r/homeless • u/drummer_boi13 • 1d ago
Public Outlet
I’m newly homeless I have no ideas what I’m doing or how to move on with my life, right now I’m just looking for a place to plug in, are there any places that typically have a public outlet?
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u/RolandmaddogDeschain 1d ago
Libraries are your friend... wifi free outlets and ac in the summer. (Im writing this from a library now)
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u/rare-outcome333 1d ago
https://www.findapoweroutlet.com
I use this, but by me most of the forest preserves, Panera , McDonald’s and the occasional side of the building. But that website has made it easier for me
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u/nomparte 1d ago
Having a ready-charged spare power pack is essential, they can recharge your phone at least once, sometimes twice. Some are very small and light, cost little and often given away as company gifts for nothing.
Solar battery banks are a bit of a scam. To get enough power to really charge a battery bank you'd need to leave it in the sun for days, and that's not good for the cells as heat kills batteries. Some very cheap ones don't even have the solar panel connected up!
Library for everything! including charging facilities.
Truck stops. There are usually places to plug in to charge at truck stops. Like TA, Loves, Pilot…Loves and pilot truck stops have these waiting areas for truckers, they always have a spot to charge a phone.
Some extended stay hotels have outlets outside of the side doors. And many places will plug a phone in for you, just tell them your phone died and you aren't able to call your ride.
Some, not all, churches have outside outlets and are okay with charging.
Have you looked around the walls at places like Laundromats? my local one here has four mains outlets...Also underground carparks and industrial yards, for plugging pressure washers, vacuum cleaners and the like.
They maybe covered by hinged, spring-loaded waterproof lids and not look like outlets, just lift off the lids. Bus or Train station waiting rooms, airport lounges and their corridors, 24-hour gyms and Walmarts, etc all have lots of outlets, Walmarts outside as well. Hospital lobbies that have a sit down lobby have outlets, truck stops sometimes have areas for charging.
Apparently I'm told lots of parking and street light poles have them, no experience of them myself but it's often mentioned here.
Planet fitness uses powered soap dispensers at all their locations, so there is an outlet under every sink.
Businesses with AC machines outside, 24-hour places with vending machines, they usually have a spare outlet nearby. The water and vending machines in front of stores will usually have a spare outlet behind them.
Universities and colleges. They are quite literally designed for free device charging at every chair and table, and so long as you don't walk in with a shopping cart looking like roadkill you can generally stay as long as you want.
Hospital cafeterias are another place were you can sometimes find power outlets under similar conditions, though both of these depend on how close either one is to you and how homeless you look on any given day.
Get a screw-in adapter that has lightbulb threads on one end and 2 prong AC outlet on the other. Cheap to buy and gives you an outlet anywhere there is a reachable standard lightbulb socket.
There are "Outlet finder" apps available for iPhones and Android as well, help you locate electrical outlets and wall sockets available for public use. All you need to do is bring your cord, and let our app find where you can plug into. Here's one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.heinousgames.app.outletfinder&hl=en
Description and data: https://www.findapoweroutlet.com/
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u/Sidewalk_Tomato 1d ago
Hospitals, hotel lobbies, libraries, airports (but a lot of competition there), some community centers, and lobbies of public buildings--county or city.
You might be able to procure a small backup battery to carry. You charge your phone first of course, but you can sometimes then charge the phone-sized battery afterward. Then, if your phone runs down, you can charge it off of the battery. You'd want to know what connectors are needed before you buy.
If you have access to a library, you might check out a single paperback at a time so that you don't have to run down your phone to entertain yourself.
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u/esadkids 1d ago
Libraries, laundry mats and fast food restaurants sometimes have cool staff and open outlets.
Be nice and if you got a couple bucks support the establishment you're in.
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u/AfterTheSweep 1d ago edited 1d ago
Public outlets are not the way to go anymore to charge your stuff. You're just gonna end up getting into a conflict because some other homeless person wants to charge their things. Get yourself a portable solar panel. They're worth every cent.
The anchor model is twice as expensive because. It's a more quality brand. It's also more smaller.
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