Battery Operated and 12 Volt Televisions

This page provides information on how to watch TV when the power is unavailable. This could be because of an emergency such as a hurricane or tornado warning when the power is out. Or it could be for situations such as camping or sporting events where you want to watch TV in a place where there is no power available.

This page has been revised a number of times. It was originally written prior to the switchover in the United States to digital television in 2009. Prior to that time, if you were looking for a battery operated TV, you had a number of inexpensive options. There were a large number of very inexpensive battery-operated televisions for sale. Many of these could be found on sale for less than $20. They usually ran on 8 D-cell batteries. In addition, you could buy an inexpensive radio to listen to TV sound. These radios usually also covered normal AM and FM broadcasts.

Unfortunately, the switchover to digital TV in 2009 made both of these options useless. The old analog TVs would not receive the new digital signals without a converter, and there were very few if any converters that could operate on battery power. In addition, the TV sound from digital stations can no longer be received on a radio.

Initially, this was a big problem if you wanted to be able to receive TV stations during a power outage. This can be important, because in situations such as a hurricane, you want to be able to receive information by TV after the power goes out. In an emergency, television is often one of the best sources of information. And unfortunately, most of those same emergencies are ones where the normal electrical power can be interrupted.

This page originally offered some workarounds, such as finding one of the few converters that could be used with 12 volt power. Fortunately, battery operated digital TVs have now come on the market, and the prices are now once again quite reasonable. Once again, it's easy to be prepared for power outages.

You have three options to be able to watch TV after a power outage. You probably already have everything you need for one of these options, but it is somewhat limited.

Watching Live Stream On Your Phone

That first option is to watch the live stream of a local TV station on your smartphone. Most local TV stations stream their local newscasts, and they usually keep the livestream running during local emergency situations. However, there are a number of limitations.

While you will usually be able to view your local TV station on your smartphone, this is not always guaranteed. First of all, if your power is out, it's possible that the power is also out for thousands of your neighbors. In such a situation, your TV station's servers might be overwhelmed. Also, if you local cellular network is down, then you won't have internet access of any kind. (Remember, your home WiFi won't be working if your power is out.) Finally, you might quickly use up all of the data in your phone plan, or it might be very expensive if you use so much data. For this reason, it's important to consider other options.

Keeping Your Phone Battery Charged

The other big issue to consider is whether your phone's battery will last. Watching a live stream on your cel phone will run the battery down much faster than simply having your phone on standby waiting for a call. If you intend you use your phone for any purpose during an emergency, you need to consider how you will charge it. At a very minimum, you should have a charger that will plug into your car. Most cell phones can be charged with a USB charger, and you can get a USB adapter that will plug into your car's 12 volt outlet. The one shown here is available on Amazon and allows you to charge two devices as the same time. A similar inexpensive charger is available at Walmart and many other places. They're so inexpensive that it's a good idea to keep one in your car, with a spare kept near your phone or other device. Make sure that you have the cable to run from this adapter to your phone. Most phones use this micro USB cable, which is sometimes included with the 12 volt charger. It's available at or at Walmart at this link.

Another option for keeping your phone charged in an emergency is the USB charger shown here, which allows a cell phone or other USB device to be charged with AA alkaline batteries. While this is a good solution for an emergency, you should keep in mind that it will use up the alkaline batteries quite fast, so you'll want to keep plenty on hand. (A charger of this type generally requires fresh batteries, meaning that even after the batteries can no longer be used in the charger, they might still be good for other items such as flashlights or radios.)

A TV Tuner "Dongle" For Your Laptop

One extremely inexpensive option is a TV tuner "dongle" that plugs in to the USB connection of your laptop computer. This is a very small device (the black box shown in the picture, about two inches long) that plugs into the side of the computer. It comes with a small antenna that plugs into that box, and also with software that you need to load into your computer. After you have it installed, you can use your laptop as a television, and get the signal right off the air. The one shown here is available at Amazon at this link.

A similar TV tuner for Android devices is also available, which would allow you to turn your smartphone or tablet into a TV set, allowing you to watch TV even without an internet connection.

