Power Outages

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One Day

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I recall seeing the other day on one of the association websites.....to be considered listed or rated by them the Inn needed some 75% of the listing requirements.
I recall one being back up lighting.....battery lights that go on when the power goes out.....is this common for a B&B?
additionaly...lighted "exit" signs....seen a couple inn photos and saw them......they realy necessary?
what would be your typical procedure for guests during a power outage....lighting? meals? heat/ac? and so on......
 
yes! emergency lighting for exits and in room. when power goes out these illuminate the stairs.
sorry i was typing while on the phone... anyway, I ask guests to simply OPEn their room doors and the emergency exit lights will even light their room to some extent. We have plug in flashlights that are nightlights/and emergency flashlights they come on when the power goes out automatically.
We have needed the lights and exit lights on three ocassions with full houses. With guests in other areas like front room, we need to get lights in there before racing up the stairs for each and every room. so it works well.
 
Our local fire code does require illuminated fire exit signs with back up lights if the power goes out.
Our smoke detectors also have a LED light in them but only go on if they are triggered.
We've only had two outages while guests were here and one was just the other morning. The "guests" were the parents of a neighbor helping their kids pack the moving truck, so they understood that it happens here from time to time. The kids who also are friends of ours were here enjoying a farewell breakfast with usand their folks, so it was like our send off to them.
Our stove is gas so we didn't a beat. Coffee was already made, etc...
The other one was late afternoon so it was still light out and as it got dark, we just put lots of candles out and the power came back on before anyone would be inconvenienced.
 
While we are not required to have any of that in our county, our state assocation required some type of emergency lighting to join, so I installed an emergency light at the top of the stairs (it's rechargeable, and plugged into an outlet and comes on brightly when the power goes out) and battery powered rechargeable flashlights in each room. I have since dropped the association and kept the lighting.
Our power never goes out here, and I mean never for more than three minutes in 7 years....however, I notice that guests are either using or playing with the flashlights, as I find them unplugged and in odd places in the room! I always imagine someone reading a book under the covers by flashlight, like I used to do when I was a kid.....altho that's probably not what they're doing under there........
omg_smile.gif
 
While we are not required to have any of that in our county, our state assocation required some type of emergency lighting to join, so I installed an emergency light at the top of the stairs (it's rechargeable, and plugged into an outlet and comes on brightly when the power goes out) and battery powered rechargeable flashlights in each room. I have since dropped the association and kept the lighting.
Our power never goes out here, and I mean never for more than three minutes in 7 years....however, I notice that guests are either using or playing with the flashlights, as I find them unplugged and in odd places in the room! I always imagine someone reading a book under the covers by flashlight, like I used to do when I was a kid.....altho that's probably not what they're doing under there........
omg_smile.gif
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Little Blue said:
While we are not required to have any of that in our county, our state assocation required some type of emergency lighting to join, so I installed an emergency light at the top of the stairs (it's rechargeable, and plugged into an outlet and comes on brightly when the power goes out) and battery powered rechargeable flashlights in each room. I have since dropped the association and kept the lighting.
Our power never goes out here, and I mean never for more than three minutes in 7 years....however, I notice that guests are either using or playing with the flashlights, as I find them unplugged and in odd places in the room! I always imagine someone reading a book under the covers by flashlight, like I used to do when I was a kid.....altho that's probably not what they're doing under there........
omg_smile.gif
They take them out here to use the outlet. I hate to use up an outlet with them, but they are necessary and useful.
 
I've been accumulated various battery operated lighting....a couple small battery operated fans...had picked up a bunch of those glow sticks.
We lose power once in a while.....sometimes quick off then on again, some 30 minutes.....never realy a problem.
We have lost power for a couple days....those are not all the frequent.
come to think of it......we've had power outages quite often. Short time...becoming more frequent in the past couple years.
We're in a pretty good location.....other parts of the Island.....East, often will lose power days at a clip
We all know the house layout......would imagine more hand holding when operating a B&B
 
Our state B&B association also requires emergency lighting. We are in the country, so we also have a hard wired generator. When the power goes out, the generator (propane powered) kicks on automatically. I can't tell you how many times we've had to use it! We're located where there are lots and lots of trees, so when we have bad storms, there usually is a tree that somewhere has fallen on a power line.
Even if your county or association doesn't require emergency lighting, you should definitely have it. It certainly would cut down on your liability if someone hurts themselves when the power goes off.
 
guess this would all depend on local codes or association affiliation....
Emergency lighting....I'd say that is a gimme......can probably locate them in a way that they not so visible
Exit signs?......eye sore
 
guess this would all depend on local codes or association affiliation....
Emergency lighting....I'd say that is a gimme......can probably locate them in a way that they not so visible
Exit signs?......eye sore.
we don't need exit signs, but we do have to have emergency evacuation directions in each room.
 
