Lantern for indoor use?

[joeyboy]

Been trying to find a torch with a decent run-time with a lot of flood for use when the power goes out and I realised...what the hell am I doing? Why don't I just find a lantern, 360 degrees light right there.

So can anyone recommend anything in the "budget" sort of range, by which I mean not over £25(around $40).

So far I've seen one cree one available on DX, only 1W though....to be fair our house is pretty small, no huge rooms.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12073 , though taking AA's probably limits it's use to a few hours on high.

An Alternative on D cells I've seen which look decent are below, I know they say camping but hopefully they wouldn't blind you...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001V74S90/

any recommendations would be great folks, though just to remind folks I am in England, I've noticed some brands aren't available here and can only be ordered from the States, with crazy high shipping costs.

 

[Black Rose]

I have a couple of these that I keep around for emergency use.

They may be available under the OSRAM name in Europe.

EDIT: They are, but pricey.

 

[joeyboy]

I have a couple of these that I keep around for emergency use.

They may be available under the OSRAM name in Europe.

EDIT: They are, but pricey.

is the latter better then the former? Because damn that's one hell of a price hike if they're of similar quality...

It's frustrating, I've just read a few threads on here and all these recommended ones aren't available in the UK, America gets so much variety...

 

[Illum]

they are actually the same lantern, just branded differently.

While I use them just as such, they are not very good emergency lanterns. Its not that their performance or runtime is lacking, but that it uses an electronic switch, which consumes a steady trickle of power. :green:

By the time you need to use the lantern, the batteries may be dead or leaking. I store the cells seperately until I need to use it.

 

[joeyboy]

they are actually the same lantern, just branded differently.

wow that's ridiculous, no wonder our economy is so crap. I seem to have to buy most things from abroad because the prices for the same item here are so inflated. I use cork bark for vivariums, here it's around £10 per kg unless you buy in bulk, from Germany it's £8.99 for 2kg, even with DHL shipping Germany is cheaper...

When it comes to lanterns is the light source better to be LED's or a fluorescent tube?

This has the latter, decent reviews, might just go with it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RG1H18/

 

[Light Sabre]

I have a couple of these lanterns: Amazon.com: Coleman 4D Pack-Away LED Lantern: Sports & Outdoors. They work great. They have 3 modes and the lowest mode gives off plenty of light in my 1BR apartment so the batteries should last a very long time. The globe/top half of the lantern can be pushed down into the bottom part to save space. It has a mechanical switch so no draining the batteries down between uses. I bought mine at Walmart.

 

[Illum]

wow that's ridiculous, no wonder our economy is so crap. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gelert-TOR1..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=lighting&qid=1284126037&sr=8-5

well, believe it or not these Osram lanterns used to sell about $32 in stores, I am not entorely sure what caused the price to drop so severely. My $8 lantern has no distinct gap in quality with the one I bought for $35. I'm guessing its a closeout price and no one [for the last year or so] thought to readjust the prices

 

[joeyboy]

I have a couple of these lanterns: Amazon.com: Coleman 4D Pack-Away LED Lantern: Sports & Outdoors. They work great. They have 3 modes and the lowest mode gives off plenty of light in my 1BR apartment so the batteries should last a very long time. The globe/top half of the lantern can be pushed down into the bottom part to save space. It has a mechanical switch so no draining the batteries down between uses. I bought mine at Walmart.

Well the exact model doesn't seem to come up but this thing bar the pack away part seems the same. Might just go with it..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001P80GFK/

 

[damn_hammer]

Well the exact model doesn't seem to come up but this thing bar the pack away part seems the same. Might just go with it..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001P80GFK/

Gah! I would recommend AGAINST getting that Coleman. Almost useless in it's stock form. What I mean is, the LED light is not diffused, or softened so that if you look directly at the lantern the glare is intense. The light it gives off to the surrounding area is minimal, and full of artifacts/aberrations.

 

[joeyboy]

Gah! I would recommend AGAINST getting that Coleman. Almost useless in it's stock form. What I mean is, the LED light is not diffused, or softened so that if you look directly at the lantern the glare is intense. The light it gives off to the surrounding area is minimal, and full of artifacts/aberrations.

woah good job I didn't order it there and then!

Now I'm lost...all these decent lanterns seem to be only available across the pond. Amazon.co.uk must have something...:shakehead

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I would without reservation go with the Varta! High is high and low, though not super low, will still light up a room just fine.

Different colors and a different name on the case, but it's the same lantern that so many here use and love.

I just wish they'd swap out those cool Nichias for the warm flavor.

 

[Illum]

When it comes to lanterns is the light source better to be LED's or a fluorescent tube?

