How to be Prepared with an Emergency Battery Charger

By anniewrites, eHow Member

Emergency Battery Charger

Be prepared with an emergency battery charger or two that will help to start your car or power your cell phone or other important device in a difficult situation. Make sure that you are not caught off guard in inclement conditions (possibly stranded with your children!) by taking a few minutes to think ahead and make sure that you have all of the necessary tools to keep you running in an emergency. Of course, we can't control all of the variables in an emergency, but it makes good sense to plan ahead for the things that we can control.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step 1: One very common emergency battery charger is the jumper cable. Most auto emergency kits come equipped with jumper cables. You can buy them separately, but since it's a good idea to have the other supplies in the emergency kit anyway, you might be able to save yourself some money by buying everything at once. Make sure that you know how to use your jumper cables. They should come with instructions, but make sure you study them ahead of time, as the last thing you want to do when your battery is dead is fumble around with instructions to figure out how things work.

Step 2: Another type of emergency battery charger can start your car without needing another car to give it a jump. Check into products such as StartMeUp2 which start your car by plugging into the cigarette lighter. They are generally single use, disposable, and easy to figure out. They can be a particularly good option for the elderly or other people who may have trouble working with jumper cables. Generally, this type of emergency battery charger runs about $20-$30.

Step 3: Don't forget to get an emergency battery charger to power necessary devices in the instance that your car battery is not what is causing the problem or you don't have a StartMeUp2 or similar device. There are solar emergency chargers on the market these days for around $20 that can make sure that you have somewhere to charge your cell phone so that you can call for help when you really need it. Many of these chargers are multi-function and can work with items that have a variety of different plugs, not just your cell phone.

Step 4: Now that you are armed with information that can help keep you powered up in the case of an emergency when you are in your car, take a few minutes to plan and gather an emergency battery charger or two that will help to keep your family safe when the unexpected occurs.