Of the many things that we use every day, electrical power has become one of the most important. Just about everything we do relies on electric power in one way or other; sometimes in ways we don’t even realize.
Yet our electric power grid is the most fragile part of our infrastructure. All it takes is a good storm to knock out our power. Sometimes they get it fixed in a couple of hours, other times it can take them days. The question then becomes – what do we do for power in the meantime?
The standard answer to that question in the prepping community is to turn to solar power. That’s great, if you can do it. Solar is cheap and abundant, if you don’t live somewhere like Seattle, Washington, where it rains something like 156 days per year. Of course, the idea of it being cheap doesn’t include the cost of the solar panels themselves, which can be quite costly.
Gasoline generators are a good alternative for the short-term; but cost a lot to operate if you’re going to need them running for days or weeks. Besides that, you’ll likely run out of gasoline if the power stays out for more than a day or two.
⇒ If You Have a Generator on Your Property, Do This immediately!
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t use solar panels or gasoline generators. With all our needs for electricity, it makes sense to use every means for producing electricity we can find.
One such source that’s right in our homes is our telephone connection.
Before cell phones and wireless home phones, the older rotary dial and pushbutton phones didn’t need any electrical power connection. That’s because the power to operate those phones came in over the phone lines.
Phone companies have the capability of producing their own electrical power from generators, although they might use power from the electric company for normal operations, saving their generators for emergency use. They are required by regulation to have those generators in place, along with several days of reserve fuel for the generators.
So, even if the power is out in the entire region, home phones will work from the power supplied by the phone company. More importantly, for our purposes, that power is available for other uses, like charging our cell phones, if we know how to tap into it.
I’m not talking about a lot of power here. You’re not going to be able to run your refrigerator off the electricity that’s coming through your phone lines. The wires aren’t big enough to carry that much current and the voltage isn’t right for running a refrigerator anyway.
Just How Much Power Is Available?
Before talking about how to access the power available in our phone lines, we need to understand just how much power we’re talking about.
Related: I Lived Without Electricity For A Week. Here’s What Happened
The phone company keeps electricity flowing through the phone lines, even when they’re not in use. This current is rated at 48 volts DC, but is not tightly regulated, so can run as high as 60 volts DC.
This voltage is the “carrier voltage,” intended to provide power to telephones connected to the line.
It will drop to somewhere between 6 and 12 volts when in use.
When the phone rings, the voltage can jump to over 100 volts.
Under the wrong circumstances, this is enough that it can be lethal. Therefore, take care not to touch both bare wires at the same time.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term DC, it refers to “direct current,” where electricity flows in only one direction. It’s the type of electric current found in most portable devices, especially anything that runs off of batteries, whether they are rechargeable batteries or alkaline ones.
The other type of voltage is AC, which stands for alternating current. This is what’s in your home’s electrical outlets and is different than DC in that the current flows back and forth, rather than in just one direction.
The importance of that, for our discussion, is that devices which are designed to run on DC current won’t work on AC current and those which are designed to run on AC current won’t work on DC current. So, we can only use the current coming through the phone lines for devices that require DC current.
Phone wire is either 22 or 24 gauge. For most newer homes and systems, 24 gauge is used. That size wire can only carry a maximum of 0.577 amps of electricity.
That’s not enough to run appliances, even small ones, but it is enough to charge handheld electronics. You should be able to pull 75mA (milliamps, or thousandths of an amp) at 5 VDC (volts, direct current), which is enough to charge a smartphone.
Before going any further, you’ll want to check and ensure that your phone lines are live and actually have power running through them.
This will require the use of a multimeter. Remove the wall plate to access the wires and strip off a bit of the insulation from both the red and green wires.
It is best to do this in staggard locations, so that the two bare spots can’t touch one another accidentally.
Connect the two leads of the multimeter to the two bare wires, measuring the actual voltage running through your lines. Anything from 48 VDC to 60 VDC is acceptable.
Hooking Up a Voltage Regulator
Today’s portable electronics all charge off of 5 volts DC. That’s the voltage available at a USB port and the chargers are pretty much all designed to plug into a USB port, whether that be installed in a computer or in a charger.
