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Cordless LED lamps

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nanette1985

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Are they practical? What do I need to know? Suggestions? We've been through a few power outages here over the years. After Sandy, I think a few cordless lamps would be a good idea. Safer than candles and oil lamps.

Thoughts?
 
It's a lamp that runs on batteries. Not really rocket science. Just get an LED camping lantern. Should serve you well.
 
mmntech said:
It's a lamp that runs on batteries. Not really rocket science. Just get an LED camping lantern. Should serve you well.
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um... not really. since cheap led's are what goes into most budget lanterns, it can vary greatly on how much light you get and how long it will last.

if i didnt have 10 other side projects going on, i too have been wanting a GOOD led lantern. i want to make one, using strong lithium rechargeable batteries and low wattage/high output led module. from my research, one should be able to make something that lasts multiple times longer then what you buy in stores, and much, much brighter too.
 
wirednuts said:
um... not really. since cheap led's are what goes into most budget lanterns, it can vary greatly on how much light you get and how long it will last.

if i didnt have 10 other side projects going on, i too have been wanting a GOOD led lantern. i want to make one, using strong lithium rechargeable batteries and low wattage/high output led module. from my research, one should be able to make something that lasts multiple times longer then what you buy in stores, and much, much brighter too.
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High-end cool-white Cree or Philips LEDs, and an efficient switching DC-DC constant current regulator....yeah, you can get some good runtime and light output.
It'd probably be good to include some kind of discharge-level monitor for the li-ion cells though, so that they won't be permitted to drop down too low. Pre-built voltage monitoring modules can also be bought pretty cheap, if you don't want to make one yourself.

There may well be something like that commercially available though - probably not in B&M stores, but online somewhere.


Though in any case, LEDs still aren't terribly efficient light sources. They enjoy a lot of attention though simply because they're a hell of a lot better than incandescent sources. 🙂
Hopefully some day we'll have a really top-notch way of enticing electrons to spit more useful photons.



OP: The Candlepower Forums site is a good place to go for anything related to flashlights. I would think that they'd also have some information there on lanterns and related light sources.
 
well of course technology will always push forward, but right now LED's are where its at.

and yes. battery safety modules can be found dirt cheap. no worries there. and so can good dc-dc regulators.

and you might be right... i would look around on dealextreme.com if you want a good lantern. last i looked they really didnt have what i wanted, but that was 6 months ago. just look at the reviews.. the people there post very detailed accounts of real world usage.
 
I have a couple LED work lights, they're pretty neat and light up decently. Lanterns are probably even better as they can more easily be set on a table. Just make sure it's one that has a smart charger (knows when to stop) so you can just lave it plugged in all the time.
 
bradley said:
I have this one and it rocks. Perhaps the top-rated LED lantern currently available.

http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-SE3DLN...ywords=lantern
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+1

after my own Sandy experience, I've decided on 1 lantern for every important room in the house (bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom) plus 1 flashlight for every person in the household (currently using a maglite LED flashlight) plus 2 extras (one for the back hall/basement, and one just to have an extra)

also invested in a hand-crank/solar radio + cellphone charger.
 
nanette1985 said:
Are they practical? What do I need to know? Suggestions? We've been through a few power outages here over the years. After Sandy, I think a few cordless lamps would be a good idea. Safer than candles and oil lamps.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

oil lamps are more fun.
 
LED headlamps look silly but are very practical. They put the light where you are looking. Though with too many people around (more than one) they can get annoying.
 
wirednuts said:
um... not really. since cheap led's are what goes into most budget lanterns, it can vary greatly on how much light you get and how long it will last.

if i didnt have 10 other side projects going on, i too have been wanting a GOOD led lantern. i want to make one, using strong lithium rechargeable batteries and low wattage/high output led module. from my research, one should be able to make something that lasts multiple times longer then what you buy in stores, and much, much brighter too.
Click to expand...

rechargable batteries, even enerloops are never a good idea for a disaster type application.

On normal batteries even the brightest of LED Lanterns last days usually.

These have been quite popular in Florida for over a decade now.
 
IronWing said:
LED headlamps look silly but are very practical. They put the light where you are looking. Though with too many people around (more than one) they can get annoying.
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The one use they are great and efficient for, though, is reading! I fished mine out just ahead of Sandy, and got a fair way through Mason & Dixon by the incomparable Thomas Pynchon. For the one or two that might care, here are excerpts from a couple of reviews:

A sprawling, complex, and comic work from one of the country's most celebrated and idiosyncratic authors, Mason & Dixon is Thomas Pynchon's Most Magickal reinvention of the 18th-century novel.
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The publication of Pynchon's fifth novel is certain to be a highlight of the literary year. To try and summarize it would be an exercise in futility. Like his previous works, this one is complex?much more than a simple, rollicking tale of 18th-century surveyors as they wend their way south (to the Cape of Good Hope) and west (to America, where they drew the line for which they will ever be famous?the boundary that came to define North and South).
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Bonus #1: By serendipity, my library was having a book sale just prior to the storm, and I got this book in hard cover for one1won1one11 dollah!

Bonus #2: With such an engrossing read to replace the internet, I'm sure I masturbated far less! 😛
 
loki8481 said:
+1

after my own Sandy experience, I've decided on 1 lantern for every important room in the house (bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom) plus 1 flashlight for every person in the household (currently using a maglite LED flashlight) plus 2 extras (one for the back hall/basement, and one just to have an extra)

also invested in a hand-crank/solar radio + cellphone charger.
Click to expand...

You might want to consider flashlight nightlights if you're going to go down that route. It's basically a wall-charger with a flashlight docked in it. It acts as a nightlight at night, and then the flashlight turns on if the power goes out and you can pull it out from the dock to act like a regular flashlight. It's really handy because the batteries are always being charged, so you're not screwed by old batteries when an emergency hits.

http://www.amazon.com/Eco-i-Lite-fai...dp/B001TA52CG/

We have that plus some of those laterns with the big D-batteries. The wall-mount nightlight flashlights are instantly accessible, and then we go and dig out the laterns & spare batteries as needed. Which fortunately is only once in a great while 😉
 
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