I use alot of the led plug ins. When electricity goes out, they come on and can be unpluged for flash lights. Plus flashlights in each bedside stand drawer. We are actually pretty stable.
 
Our emergency lighting in event of power outage is required for the fire code. We also supply flashlights in the nightstands. It's a cheap way to insure your guests are not panic-stricken in an unfamiliar place when there are no lights.
If the power is out while guests would normally be awake (and it's dark outside) we'll set up a Coleman lantern so they can find their way to the cookies. The rest of the building will be lit by the emergency lights.
I like the idea of the plug in emergency lights that use battery power but we haven't gotten around to buying them.
 
SOunds like this might be from VA. We require back up lights if power goes out...these are just the type you find at lowes or home depot...no big deal...maybe $10 a piece..that's all it is...just to light the room / or stair well etc..so know one trips. We also require flashlights for emergency situations. The plug in ones allow the folks to find their flashlight:)
we don't require the lit exit signs..but exit signs of some type posted where they can be seen. I have seen some done in embroidery..very cute.
 
SOunds like this might be from VA. We require back up lights if power goes out...these are just the type you find at lowes or home depot...no big deal...maybe $10 a piece..that's all it is...just to light the room / or stair well etc..so know one trips. We also require flashlights for emergency situations. The plug in ones allow the folks to find their flashlight:)
we don't require the lit exit signs..but exit signs of some type posted where they can be seen. I have seen some done in embroidery..very cute..
catlady said:
SOunds like this might be from VA. We require back up lights if power goes out...these are just the type you find at lowes or home depot...no big deal...maybe $10 a piece..that's all it is...just to light the room / or stair well etc..so know one trips. We also require flashlights for emergency situations. The plug in ones allow the folks to find their flashlight:)
we don't require the lit exit signs..but exit signs of some type posted where they can be seen. I have seen some done in embroidery..very cute.
We have the flashlights. I like them because you can also turn them on at night as nightlights which is nice.
We didn't have to put out exit signs because all our rooms are ground floor and every room has an exit in plain view, so that was nice
RIki
 
guess this would all depend on local codes or association affiliation....
Emergency lighting....I'd say that is a gimme......can probably locate them in a way that they not so visible
Exit signs?......eye sore.
we don't need exit signs, but we do have to have emergency evacuation directions in each room.
.
Mine was the first B&B in my county. The building inspector had lots of lee way in what he suggested, so I ended up having 3 lit exit signs, one at the top of the stairs that competes with a cute little chandelier that I specifically moved up there so it could be better seen. At least he didn't insist on my stair treds being 4" wider, which had been under discussion at the time of the remodelling.
 
Our emergency lighting in event of power outage is required for the fire code. We also supply flashlights in the nightstands. It's a cheap way to insure your guests are not panic-stricken in an unfamiliar place when there are no lights.
If the power is out while guests would normally be awake (and it's dark outside) we'll set up a Coleman lantern so they can find their way to the cookies. The rest of the building will be lit by the emergency lights.
I like the idea of the plug in emergency lights that use battery power but we haven't gotten around to buying them..
Bree, mine are not battery powered. We are required to have hard-wired. Even our #$% Fire Marshal conceded the plug-ins are hard-wired. When the power goes off they come on. They can then be pulled out and used as a flashlight to exit. I have one in each guestroom at the exit window (emergency), one in the hall for the stairs, one in each bathroom, and in the kitchen. And guests do take them out and put them in strange places - without shutting them off so they must be shining until they run out of power. Go figure. They do have a little red dot that lights up (does not "shine") to show they are working.
 
I just push a button to fire up the generator, and I'm back in air conditioned heaven again. :) My genny produces more amps than the incoming power line and I can run everything off of that when I need to.
Not that my set-up is comparable to any of yours, I found it interesting, and well thought out, at how Hatteras built this vessel. Each of our rooms, including the common areas, have half of the lights being AC powered and the other half are DC powered (for example, in a stateroom, there are two identical ceiling-mounted light fixtures - one is AC and the other is DC, but you can't tell the difference), so we are never out of lighting unless the batteries die, and if that happens, I've got bigger worries because the toilets won't flush - they are battery powered only.
Last summer, we had power outages on the hottest days of summer because there was to much pulling of power through the nearby transformer. I could tell by my electrical gauges when an outage was coming. We would have to call FP&L, and then go start running water over the transformer box to cool it down until FP&L arrive - the fuses in the transformers are floating in boiling HOT mineral oil at that point, and the power company removes those fuses with a 12' long pole from behind a shield...after we cool the box down for them...talk about a "do it yourself" service. LOL We've relocated to another marina since then and don't have the power outages anymore.
 
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