Good florescents tend to operate on 8 or even 16 D cells for the 12V platform, runtime is generally good, but lamp life usually suffers because lantern usage is not continuous, which florescents are designed for.
With appropriate drivers, LEDs can be powered off any voltage medium, which allows the lantern size to be smaller.

LEDs are less likely to be damaged due to mechanical shock [this is a lantern, not a fixture] than a CFL, but LEDs are more vulnerable to ESD and thermal shock. CFLs don't need heatsinking, and ones with ballasts create more jolt than transient ESDs anyway

CFLs are more even in intensity since the emitter source is not a collimated dot, CFLs are more comfortable to the eye than LEDs even in the cool white state and looked at directly. They are somewhat cheaper than LEDs in terms of output, and has more varieties available.

I like the Osram lanterns for its compactness, having nearly no seals, its pretty darn weather resistant. The retractable legs are fun to see, but they do not do much, the lanterns pretty solid by itself.

LEDs have to deal with tintshift, Osram golden dragon LEDs have a naturally annoying purple tint, but it offers an excellent modding platform for any white LED good for 600ma. The osram really excells at the low level as it pushes near 100ma. if low mode is commonly used, I'd recommend at least an XRE, as they are actually quite efficient around and below 350ma.

LEDs have longer life than CFLs, if you bought a new CFL lantern and like it alot, consider buying a few spare lamps. By the time your old one burns out, the model is likely discontinued. With LEDs, you can replace LEDs at anytime. Very soon we can use LEDs in our lights that needs to be driven only 50% capacity but emit twice the light as todays currently available LEDs driven at 100% capacity.

 

[joeyboy]

I would without reservation go with the Varta!

Is that personal experience of the exact product I linked to or just in general they're a decent brand?

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Well, neither and both! :nana: I will explain:

"Varta" is a label which Favourlight puts on their lights. The "Varta" company sells their products in the United Kingdom (at least), and so that is the brand you see. However, there are other brands which are also printed on the lights that Favourlight makes. Many consumer goods are made in the same factories, and then have different brand names/labels attached to them depending on the end country they are sold in. "Varta," "Gentos," and "Rayovac," to name a few, are all companies which sell Favourlight products under their own names.

So:

1) It is not personal experience of/with the exact product you linked to in the sense that I have never operated a Favourlight lantern with the Varta label. However, I have operated a Favourlight lantern with different colors and a different label, but with the exact same specifications. In the United States, we have the "Rayovac Sportsman Extreme," which is the exact same lantern, sold under a different label. If you carefully examine the specifications for both, you will see they are one and the same.

2) It is hard to answer Number Two, since the brand "Varta" is just a brand, which happens to sell Favourlight lanterns. I can say there are many satisfied CPF'ers who love their Rayovac Sportsman Extremes. I highly recommend looking at some of adirondackdestroyer's posts/video reviews, as he did a great job evaluating these lanterns not so long ago.


Hope that helps!



LEDAdd1ct

 

[Flint&Steel]

Gah! I would recommend AGAINST getting that Coleman. Almost useless in it's stock form. What I mean is, the LED light is not diffused, or softened so that if you look directly at the lantern the glare is intense. The light it gives off to the surrounding area is minimal, and full of artifacts/aberrations.

Check out this easy mod, I did it to my 4AA Packaway and it made it 10 times better. Agree, it's awful in its stock form.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=242597

 

[varuscelli]

Of the ones in the following linked thread, I've found my favorite over the last couple of years to be the Energizer Weather Ready LED Room Light. I've found it to be exceptionally versatile, and the fact that its light can be directed in many ways makes it (to me) more usable than some that light a complete room a bit better -- with "better" sometimes being hard to qualify based on amount of light output alone. Many of those that light the room "better" are also visually blinding when you're looking anywhere toward the light. The Energizer lantern can be used straight up or twisted and contorted in many ways to make the light for any given situation easier to work with and more "eye friendly."

Three LED Lanterns Compared (Rayovac, Sylvania, Energizer)

More on this page on my site (scroll down to the Energizer Weather Ready):

http://www.ruscelli.com/flashlights_lanterns.htm

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=206456&highlight=varuscelli

 

[Turbo DV8]

If the lantern is primarily for indoor use, here is a suggestion. Buy a lantern with a removeable globe. These can usually be hung upside down for tent use, but the advantage I find for indoor use is to remove the globe and sit it with the LED pointing up. This gives maximum light and tons of ceiling bounce (assuming a light colored ceiling) without the harsh shadows a lantern casts in normal use with globe on. Glare may or may not be a problem, depending on the design of the lantern. The Rayovac 3AA LED lantern works great in this configuration, with minimal or no glare when looking directly at it.