How to Charge your Phone when the Power is Out

Posted By: admin December 29, 2018

There are a lot of events that can cause you to lose power in your home. Power outages usually do not last more than a few hours, but occasionally they last for much longer. Hurricanes, tropical storms, high winds, and some other events can cause a power outage that may last for days, or even weeks. Your cell phone is one of the most important items to keep charged during an emergency to be able to communicate, receive emergency alerts, etc…, and below is some advice about how to keep it charged when the power goes out.

During a power outage, there are many items that you can use to keep your phone charged during the entire outage if you are prepared. Some devices that you can use to charge your phone during a power outage are:

  • Laptop/Tablet
  • Portable Power Bank
  • Car Battery (with an inverter, if needed)
  • Hand Crank NOAA Radio
  • Rechargeable Flashlight/Lantern
  • Battery Operated Charger (AA/AAA/etc…)
  • Solar Charger/Solar Generator
  • Gas Powered Generator

Below is some information about each of these items, and some advice about conserving your cell phone battery during an emergency!

Laptop/Tablet

I live in a hurricane prone area, and the local news stations here always recommend charging all of the laptops in our home before a storm hits. They do this because you can use your laptops, and many tablets (if it has a USB slot), to charge your cell phone during a power outage. To do this, you will need a USB charging cable for your phone, which most phones come with.

Portable Power Bank

There are many power banks for sale that you can use to charge your cell phone during a power outage. You can purchase these at many drug and convenience stores if you didn’t plan ahead and your power goes out. I use a cell phone case that has a power bank built inside of it, and I find this very helpful for everyday life (I have to charge my cell phone about half as often than before I bought the case), not just during power outages.

The cases also help protect your phone, but make your phone a little bigger and heavier than a standard protective case, but I personally think these cases are great and worth it, and I always have one on my phone.

Some of the power banks that are for sale have a much higher capacity than others. If you live in a disaster prone area, I recommend purchasing a power bank with a high capacity (the higher the milli Ampere hour (mAh) the better). The more capacity the battery holds, the larger the power bank will likely be Consider what you need the power bank for (i.e. do you want one that will fit in your pocket, etc…), and when you will be using it.

For example, most Iphones have a mAh (battery capacity) of about 1500-3000 mAh, and you can use this as a comparison for power banks that are for sale. I recommend having a power bank with at least 5000-10000 mAh for emergencies so you can charge your phone at least a few times. These power banks are also nice to have in non-emergency situations; They are great to bring to the airport and on a flight to recharge your phone.

Car Battery/Inverter 

If you need to, you can always charge your cell phone with your car battery. Many newer cars have USB charging ports inside the car, and if your car doesn’t have these, adapters that plugin to the cigarette lighter are relatively cheap. If you do not have a car adapter for your phone, and all you have is a wall plug in, you can use an inverter.

The easiest way to use an inverter is to plug one into the cigarette lighter adapter inside the vehicle, turning it into a power adapter similar to the one inside of your home. You may also be able to charge other items on your inverter (like your laptop), but be careful not to drain your car battery. You can also use an inverter that will connect directly to the car battery with clamps, but be careful because this can cause sparks.

Depending on the quality of your car battery, it should be able to charge your cell phone multiple times. However, you should be careful not to kill your car battery. Start your car every so often, and make sure you leave it running for a little while so that the alternator can charge the battery. If you have a high quality/relatively new car battery, this should not be that big of an issue. Most car batteries have enough power to charge a cell phone several times, but some people’s car batteries are already almost dead already. You don’t want to get stuck with a car that won’t start (and a dead phone) during a power outage.

Hand Crank Radio/NOAA

I recommend having an NOAA weather/hand crank radio in your emergency supply whether you plan on charging your cell phone with it or not. You should have a NOAA weather radio so you can receive emergency alerts/updates about inclement weather in your area.

Aside from receive emergency weather alerts/updates, you can use some of these radios to recharge your phone if needed. I recommend purchasing one that has multiple options for power (crank, battery, solar), has a flashlight attached, and that has at least one USB port so you can charge your phone.

Flashlight/Lantern

Many flashlights and lanterns that you can buy today have a charging port for your cell phone. You should at least a couple of lights in your emergency supply kit anyways, so it’s a good idea to have one that can charge your phone if you need it to.

Battery Operated Charger

I stash a lot of AA and AAA batteries for my emergency supply, so after our last mandatory evacuation (for a hurricane) out of this area, I decided I wanted to have a couple more “back up” options to charge my phone when the power goes out. I looked online, and I found a couple phone chargers that were operated by disposable batteries.

If you have a NOAA weather radio that can charge your phones batteries off of AA or AAA batteries, you may not need one of these, but I prefer to have a couple of options to recharge my phone in case one stops working. Many of the other options to charge your phone above have their own power supply that requires you to charge it with a certain cord (i.e. micro USB), but this is a simple way to convert the batteries that you already have saved for an emergency (for flashlights, radios, etc…), into energy that you use to power a phone if needed.

Solar Charger/Generator

You can always use solar power to charge your phone (and other devices) during a power outage. You can buy a small, inexpensive solar charger for your phone. Just remember, the smaller the solar charger, the less power it will capture, and the longer it will take to charge your phone. There are some solar charges for sale that are also portable power banks, and/or a flashlight, making them a good option for your emergency preparedness kit.

If you want to be able to charge your phone, or other devices more quickly, you can purchase a larger solar charger or you can even consider getting a solar generator (purchasing one, or making your own).

I have solar generator that I use to provide power to my camper or when I need to power my devices during a power outage. I purchased a foldable solar panel suitcase that had a charge controller already installed in the back. All I had to purchase after I bought this was a battery (I bought a deep cycle 12v battery at Walmart), and a power inverter. The picture below is a photo of how I set it up (outside) when I go camping. My camper cord just plugs into the inverter.

Solar generators take a while to charge the battery, and are not a good option for items that require a lot of power (I.e. appliances, heaters, etc…), but work good for lighting (I use LED lights in my camper), and charging your devices.

Gas Powered Generator

Gas powered generators are also good to have for emergencies. I have read some articles stating that peoples’ phones, and other sensitive electrical devices, have been damaged when charging with a generator. According to the articles that I have read, it is important to purchase a generator with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator), or an inverter generator, to help prevent this because it keeps the output voltage more consistent.

How to Conserve your Cell Phone Battery during an Emergency

During a Power Outage, you should try to conserve your cell phone’s battery the best that you can. Here are a few things that you can do to conserve your cell phone battery during a power outage:

  • Turn off WIFI, Bluetooth, and GPS
  • Reduce the Brightness of your screen
  • Use “Low Power” Mode
  • Send text messages instead of calling
  • Turn off Vibrate (this uses a lot of power)
  • Close non-essential Applications
  • Turn sound levels to Low
  • Keep your phone off when you don’t need it

To turn on “Low Power” Mode on your Iphone, go to Settings, Battery, and turn on “Low Power Mode“

On an Android, swipe down from the top menu (top of your screen), and locate the “power saving” mode icon.

There are also some apps that will help you conserve battery power

Conclusion

It is important to plan ahead for a power outage, and have some options to power your phone during an extended outage. There are many items that some people claim you may be able to charge your cell phone with during an emergency (i.e. Lemons, onions, 9v Batteries w/paper clips, etc…), but you should be careful what you charge your phone with since you could damage your device. It’s better to plan ahead, and have a device that is safe to use when charging your phone.
Only recharge your phone with devices your phone manufacturer states are safe for the phone!


I hope you enjoyed the post!