So, we need to reduce the voltage from the phone wires to 5 volts DC, regulating it so that we will get a consistent output voltage. This is actually very easy to do, using a one chip regulator, the 7805. I’m not sure if you can still get these from Radio Shack, but I found them available on Amazon.com.
The 7805 makes for a one-piece voltage-regulator circuit.
It is intended for a much lower input voltage than what we are going to receive from the phone line.
However, it can handle the voltage that the phone line will provide, especially at the current we will be drawing.
The three terminals on the 7805 are numbered, as shown in the diagram.
Besides the 7805, you’ll need input and output connectors. For the input, a standard modular phone line will work. You probably have one sitting in a box of cords that came with your computers and other electronics. Cut off one plug to expose the red and green wires. These will be connected to the appropriate terminals as shown in the schematic diagram below.
For the output side of the circuit, a USB panel mount socket will be needed. Those are a little harder to come by, as they are typically mounted to circuit boards. If you have an old computer board with a USB socket mounted to it and a soldering iron, one can be scavenged. Those sockets can be purchased, but are a little hard to find. Even so, I managed to find a package of them on Amazon.com.
Related: DIY Off-Grid Alarm System Against Intruders
Notice in the diagram above that the wire leaving pin 2 of the 7805 connects in a “T” to wires that lead both to the input and output. The easier way to do this is to connect both input and output wires directly to pin 2 of the 7805. Be sure to solder all connections securely, so that they have good electrical and mechanical connection.
Plug the modular phone plug into a phone outlet in your home and connect the charger cord for your phone to the USB connector at the other end of the circuit. Verify to see that your phone is charging.
An Alternate Connection
As I was writing the above, it occurred to me that there are panel mount USB connectors, designed to mount into the dashboard of a vehicle. While designed to run off of 12 volts DC, they are essentially the same thing as what we’ve done with the 7805, albeit a bit more expensive.
The big advantage with them is that they have the USB socket already connected. All that would be required would be to cut the plug off of a phone extension line and connect the wires: red to red and green to black. When plugged into a telephone jack, a USB cable connected from the panel mount USB to your phone should charge your phone.
For Other Voltages
While most things that we might need to power off of our phone jack will be 5-volt, there’s a possibility that you might need to power some other voltage. The same series of voltage regulators that the 7805 comes from, also includes regulators for a variety of other voltages, specifically:
- LM7805 regulator – 5 volts DC
- LM7806 regulator – 6 volts DC
- LM7808 regulator – 8 volts DC
- LM7809 regulator – 9 volts DC
- LM7810 regulator – 10 volts DC
- LM7812 regulator – 12 volts DC
- LM7815 regulator – 15 volts DC
- LM7818 regulator – 18 volts DC
- LM7824 regulator – 24 volts DC
These would need to be hooked up the same way as the 7805, with the exception that the output jack would need to be something appropriate to the piece of equipment that the adapter is going to be used for. Avoid using USB connectors for this, as it might cause confusion. The best power adapter to use is whatever input power connector is on the device that the charging adapter will be used with.
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This is a great idea for those that still have the old land line wires active to do this option.
Better buy a small solar panel as a backup for daylight operations with a battery backup. Get a friend to help you make one charging unit.
While we are getting ready for Christmas for symbolic birth of our Savior. We are seeing our country being run by narcissistic lovers of the Chines government that will try to strike us before Bidenomic’s term in office ends.
We got many Chinese nationals of possible military personnel being sent for sabotage of the electric grid.
Our economy and the military operate on the electrical fragile grid. The Chinese an other bad actors are hacking the grid system. As we sleep of sweet dreams of Christmas presents under the Xmas tree.
Are we ready?
The article does not work as many supposed landlines are now WIFI modem operated internet phones. This is a decades old trick, past it’s prime.
Off topic,
Isn’t funny how we are not seeing what is hidden in plain sight?
The foreign governments especially the Chinese Communist Party for years has bought up many local an corporations from greedy individuals, politicians and others. We are getting to a tipping point of China’s silent takeover of America as our primary nemesis by our senile leader in Washington DC.