There are a couple of shortcomings with this approach. First of all, since it involves plugging hardware into your computer and installing software, there's always the potential for glitches. These tuners usually work very well and will get all or most of your local stations. But occasionally, there will be cases where there is a problem installing it on a particular computer. They are so inexpensive that it's worth ordering one. But this is a case where you want to make sure it's working for you long before the emergency. Also, the antenna that comes with these tuners is a very basic one, and it might not work well everywhere. So you want to test it in advance and make sure that it pulls in your local stations. A tuner of this type might work well in one part of your house, but not in others. In particular, it will generally work best at a high location. So it might work well on the top floor of your house, but not in the basement. Keep this in mind if you plan to use it in the basement during a tornado warning, and test it in the place you plan on using it. But the main thing to worry about with this kind of tuner is your laptop computer's battery life. This type of tuner gets its power from the computer. It doesn't use very much extra power, but the laptop itself probably isn't good for more than a couple of hours. So if you decide to use one of these tuners in case of an emergency, you still need to have some way of charging your laptop battery. One option would be to use a power inverter that plugs into your car, and I have more information about this on my power inverter page.

Battery Operated TVs

The good news is that there are now inexpensive TVs available that are battery operated. The bad news is that all of them have built-in rechargeable batteries. Normally, this is a good thing: When the battery gets low, you simply plug it in. But you can't simply open it up and put in a new set of alkalines. So if you are buying a TV for an emergency, you need to figure out how you are going to charge it. All of these TVs come with a charger for charging it from household current. But if the power is out, you need to come up with an alternative method. Most portable TVs will work for only an hour or two until the battery needs to be recharged. Having a way to charge the battery is just as important as having the TV.

If you already own a portable TV that requires 120 volts to charge, then your best option might be to use an inverter. This is somewhat inefficient, but it will get the job done. You plug the inverter into your car, you plug the TV charger into the inverter, and you plug the charger into the TV. An inexpensive 75 watt inverter like the one shown here should work well. For more information, see my my power inverter page.

But if you are buying a new TV, it is best to find one that can be charged with 12 volts, or through a USB connection. If the power is out, this will give you much greater versatility in being able to charge. The TVs shown on this page can be charged and/or operated on 12 volts, or possibly with a USB connection.

One of the least expensive options in this category is shown here, the the Axess TV1703-7. It comes with a 12 volt cord, meaning that you will be able to charge it if the power goes out. The product description indicates that it has a USB input, but it is not clear whether the USB port can be used for charging.

The Supersonic 9" Portable Rechargeable Digital LCD has a slightly larger screen and also comes with a 12 volt charging cable. Another 9" set that comes with a 12 volt charging cord is the Tyler TTV702.

How to Charge Your TV Battery

If your TV can be operated or charged with a USB cable, then you can charge it up as you would your cell phone: You can use the same 12 volt charger you would use with your cell phone (available at Amazon or Walmart. You could also use the charger that runs on AA batteries or any other USB charger.

Since all of the sets shown here can be charged directly with 12 volts, you can charge any of them by plugging them into your car. Being able to plug the TV into your car to watch and/or recharge the battery could be a lifesaver, but it's not particularly convenient. Therefore, I would also recommend having a source of 12 volts that you can use in the house. For that purpose, I would recommend an automotive jump-start battery, similar to one of these:

Chargers such as these are sometimes on sale at auto parts stores for even less than the price shown above. They are designed for starting a car with a dead battery. The battery inside this one is actually quite small, and it's often not big enough for its intended purpose. However, it has plenty of juice for operating a TV for many hours. And it can be used to charge cel phones and other electronic devices using their car adapters. A power source such as this one is invaluable during an emergency. Similar jump starters are also available at Walmart. They can be an excellent source of power in an emergency situation.

12 Volt TVs

Another option, if you have a source of 12 volt power available, is a 12 volt television. Some of these are specifically designed for use in cars or RVs. Others are designed to be used at home on 120 volts, but use an AC adapter that puts out 12 volts DC.

All of the following TVs are designed for applications such as RVx and will operate on 12 volts:

The Craig CLC501, which is a very lightweight 15 inch high definition TV, which is normally designed for use at home. But it actually runs on 12 volts and comes with an AC adapter to supply the 12 volt DC. You can replace the AC adapter with the DC cord shown here:

AM-FM Radios

In a perfect world, broadcasters would realize that many of their viewers don't have a TV available in many emergency situations, and that it's a lot easier to tune in to radio programs. Unfortunately, during many disasters, there's more information available on TV than on the radio. But it's still a good idea to have a portable radio available. For one thing, it won't use batteries nearly as fast. So even if you have a battery powered TV (and especially if you don't), it's important to have an inexpensive portable radio handy. At a minimum, you'll want an AM-FM radio such as the one shown here, along with plenty of batteries for access to information.

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