Closet Light Suggestions Please

[drizzle]

I'm looking for a decent battery powered light for a rarely used closet. It doesn't have to be super-bright but must be better than the worthless POS Push-On Dome light I got at Ace for $4. It's not nearly bright enough.

When I use it, it would be on for short durations so battery life isn't critical.

Any suggestions? Anyone know of better quality Dome lights out there? That kind of light seems to be my best solution if I can get enough light output.

[IsaacHayes]

Modify the dome light. Put either a luxeon or a bunch of white leds in it. With 3-4 AA's it should be pretty decent.

[pedalinbob]

For my (small in-wall) pantry, I built a simple luxeon based light.

I mounted the (old low dome greenie) luxeon on a pretty big heatsink. Then, I mounted it so that it would illuminate most of the pantry. It is attached to the wall about a foot above eye level.
I resistored it to draw about 350mA.

I soldered in a 4-D bat pack (got it from Radio Shack for ~$2).

Then, I stopped at a local appliance supply store, and paid $3 for a refrigerator light switch--you know, the one that turns the light off when the door is closed.
Wired it in, and voila! Open the door, light turns on...close it, and the light turns off. PLENTY bright for getting stuff out of the pantry.

Bob

[Lynx_Arc]

Get a fluorescent 4AA 4watt closet light, it is rather bright and runtime is actually longer than the cheaper incan touchlights. The white GE ones with the side pushbutton are nice.

[Phaserburn]

Ditto on the GE 4AA fluoro. I have a few for this purpose. They are only around 6 bucks or so, pretty much everywhere; they're a good value. They come with screws for mounting.

[drizzle]

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I'm gonna get the GE fluoro.

The projects sound pretty fun too but I'm just not ready for a project right now.

[watt4]

I bought a coleman "tent light" at biglots last week for $4. it has a strong magnet base, with a bracket that could be mounted on a wall if desired. incan, uses 4xAA batteries

http://www.imagecabin.com/images/khg04271.jpg
http://www.imagecabin.com/images/BMj04279.jpg
http://www.imagecabin.com/images/Tfj04294.jpg
http://www.imagecabin.com/images/1e604302.jpg

[Brock]

I have the larger version of the 4AA 4" light, it uses 8AA and an 8" tube, and also has a 12vdc input if you want to go that way. I got mine at Home Depot for somewhere around $12??? The nice thing is you can find 8” tubes all over the place so I got warmer ones rather then the cool ones that come stock.

I do have some of the 4" ones and they are pretty nice for the size.

[drizzle]

Thanks everybody. I bought a 8AA 12" fluorescent at Home Depot. It's not a GE as they don't carry GE battery lights any more, according to the sales person. The brand is Ameritac but really it's basic brand X, made in China and cost $11.

Does the job just fine.

[Brock]

Those are the ones I like, they run about 4 hours on 1800mA NiMH's, I have never run time tested them on alkaline.

One neat thing is they will just sit on top on moldings above a door, really handy that way. I also use them working on or under the car.

[VidPro]

closet lights should have Auto Off.
i am so bad i had to put rechargebles in.
modding the pushlights is fun.

[Lynx_Arc]

They have the 12v 8AA 8watt GE closet lights at BigLots for $3.99 if you have one near you. I have a 8AA black light and I rewired it for DC input and use a walwart. I think either home depot or lowes has one with a DC input jack already in it.