Interior Lights for Power Outages

Emergency Track Lighting

• Emergency track lighting provides a built-in option that will activate when an outage strikes. Track lighting runs off either battery power or a generator. If outages happen in your area frequently due to inclement weather or system overloads, emergency track lighting might be a good option in your home's hallways and doorways if you don't need to light a whole room or home.

Battery-Operated Lights

• Battery-operated lights are convenient, portable and safe. Options include flashlights and lanterns, string lights, mountable light boxes and light-emitting diode, or LED, candles. Flashlights and LED candles are highly portable, whereas mounted lights and string lights would be appropriate as longer-term solutions to light a room. Lanterns fall somewhere in the middle; they can be carried or set down. Another benefit of lanterns is that most allow you to adjust the brightness of the bulb, potentially saving precious battery life in an emergency.

Lanterns and Candles

• Candles are a traditional option, and even if they're not your first choice, it's a good idea to keep some around in case you can't find batteries for a flashlight or lantern. Oil lanterns are another battery-free option, and they last much longer than candles. A full reservoir -- about 5 to 7 ounces -- will light a lantern for around 15 hours, whereas even a large jar candle will only burn for up to 84 total hours. Though lanterns do contain flammable oil, they don't have an open flame, making lanterns a safer option than candles.

Tips

• Keep your stash of emergency lighting options in an easy to find area of your home, such as a kitchen cabinet or drawer. Keep matches and a lighter with lanterns and candles, and store batteries along with flashlights and other battery-powered options with your other emergency supplies. Don't keep batteries inside flashlights or lanterns when they're not in use, as the batteries will drain and the battery housing can become corroded over time.