to add to this please share them in the comments in the meantime stay safe out there and stay prepared\n"