The Bud light beer maker was sold to a foreign agent from American leadership which years latter turned into a woke business. The idea is to destroy our traditional foundations to a point there is nothing left for us.
The recent Floyd Riots that are a distant renascence of past riots of stupid purpose. Like the LA Watts Riots, the Chicago Seven Riots, Vietnam college campus riots. A simmer of Marxism indoctrinated students rises up again in these preplanned pro-Palestinian street and university riots against American freedom.
We, well not us but our fearless liberals give away our tax money to foreign governments, even to our adversaries in the form of foreign aid programs. To a 5th graders that would be a silly idea, but this happens everyday.
The political parties, unions of all stripes need to be cleaned up, we can do this, vote the bums out. Elections do have consequences, look what happened when mail in ballots flooded a preplanned takeover of our voting system. Electronic voting machines are hackable and proven so. The vote workers in many States are driven Demoncratic slanted workers operating the vote counting and physically adding in ballots to force a fraud on votes.
Paper and pen ballots on official election sites of locked box and voting onsite only will reduce the voter fraud with a ID check. The election day must be a national day-off, one-day only. Exceptions for elderly and military, those ballots can be absentee ballots only sent by official points not by the last ballot boxes of the last presidential election. The government an fix the problem overnight with the will to.
We have a few months to get our government to fix these issues before the 2024 presidential election. Then it is up to the people to elect the government they choose to be govern by. You can join grassroots organizations and contact local and federal elected officials to do what is right. Those politicians still have get elected by the voters so there is motivation to fix part of these voter issues or lose the election. They want their income to continue.
Well written!
Why are we the people, the voters not more concerned about these military age males flooding our nation. Why can one senile jerk let our southern border be left wide open, why?
I cannot afford my home property taxes to feed, cloth and home these illegals giving a free ride in my America.
Don’t want to end up homeless at age 80, when these liberals are giving our country away. It is very sad my America is going away. If America is such a bad place to live, why is the world wanting to come into our nation of freedom?
Isn’t it time to send our domestic protesters and evil politicians and corrupt lawyers, judges packing for a trip out of our country now?
It saddens me to see our America go down in flames as the woke idiots take over the nation. Some of us vets are ashamed of what is happening to America.
We are concerned but that is all we are. WE THE PEOPLE allowed this and we continue to standby and allow it.
Xmas has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus Christ. It is nothing but a pagan festival through and through. You need to do more homework on the subject.
Since the actual day is not known, SOMEBODY chose the date December 25th….out of the blue..who knows? But understanding the wiles of mankind, it was probably politically motivated. Nevertheless, it is the thought that counts. And just as perplexing, WHO chose Sunday to be the Sabbath, when God, Almighty made Saturday the Sabbath day?? SOMEBODY who thinks they can outdo God!
I believe you need to do some homework and try a little common sense. Take your agenda and move on.
Its NOT “xmas” its CHRISTmas. Period. Beat it!
Sigh… the lies are embedded so thick in our churches. So many call themselves Protestant (i.e. to “Protest” Roman Catholicism) but they have no clue that Christmas stands for Christ MASS. It is just another Catholic pagan tradition, like worshiping the saints, and has nothing to do with Jesus.
Want to actually honor Jesus Christ? Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles instead. We CAN know when Jesus was born. “And the Word came to dwell (i.e. “Tabernacle”) among us.” (John 1). The stable was the literal Tabernacle where Jesus was born to fulfill God’s law for the feast day.
And of course we know exactly where Dec 25th and Xmas came from… it comes from the Roman holiday known as Saturnalia – a pagan festival dedicated to their god Saturn at the winter solstice. This is not hidden knowledge. It is very well documented historically and very well known.
This stuff is not difficult to find online. You all will be held accountable for your lack of knowledge on this stuff – that I promise you. God is not happy w/ all the pagan Xmas trees (See Jeremiah 10:1-5 specifically) and decorations and gifts on Dec 25th (Saturnalia).
Want to be educated? 119 Ministries has a great documentary called The Christmas Question that you can go watch.
I hope God gives some of you eyes to see and ears to hear!
