Do you have an emergency light close to your breaker box?

I have flashlights / torches all over the house, it is 40 feet from my bed to the breaker box; there are four flashlights in that distance.

I have a phone.

Flashlight is about 2 feet away. But I can always use the flashlight on my cell phone.

“Snap lights,” “break and shakes,” or “light sticks,” are (to me) THE ultimate emergency light source.
They don’t have batteries thar can go bad, they’re fairly good with extreme temperatures, and pose no hazard of fire.
There are cheap ones, like you see around Halloween, or in party stores, which actually work OK.
I buy military/industrial ones.
Cyalume are the best.
They come in a variety of colors, including new “white.”

They usually come individually wrapped. Remove the stick from the packaging. Bend the stick sharply, to break the inside glass separating two liquids, and then shake the stick vigorously.
Disclaimer. They aren’t very good, at projecting light, like they don’t have a focused beam of light. But. They will “burn” extremely bright, (depending on the brand,) for many hours.
The ones I use, still glow the next night a bit. But they’ll be a perfect source of light, for longer than any night.

I have like a hundred of them, everywhere.
I got stuck in the swamp one day/night, in a bad storm while in my canoe. I was very poorly prepared, but I did have 2 of those glow sticks. I tied one, to my life jacket, and used the other one to try to see where I was going.
Again. They don’t cast a beam, but you can shield one side with your hand and see that way.
They can be seen from very far away. In a pinch, they are WAY better than almost any other lighting.

You can usually buy some Coleman camping one’s, for pretty cheap. I keep them in my bedside nightstand, in my truck (they are VERY useful in case of a vehicle emergency,) a couple in every room of the house, and they are in all of my packs.
They are really lightweight, and take up little space, making them excellent for hikers, or I guess canoe people.

You could keep some of those handy, and you’ll always have a source of light.
While it’s true they are for one use, and disposable, they are probably still cheaper than buying batteries a couple times a year.

I still have flashlights of course, but I can always count on those sticks.

Like I said, no fire hazard. You can carry them in your mouth…

They’re probably something like $6 for a really nice one. I buy packs of 20 online, for way less.

My phone is always on me for a light. I do have a magnetic one always in the kitchen as well.

My wife bought a plug-in (rechargeable) light that, if the power failed, would light up and be good for about two hours after pulling it off the outlet. Batteries died about 12 years ago.

Like @Tropical_Willie I have flashlights all over the house, and a bunch of oil lamps, and candles. I have always lived in places where we lose power a lot.

Nope. A flashlight is satisfactory.

I keep a small torch there and yes, the batteries are working.

My wife accuses me of having a flashlight fetish, they’re all over the house.

@Blackwater_Park your wife is an enlightened woman

@elbanditoroso groan ;-)

@elbanditoroso She’ll see the light someday

Our breaker box is outside so if I leave a flashlight out there it gets thermal cycled, which would cause the batteries to degrade quickly. But I have flashlights all over the house, with two near the back door. Those would be useful for troubleshooting the breaker box at night.

No. I have my phone and I have battery candles. I even have my car lights, and my breaker box is in the garage. If it is daytime, I can just open my garage door for light, but I would have to lift it manually if the power was out.

Yes. I have a battery operated light magnetically attached to the door of my breaker box.
I also have one in the closet where my modem and wifi are located.

I have many others all around the house.