PLEASE do NOT say/write “xmas”——it is part of their way of removing Christianity. The word IS
CHRISTmas. Thank you. I realize its probably something most of us do t think of. I didnt until recently either.
Actually you have been hoodwinked about where the shorthand Xmas came from.
Exactly, strongly agree.
It’s not a bad thing to say Merry. x-mas.
It dose sound better to say Merry Christmas.
The Greek Letter X, means Christ.
The letter X was used in old times as a secret symbol, was a way the church could know who was who, as a Christan.
I tried that electrical phone line trick at a home, it works somewhat. I agree the WIFI routers don’t really use the old phoneline anymore in new construction homes and apartments today.
I am more concerned if I can afford to buy food then using a small voltage line to charge a smartphone.
The 7805 voltage regulator has a maximum input voltage rating of 35 volts, so a phone line will eventually destroy a the 7805, and the high phone voltage may short through the 7805 and destroy your USB device. DON’T DO THIS! You must have a voltage regulator that can handle the 100 volt peak voltage from the phone line, and that will be a more complex circuit than this one. From an electrical engineer.
Thanks, JRW, I appreciate that.
I still have a landline because we have spotty cell coverage. Whole cordless phones are great, I do have wall phones I can plug in if need be during an outage. More than once, being able to phone people to let them know I or a neighbor was okay was a real blessing. We didn’t have to use any power on our cell phones (which in one storm didn’t work well because of the spotty cell service), and people could call us, too.
I was a Navy ET and I am going, uhhh…NO. Phone lines are twisted pair on Legacy switch LAN systems, and most modern electronics can’t handle fluctuations. That’s why you have that little brick for charging your phone. To PROTECT IT rated at 30ma
Claude ,, if your listening,,I love your website !! And enjoy it every day,lots of info to process ! I will guess majority of viewers on this site are already ( up to speed ) ONE , political , TWO ,Christion ,and THREE social issues , devastating our country right now.What I see more and more on this site is ( great nuts and bolts prepper articles ) followed by ” Hay great article ” BUTT,,off subject ,,let me make a comment on the etc,etc,etc Lets keep this site to Prepping tools ,should we ? Great job Claude,you have awakened many people in your website !!
I think the extras should be shared. 1–in case one of us knows something is going on that the test dont know and 2—as far as the stories I see from people they are interesting.
*rest* not test. ?
Ps—-WHY do you think people are prepping!?! That would be because of the political climate. Therefore the political speak.
My landline is long gone so this would not work for me.
Use block chain technology to link every vote to every citizen that is eligible to vote. This should stop voter fraud. Both parties and all the independents, greens, and whatever other groups are out there should be for protecting the vote.
Good article.
Our phone company (Consolidated) uses deep cycle batteries for power backup. Unfortunately, they’re old and quite weak. Within an hour after a power failure, the phones go down too. This is especially great since we have poor cell service in this area – sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. For lengthy outages, the phone company will usually hook up a generator – after 18-24 hrs. There is no generator kept on site. They will not replace the batteries
in spite of complaints to the company and the PUC. Life in the country- sparse population and nobody with any clout. ??♂️
This is very sad.
I bought a few Morse Code Machines (MCM) for myself and others. Most come with the codes alphabet, if not you can get it online. I believe we can use the landline wires to tap into with the MCM when needed.
Also, since there are so many people ‘texting’, that may help with Morse Code like not so many letters. I myself don’t text but I do know how and I do see how the words are ‘compacted’ to use that to my advantage.
I have traditional phone lines in my house, but we don’t use them. They still exist in most homes built in the past 60 years.
Only one person on our street still uses a traditional phone line so they still have to maintain them.
As I remember telephone companies use -52 vdc +or- 4vdc. Typically the red wire would be negative and the green would be ground. You need to check the polarity with a meter before hooking up the VR.
Just wanted to let you know that Pinterest is blocking the ability to save any articles from Ask A Prepper, this has been going on for about a week now!
This is outdated information, majority of the phones have been switched over to digital. Customers were not asked, companies just did this. Now when power is out there is no phone service. Unless you have a cell phone or satellite phone.